Locations #2

At the beginning of the 20th century, the petrol station becomes a metropolitan symbol and architectural experiment of the modern age. The cantilevered roof in particular requires modern construction methods and becomes typical for numerous petrol station designs - also in Chemnitz.

One of the first petrol stations with only two pumps is built in 1930 in Annenstraße. Its design follows the characteristic features imported from the USA. The small petrol station miraculously survives the bombing of the Second World War and keeps its place between the new apartment blocks of the reconstruction. In the 1990s, it no longer meets the new requirements and has to close.

After years of vacancy, in 2012 a new owner has a crazy idea: as the smallest holiday home in the city, guests of the former petrol station will fill up with peace and quiet instead of petrol in the future. The idea of conversion sounds unusual at first, but it is a particularly good example of creative revitalisation. Things should get underway in 2025 at the latest, when Chemnitz becomes „Kulturhauptstadt“.