Werkskrankenhaus der H.G.W. in der Hermann Göring-Stadt. Vorprojekt by Hebebrand, Werner (architect)

Ambitious building project for a hospital in the planned Third Reich city of Salzgitter, Germany, comprised of 123 hand-numbered typewritten leaves, of which 10 are folding plans and maps of the building and another 19 are folding architectural drawings, floor plans, and elevations of the main buildings of the hospital signed by Hebebrand, together with four folding photographs depicting architectural model overviews of the structure. Minor handling wear and scattered toning. Large 4to. Cloth-back boards with bolted binding, black-stamped title to front cover. Extremely minor rubbing to edges, overall very fine. N.p. (Salzgitter) n.d. (circa 1942). With lengthy handwritten inscription to flyleaf from former owner Walter Kress, a local historian from Salzgitter-Lebenstedt. The Reichswerke Hermann Göring was an industrial state-owned conglomerate initially founded in 1937 to extract and process iron ore from the Salzgitter region. In order to allow development to occur unhindered and to provide housing for the exploding population of workers, the entire area between Goslar, Wolfenbüttel, and Braunschweig became one large construction site dubbed "Hermann Göring-Stadt". Close to 30 towns and municipalities were merged into the "Stadtkreis Watenstedt-Salzgitter". Farmers in the area were relocated or compensated for their property. The population in the area jumped from 19,000 in 1933 to over 100,000 in 1942.
By the end of 1941, the Reichswerke was the largest company in Europe. Workers were recruited from all over Germany, Austria, Italy, and the Netherlands, among others. Housing was insufficient for even the German workers; foreign workers lived in 70 different makeshift camps. The Gestapo ran an on-site concentration camp for delinquent workers, and in 1944 forced slave labor was used from three local concentration camps.
The designs for the Hermann Göring-Stadt were based largely upon the traditions established by the garden city urban planning movement. No cars were allowed in the residential area; instead, the Nazis planned out a dense network of public transport. The desire was that none of the workers should have to travel more than 10 minutes to get to work. An entire city was planned to support the worker population, including schools, shopping centers, churches, administrative offices, and other types of infrastructure, including a hospital, as is illustrated in this remarkable volume.
Both the Hermann Göring Werke and the Hermann Göring-Stadt were designed and planned by the architectural office of Herbert Rimpl, an important Third Reich industrial architect. The co-architects were Walter Tralau and Werner Hebebrand, together with garden and landscape designer Wilhem Heintz.
Hebebrand had done prior work on the planning and construction of hospitals prior to finding employment at Rimpl's firm. He went to the Soviet Union in 1930 under Ernst May, to help with the rapid construction of entire cities. He initially served as an architect and urban planner, but after May's departure in 1933, Hebebrand stayed to assist with the planning and construction of hospitals before being sent back to Germany during Stalin's Great Terror. The designs for the hospital illustrated here are his, most bearing his signature. An extraordinary and likely uncirculated artifact; as of November 2019, we could not locate any listings for this volume, on WorldCat or elsewhere.