Redesign of the city centre Mengen

The main street with its characteristic meandering form is designed like a stone riverbed in a continuous natural stone pavement of light granite. The natural stone city floor strengthens the legibility of the city layout and gives the old town a continuous identity.

In the past as well as today Mengen in the district of Sigmaringen is considered an important traffic junction. The town, which has a population of around 10,000, can look back on a long history. While already in Roman times the first transversals crossed today's city area, the city gained fame especially in the Middle Ages, as an important trade and transport hub. This brought the city the nickname "Carters' town".

Structural change
Even today, Mengen is tied to a variety of roads that provide connections to the larger, surrounding cities. But a few years ago, the federal highway 32, which crossed the city center, was relocated. The elimination of through traffic offered Mengen the opportunity to counteract vacancy and decay and fill the town with life.
The transformation of the town center was to bring the desired change. From the outset, the focus was not just on a cosmetic general overhaul, but above all on a holistic concept for revitalizing urban life. Particular attention was paid to the uniqueness and special character of the Fuhrmannsstadt. This was consciously taken up in order to make the unique selling points the central element of a forward-looking, holistic concept. The historic buildings, fountains and town entrances were to continue to characterise the townscape, but at the same time serve as a backdrop for urban life, promoting it and providing it with new incentives. A conscious decision was therefore made to pick up on the prevailing materials and to create space for the numerous special features through a uniform material language.

Careful choice of materials and execution
The careful selection of materials and furnishing elements began with the flooring. This is dominated by a calm, light grey with an interesting play of colours, which unagitatedly leaves room for the colourful hustle and bustle. Conceived as a connecting element linking the individual sections of the city centre, the stone river "meanders" over streets, pedestrian paths and squares, giving Mengen's city centre the space it needs. It should be appropriate to the importance of the town, which has a number of sights to offer with its historic half-timbered houses. Their facades are connected with each other in the form of continuous joints in the flooring. Great care was taken in the choice of materials, workmanship and execution. Therefore, a conscious decision was made to use Flossenbürger granite from the Bavarian Forest. This has a noble appearance, but visually blends in with the existing structure as a matter of course and brings out the different facets of the city. Thanks to the Lapis perfectus, the stone is suitable both for pedestrian traffic in a city centre and also meets all the necessary requirements for traffic areas,- especially for heavy goods traffic. This specially shaped dummy joint, milled on the upper side, prevents its widening and the typical shifting of the pavement that occurs over the years. Attention was paid not only to the frictional connection of the paving stones but also to the construction of the base courses, while centuries-old traditions were used in the processing of the stone. Craftsmanship handed down over generations and old processing techniques once again demonstrate the ingenuity of the project. All changes of direction in the pavement surfaces, for example, were realized by means of beveling techniques. In addition to its optical and haptic properties, Bavarian granite offered a number of advantages, not least in economic and sustainable terms. Short delivery routes and constant controls enabled a high degree of flexibility and quality. It was possible to deliver in a timely manner and to deal with problems during the construction phase. This also played an important role for another design element. Natural stone was also used for the seating pebbles placed in groups. In addition to numerous benches, the polished boulders provide a place to relax after a stroll through the city. A very special design detail is the newly created Fuhrmannsbrunnen, which takes up the historical reference to the Fuhrmannsstadt and reinterprets it. In its design, old craftsmanship was once again used. In a great ceremony, impressions of the horse, rider and carriage were taken, which now adorn the surface of the fountain. The cast-iron top plate is also embellished with inscriptions in the form of quotations from the colourful everyday life of the city. The glass panes of the bus shelter were also embellished with historic wagon wheel motifs. An e-bike station, a bookcase and the staging of the historic city gates in the form of light steles set additional accents and make the uniqueness and individuality of the city space clear. The ingenious lighting concept has received positive criticism not only because of its efficiency. The deliberately brighter illumination of traffic areas and the discreet, atmospheric lighting of meeting points also creates safety and quality of stay. All lamps are operated with contemporary LED technology. Another new feature is the use of so-called gobo spotlights, which were used to illuminate the historic facades. By means of specially adapted templates, windows, for example, can be left out of the illumination, while the façade is fully illuminated. This novel technology minimizes user conflicts and curbs light pollution.

Attractive attraction
In addition to the design beautification, Mengen experienced above all a cultural and townscape enhancement. The redevelopment of the town centre attracted people back to the centre, where a thriving town life with numerous shopping opportunities was established. With a specially written play, regular festivals and the newly created annual Fuhrmannstag, the people of Mengen have since made their town centre their own. In the meantime, the transformation of the town centre has triggered a structural change. It served as the foundation stone for the economic and cultural upswing. Where the townscape was dominated by vacancy after the relocation of the main road, today the social life of the town is flourishing. The newfound feeling for life ensured not least a positive image change for the city.

Citizen participation and events
Local residents were already integrated during the planning phase. They were informed about the measure in numerous discussions and were able to voice their concerns, wishes and suggestions. The implementation of the measure was deliberately integrated into the ongoing operation of a city centre. Thus, passers-by were able to experience the construction progress without restrictions. A construction site office provided interested parties with up-to-date information on the progress of the construction work and served as a contact point for all those involved.