Sixty-five meters of concrete and glass. That’s the IDUNA-Hochhaus. Dominating the Osnabruck skyline.
The IDUNA-Hochhaus isn’t just a building. It’s a piece of Osnabruck’s history. Completed in 1974 by architect Rolf Bohl. It proudly stands as Osnabruck’s tallest residential building. For years it was owned by Iduna Versicherungs-AG from Hamburg. A company now part of Signal Iduna Group. But building flaws forced Iduna to sell it in 1987 to an investment company.
The IDUNA-Hochhaus replaced the villa of Wilhelm Lepenau. A chemist and industrialist. Founder of the Salzbergen refinery. The city planned the high-rise building. They wanted more inner-city housing. They also wanted to preserve the green space at Herrenteichswall. A section of the old city walls. The IDUNA-Hochhaus sits between the Domschule Osnabruck. The railway embankment of the Lohne-Rheine line. And the Herrenteichswall.
Eighteen of the twenty-one floors are apartments. One hundred and twenty-eight residential units fill the building. A swimming pool was originally on the 19th floor. It’s closed now. There were plans for solar panels. To cover the facade to produce solar energy. Those plans failed.
The IDUNA-Hochhaus. A symbol of the 1970s. A testament to architectural ambition. And a prominent landmark. Standing in Osnabruck’s heart. A concrete giant. A testament to urban planning. And a building that has witnessed decades of city life.