Munich: Lindwurmhof

1910 – 1912

Architects: Josef, Franz and Ludwig Rank

Lindwurmstraße 88, Munich, Germany

Between 1910 and 1912, the Lindwurmhof was built as an office and commercial building based on Hamburg models.

The initiative to build it in Munich’s Isarvorstadt came from the Saar Palatinate steel company Röchling, which had the building constructed in reinforced concrete according to plans by the Munich contractors and architects Gebrüder Rank.

Gebrüder Rank

The brothers Josef, Franz and Ludwig Rank had already acquired the concession for the production of reinforced concrete in 1901 from the Frenchman François Hennebique, who had registered the patent for it in 1892.

In 1902, the Rank company joined the Deutscher Beton- und Bautechnik-Verein (German Concrete and Construction Technology Association), founded in 1898, of which Josef Rank was a member of the board from 1904 to 1930.

Lindwurmhof

The Art Nouveau building, which housed Rank’s offices from 1912 to 1931, was located directly on the railroad embankment of the former Royal Bavarian Southern Railway.

The Lindwurmhof was used by the Rank brothers as their business premises until 1931.

In 1932, the international forwarding company Gebrüder Wetsch acquired the Lindwurmhof. The building then served for many years as a large warehouse with its own rail siding.

Construction

The walls of the Lindwurmhof are executed as filler masonry.

The concrete surfaces visible on the facade were bush-hammered like natural stone, while the remaining wall surfaces were plastered.

All facade piers consist of iron-reinforced hollow bricks, which were filled with concrete and placed on top of each other.

The window piers and parapets of the bay windows are made in the same technique.

Reinforced concrete was also used in the interiors of the Lindwurmhof.

Columns, ceilings, beams and roof trusses are made of this concrete, as is the viewing platform at the roof ridge of the railway-side wing.

Current Use

Today, Lindwurmstrasse, which runs south parallel to Lindwurmhof, passes under the railroad tracks.

Various clubs had their premises here since 1968. From 1968 Crash was located here, from 1993 to 2002 the Stromlinien Club, from 2003 to 2010 The Garden, then the Mandalina Club and since the end of 2012 the Strøm.