House of Technology

The Haus der Technik is a listed building in the East Westphalian city of Bielefeld in the district of Mitte.
The former works office, from which today's Stadtwerke Bielefeld emerged, was looking for a new location for a substation at the end of the 1920s. At that time, the inner-city power grid was in danger of collapsing due to permanent overload. A building site was sought directly in the city center and found directly on Jahnplatz. From the very beginning, the building was to provide space not only for the technology, but also for direct customer contact. Kurt Heinrich Tischer was commissioned as the architect, who designed a building in the style of New Objectivity. The builders and he had to face some criticism because of the style and the lighting system that lit up Jahnplatz at night. The building was considered too newfangled. The design of the lighting should also advertise high electricity consumption. In contrast to today, the lecture programme served the same purpose. Since the house opened on November 23, 1929, hardly anything of the technical installations was visible from the public space. However, the teaching kitchen and – to this day – the advice centre were open. Lectures and exhibitions are held in the building.

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