It is officially called Day Care Center 130 and was opened on June 22, 1995 in the presence of Friedensreich Hundertwasser, who had created the artistic design for the building. The planning was carried out by the architect Peter Pelikan and the Frankfurt Building Authority. The concrete core of the building was largely covered with earth in which grass, bushes and trees are rooted. Approx. 60 kindergarten children and 40 after-school care children can be cared for in the day-care center. The Hundertwasser day-care center was one of the first buildings erected on the former site of the United German Metal Works (VDM), which was based there until 1982; The foundation stone was laid on December 20, 1988. At the suggestion of Hilmar Hoffmann, head of the cultural department, the city of Frankfurt provided 7.58 million marks for its construction on the edge of the new Mertonviertel/Riedwiese settlement area. After completion, however, it was discovered that the entire area was polluted with highly toxic hydrocarbons and heavy metals, including the ground under the day-care center. At times, demolition of the new building was discussed, but in the end it was decided to only dredge the adjacent area several meters deep and replace it with unpolluted soil. The elimination of the contaminated sites cost around one million marks, of which the legal successor of VDM took over 90%. When the lengthy renovation process was completed, Friedensreich Hundertwasser threatened the city of Frankfurt with a lawsuit for infringement of his copyright in 1994, since his concept of a hilly, wooded roof landscape had not been implemented sufficiently for cost reasons. As a result, Hundertwasser was able to apply additional soil and plant two dozen trees - e.g. Beech, oak, linden, ginkgo - were planted. The proceeds from the sale of copies of a lithograph of the kindergarten donated by Hundertwasser also made it possible to gild the two previously zinc-colored onion towers.
Translated by Google •
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