Monuments in Berlin:
Kraftwerk Klingenberg
Kraftwerk Klingenberg (Klingenberg Power-station)
Köpenicker Chaussee 42-45, Lichtenberg; 1925-26 by Waltar Klingenberg and Werner Issel
The Kraftwerk Klingenberg was Germany's most important new power plant structure of the 1920's. A technological marvel planned by the pioneer of modern power plant construction, Georg Klingenberg, it became the example of a new generation of large-scale power plants far beyond Germany's borders.
In 1927 it was integrated into the power grid with an output of 270,000 KW, making it the largest, most modern power plant in Europe. The entire plant was organized in exemplary fashion. Coal was delivered via canal and rail connections built especially for the plant, transported by mechanical conveyors to the coal mill where it is broken, dried, and milled, and the coal dust blown into the furnaces of the two boiler houses. Connected engine rooms and control stations produced the power, which then was fed into the power network. The architects Waltar Klingenberg and Werner Issel created a design of extraordinary quality for the industrial complex situated on both sides of the Köpenicker Chaussee between railway terrain and the river Spree. Functional contours are brought to life by the effects of the materials: red clinker facing, varying masonry techniques and expressive details. The main accent is set by a severe, vertically sectioned 11-story high-rise administration building with ornamental clinker facing and a setback roof. On the opposite, southern side of the street is the elongated control station rhythmically enhanced by eight staircase towers. The complex on both sides of the street is connected by a bridge structure serving as a cable route and personnel walkway.