Save the Siebethsburger Hof: youth center required!

Save the Siebethsburger Hof: youth center required!

The former Siebethsburger Hof in Wilhelmshaven has reached a deplorable state. The listed building, which was formerly known as the “Palazzo” discotheque, has been empty since 2018 and is rapidly falling into disrepair. The SPD councilor Detlef Schön is now calling on the city administration to finally take action against this decline. “There's something going on!” he sums it up and suggests buying the building and renovating it with money from the coal structure fund.

The goal of this initiative? A youth meeting place for open child and youth work. “It’s high time we gave this historic building new perspectives,” said Schön, who is concerned about the condition of the farm. Damage, such as a broken metal trap door and a flooded basement, is hard to miss. These problems have been visible for almost two years, and the city has communicated with the owner, Carsten Hippenstiel, several times. However, despite a building permit issued in June 2022, the building application has now become obsolete because proof of stability was not provided in time.

The fate of the monument

Although the city administration has repeatedly asked the owner to remedy the deficiencies, many measures have so far not been taken. “We have limited scope for action,” explains a city spokesman. You can only intervene if public building law is violated. Concerned voices, like Detlef Schön's, are certain: "If we don't act soon, the farm will end up similar to the south central area." This is a clear call for those responsible to find cross-party and cross-group solutions to preserve this monument.

The SPD is of the opinion that the city should actively acquire and repair the property if negotiations with the owners continue to be fruitful. The building could be given new uses that support the community in Siebethsburg. “A youth meeting place would do a lot of good things,” says Schön.

Support from monument foundations

It is also interesting to know that the German Foundation for Monument Protection supports up to 600 renovation projects in Germany every year and provides an annual funding volume of around 20 million euros. These grants cover different types of monuments – from churches to castles to residential buildings. A voluntary commission consisting of monument experts decides on the projects that receive support. So far, around 7,500 monuments have already been funded. If the Siebethsburger Hof could be included in the funding, it would give the renovation of the building a remarkable boost.

In the discussion about the future of the Siebethsburger Hof it becomes clear that now is the time to act together. Whether through city initiatives or private investments - the preservation of this historical object is not only desirable, but necessary in order to offer the community in Wilhelmshaven and especially in Siebethsburg a new point of contact and to continue the history of the farm.

For readers who would like to delve deeper into the topic, we refer you to the reports from NWZonline, which report in detail about the decline and take up the demands of the SPD. There is also information about the importance of monument protection on the website German Monument Protection Foundation as well as on the platform of SPD local association who are actively committed to restructuring.