Spherical Gas Tank in Freiburg in Breisgau (D)

This course is offered in collaboration with the Arbeitskreis Gaskugel/Stiftung BauKulturerbe GmbH, Dr. Heike Piehler.

Located in the border triangle, the Freiburg gas sphere is one of the larger spherical gas tanks with a diameter of almost 34 meters. It was built in 1964/65 by Pintsch Bamag AG using a new welding process and marks the changeover from gas production to remote gas supply. In 2019, it was decommissioned and listed as a heritage object. It is representative of the high-​pressure spherical gas tanks of this technical generation and has general testimonial value for the history of gas supply. The State Office for Preservation in Baden-​Württemberg also emphasizes its originality and integrity, which is evident in the good preservation of the original structural condition. It had been carefully maintained over the decades without compromising the original structural and structural concept.

Since its decommissioning, a grassroots community network has been committed to opening up and vitalizing the industrial monument. On the one hand, the gas sphere is located within Freiburg’s urban area in a well-​developed recreational area, and on the other hand, the imposing structure, which has special echo acoustics, should also be made tangible from the inside. The urban environment also offers great potential, with its village structures on the one hand and the planned new construction of a residential quarter and a completely new urban district near the sphere on the other. A utilization concept and a concrete operating concept have been submitted in 2019 and 2021 with the aim of making the monument and the surrounding park accessible to the general public. The concept is currently under discussion.

The history of the structure and, moreover, of Freiburg’s gas supply as a whole has been recorded in its broad contexts and published in book form (Freiburger Gasgeschichte(n), 1850 bis heute, Picea Verlag, 2021). Current information about the cultural monument can be found at www.gaskugel-​freiburg.decall_made.

Possible topics of investigation are:

• the typological classification of the Freiburg spherical gas tank with regard to its form, construction and structural aesthetics – including any patents – in a transregional context, and
• the elaboration of architectural criteria relevant for a future use compatible with its preservation concept, which also regards planned new buildings.