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Thursday, 16 March 2017

Little Germany's treasures

Carved eagle, Devere House, built in 1871 as an American and Chinese export warehouse.
Now used by Bradford Chamber of Commerce.  

Bradford Walking Tour 5
No walking tour of Bradford would be complete without a wander round the area known as Little Germany. It is so called because it was established in the second half of the 19th century by Jewish merchants, many of whom came from Germany. They built imposing warehouses for the storage and export of Bradford's woollen textiles. The market with Germany collapsed in 1877, causing difficult conditions. 

Imposing doorway of Albion House, now apartments
The area contains many listed buildings and there have been attempts over recent years to conserve and improve it. Many of the warehouses have been converted to offices and residential apartments but, despite the efforts of the city council and developers, it seems to struggle and has a rather sad and neglected atmosphere.


S L Behrens warehouse, built in 1873

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5 comments:

  1. Salty Pumpkin Studio16 March 2017 at 13:36

    Beautiful architecture photos
    The building's details are fascinating. I wonder what the cost is today to do the same work, and are there even enough artisans that can do the work for so many buildings. I wish there were more like those being built in these times. Modern is nice, but the old is as well.

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  2. William Kendall16 March 2017 at 16:23

    Impressive architectural details here. Hopefully some good can come of the area.

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  3. RedPat16 March 2017 at 19:10

    Beautiful details! Hopefully the area takes off eventually!

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  4. peter woods16 March 2017 at 20:10

    Much happened in 1877. Queen Victoria became Empress of India. Russia declared war against Turkey. The first British Lawn Tennis Championship at Wimbledon took place. Germany was flourishing economically under Bismarck.

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  5. Jack20 March 2017 at 22:41

    Lovely architectural details. Studio Maywyn asked if there are enough artisans who can still do this kind of work. I have wondered the same thing from time to time, but then I visited St. Petersburg and Moscow and saw the work done there to restore the details of buildings leveled in WWII. When price is no object, as in an authoritarian society, incredibly complex work is being done in the past thirty years.

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