A Celebration of Friendship: Derby - Onsabrück
We are already in the 2nd month of the year, and it seems this year is threatening to run away from us like the last one. To counter this we thought we take a moment to reflect and highlight on the architectural heritage of both Derby and Osnabrück who have been ‘twinned’ for 45 years since 17th February 1976. This relationship is almost unique in the fact that we actively exhange ambassors and cultural programmes on an annual basis.
Over the course of the month we will be highlighting key buildings and spaces in both cities. Highlighting key features, stories and the architects and design teams (where possible).
01. Cathedrals
Created in 1927, the main body of the church as it stands today is a Georgian rebuilding by James Gibbs, completed in 1725. The tower dates from the 16th century, and a retroquire was added in the 20th century. Derby Cathedral has the oldest ring of ten bells in the world; most of them have been there since 1678 when the number of bells was increased from six to ten. The original church, dedicated to All Saints, was probably built in about 943 by the Anglo-Saxon King Edmund I as a royal collegiate church, of which building no trace survives. Following the Norman Conquest of 1066, and according to the Domesday Book of 1086, it belonged to the king, and was served by a college of seven priests.
Since 2005 there has been a pair of nesting falcons on the side of the tower.
St Peter’s Cathedral, Osnabruck
The first version of St. Peter's Cathedral was built in the year 785, 15 years after the diocese was founded by Charlemagne. The Normans destroyed the church 100 years later, and the present version of the church developed only gradually after a fire around 1100. The oldest parts of the present-day church are the Romanesque crossing tower, the northern facade and the Romanesque-Gothic west facade. The dome in the middle part of the three-aisled nave is as high as the pillars on which it rests.
During the Second World War the cathedral roof with baroque domes and some church annexes were destroyed by incendiary bombs. The cathedral has since been rebuilt and continues to be a major attraction for the city.
2. Parks
Derby Arboretum
Derby Arboretum is a public park and arboretum in the city of Derby, England, located about 1.6 km south of the city centre in the Rose Hill area. It was opened in 1840, following the donation of the land by local philanthropist Joseph Strutt, and to designs by John Claudius Loudon. It was the first publicly owned, landscaped, urban, recreational park in England. After early millennial restoration, it is now Grade II*.
In 1845 an extension to the original park was created as Arboretum Field, which was briefly home to Derby Junction FC who made as far as the FA cup semi-finals in 1888 (they lost to West Bromwich Albion). Later, in 1859 the Arboretum was one of a number of parks visited by Frederick Law Olmsted while on a research tour of Europe, and it is thought that he may have incorporated features of Loudon's work into his design for Central Park in New York.
Bürgerpark, Osnabrück
This was the first public park in the city. Today it has an area of around seven hectares and was created at the beginning of the 19th century according to design ideas by Senator Gerhard-Friedrich Wagner and the "Beautification Association 1835" that he founded. The Bürgerpark has almost 450 individual trees, 2.7 hectares of forest, 2.5 hectares of lawns, lawns, play areas and water areas and its diverse landscape park elements is largely unadulterated compared to the original design and is unique as a garden monument in Osnabrück.
3. Town Hall
The Council House, Derby
The current Council House was designed by Charles Aslin (a former NDSA President) and was commissioned to replace the Guildhall in the Market Place. The site chosen for the new building was previously occupied by riverside wharves and industrial premises. Construction began on the new building on the new building in 1938, in a Neo-Georgian style. The part-built facility was then requisitioned by the Air Ministry during the Second World War. The original plan had involved an oval council chamber to the south of the main building as well as a clock tower but both these aspects of the proposals were abandoned when construction resumed.
An extensive refurbishment designed by Corstorphine & Wright was completed in 2015 resulted in significant layout changes with a new entrance created in the west façade of the building facing into the city.
Rathaus, Osnabrück
The historic town hall (Rathaus) of Osnabrück, was built in the late Gothic style from 1487 to 1512. It is one of Osnabrück’s most important buildings and emblems and continues to be used as the city’s town hall today. The Treaty of Westphalia was negotiated and signed by the combatants of the Thirty Years’ War at the town halls of Osnabrück and Münster in 1648.
The frontal view is characterised by an 18-metre-high hipped roof, whose height is almost equal to that of the rest of the building from the foundation slab to the eaves. A total of six towers are positioned at the lower end of the roof, reminiscent of watchtowers and corner towers of a fortress. In addition there has been a large flight of steps in front of the town hall since 1846, leading to the roughly 500-year-old entrance door from two sides (previously accessed via a retractable set of wooden steps).
On 13 September 1944 the town hall of Osnabrück was struck numerous times by Allied (especially British) bombs during air raids and severely damaged. The town hall was burned down to its foundation walls. Due to the fact that almost all of the historic furnishings of the town hall had been placed in storage some time earlier on account of the local population's expectation of eventual destruction, the majority of the interior decorations were saved. On 24 October 1948 – just in time for the 300th anniversary celebrations of the Peace of Westphalia – the restored town hall, along with its historic furnishings, was officially reopened for business.
4. Key Church
St Mary’s, Derby
St Mary's Church is a Roman Catholic church which stands on Bridge Gate overlooking St Alkmund's Way. It was designed by architect A. W. N. Pugin in 1838 and built in 1839. Today it has Grade II* listed status.
The church was designed to replace a small Gothic building in nearby Chapel Street. It was Pugin's first expression of his Gothic Revival style and he originally planned for the tower to have 30m spire, but budget restrictions prevented this from being implemented. His final design was presented on 17 March 1838, and construction began that same year, with the foundation stone being laid in July. Building was completed by 9 October 1839, when the dedication service took place. The wood sedilia in the sanctuary was donated to the church by Pugin.
A new set of bells was added during a facelift which took place between in 1988-89, during which the church was closed. A second restoration was undertaken in the late 1990s, which included re-roofing of the Lady Chapel and extensive cleaning of the interior and exterior of the church.
St. Marien, Osnabrück
St. Marien (St. Mary's Church) is a Lutheran parish and market church in Osnabrück, Germany. It is one of the most artistically and historically significant buildings within the city. A previous Romanesque church was mentioned in records as early as 1177. Although the history of the church's construction began some time before it was first mentioned in writing, archaeological traces suggest the existence of a predecessor building from the 10th century. Construction of the Gothic hall church which exists today started in the 13th century and was completed between 1430 and 1440.
The previous 12th century three-aisled basilica was transformed into a Gothic hall church. Four more stories were added to the western tower and the chancel took on a rectangular shape; which was subsequently converted into a basilica chancel.
More recently, damage caused during World War II was repaired concurrently alongside the archaeological excavations which was completed by 1950. The reconstruction work, led by local architect Max H. Berling, also led to changes in the features of the church as well as the colouration, most of which was done during a renovation in 1901.
4. Museums
The Silk Mill, Derby
Derby Silk Mill, formerly known as Derby Industrial Museum, is a museum of industry and history. The museum is located on the former site of Lombe's Mill, a historic silk mill which marks the southern end of the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site.
The site was adapted for use as Derby’s Industrial Museum, which opened on 29 November 1974. After 40 years, it was then closed in 2015 for redevelopment and had the aim of reopening in 2020 as the Museum of Making (pending due to COVID-19); The refurbishment was led by Bauman Lyons Architects under an IPI contract. After our successful mid-construction site visit with NDSA members we hope to return to the completed building when safe to do so.
Felix Nussbaum Haus, Osnabrück
The Felix Nussbaum Haus is a museum in Osnabrück, Germany, which houses the paintings of German-Jewish painter Felix Nussbaum who was murdered in the Holocaust. The building also houses an exhibition space, which focuses on racism and intolerance.
By the 1980s, Osnabrück had begun to embrace Nussbaum as a native son and by 1999 decided to dedicate a museum to him. In 1996, Daniel Libeskind's proposal, titled "Museum Without Exit," won the competition to design the building, which was completed in 1998. The new museum was inaugurated by Gerhard Schröder, then prime minister of Lower Saxony. The museum was Libeskind's first completed project.
The museum consists of three intersecting "volumes." The oak volume houses Nussbaum's pre-war art. The second volume, which slices violently through the first, is made from concrete and contains the paintings Nussbaum made while in hiding from the Nazis. Dubbed "Nussbaum Gang," it evokes the cramped quarters in Brussels where he painted his last canvasses. The metal volume displays the artist's newly discovered paintings. The interior is designed to be labyrinthine and many paths lead to dead ends. The museum's sides face three cities where Nussbaum studied art: Berlin, Rome, and Hamburg, with the fourth side facing the concentration camp where he was killed. The galleries house approximately 160 of Nussbaum's paintings.
Note: Where possible, we have gathered images from commons sources. If you feel they have been improperly used or mis-credited please let us know via info@ndsa.org.uk.