Zigarrenfabrik Hochherr

In the heart of Heidelberg’s Weststadt, the Zigarrenfabrik Hochherr stands as a testament to a family’s ambition and a city’s changing fortunes. The year is 1929. The Bauhaus-style factory, a striking steel-framed structure clad in clinker brick, rises on a triangular plot bordered by Hilda- and Kaiserstraße. This was a bold statement by the Hochherr brothers, Ferdinand and Simon, who had moved their cigar manufacturing business from Walldorf just two years prior. Zigarrenfabrik Hochherr had come a long way since its humble beginnings in Massenbachhausen in 1898, founded by their elder brother, Bernhard. The Heidelberg factory was a symbol of their success, a modern marvel designed by Frankfurt architect Fritz Nathan. Imagine the air thick with the aroma of tobacco, the rhythmic hum of machinery, and the chatter of hundreds of workers – 413 to be exact – their hands deftly rolling and shaping cigars. The Hochherrs had even included apartments in the original design for their foremen, a sign of their commitment to their employees. Sadly, this prosperity was short-lived. The Great Depression, which began in the fall of 1929, cast a long shadow over the Zigarrenfabrik Hochherr. Just two years after its grand opening, the factory was forced to halt production of cigarillos, laying off nearly 100 workers. The distinctive “rolled layers” of vertically-placed clinker bricks still visible on the facade offer a glimpse into the factory’s original design. You see, the planned saw-tooth roofline, which would have added to the building’s unique silhouette, was never realized due to objections from the city of Heidelberg. The darker clinker bricks reveal the original structure, while the larger windows are a result of later renovations, a silent testament to the building’s evolution over time. The story of the Zigarrenfabrik Hochherr takes a darker turn with the rise of the Nazi regime. The Jewish Hochherr brothers were forced out of their own company in 1938. They managed to escape to Holland, but their fate was tragically sealed in the concentration camps of Sobibor and Auschwitz. Stolpersteine, or stumbling stones, now mark the site of Ferdinand’s former home on nearby Kaiserstraße, a poignant reminder of the family’s tragic end. The factory itself was sold in 1956 to the clothing company Betty Barclay. Today, the Zigarrenfabrik Hochherr, no longer filled with the scent of tobacco, serves as an office building, a quiet observer of Heidelberg’s ongoing story.