Schocken Department Store, Stuttgart
The Schocken Department Store (Kaufhaus Schocken, later Merkur Department Store) was a department store in the south German town of Stuttgart.[1]
It was built by the Schocken department store chain owned by Salman Schocken. The architect was Erich Mendelsohn, who also built the Kaufhaus Schocken in Nuremberg (1925/26) and Chemnitz). The Stuttgart store was the most significant of the latter's projects in the sphere of retail store construction. The inspiration for the design came to Mendelsohn while he was attending a concert of music by Bach.[2]
The building was a department store with a modern style in an urban context. It was constructed of brick and concrete. The shopping area within the building had mainly wooden furnishings and, in the absence of air conditioning, had a large number of windows. Again owing to the absence of air conditioning, the food hall was situated in the basement. The name of the store was displayed in lettering some 7.5' in height and illuminated after dark.[3] The booklet which he designed for the opening features Mendelsohn's coloured sketch. He also created a logo and branding style based on the lettering on the façade of the store.[4]
The department store, together with the Tagblatt-Turm of Ernst-Otto Oßwald across the way, constituted an impressive ensemble of modern architecture, and was damaged only slightly in World War II. In 1960, the local authority demolished the store, despite international protest. In its place today stands Egon Eiermann's unremarkable department store building (Galeria Kaufhof, previously Horten).[2] The building was re-leased in 1960.