The Master Academy: Neuland

A master academy on the Frankfurt Bridges trains those who build two-thirds of the bridges and buildings with handicrafts

European arts and crafts are threatened with extinction: The last great masters of their craft will be dead in 10 to 20 years, and with them will die the knowledge of our traditional architecture. The Frankfurt Bridges will change that by creating a demand for arts and crafts that will last for years: more than 30 kilometres of the Frankfurt Bridges will be built with arcades, wrought-iron railings, cut glass and other handicrafts of all kinds. The Master Academy for the Preservation and Innovation of European Arts and Crafts trains those who can revive and develop our architectural heritage.

Content: In order to preserve European arts and crafts, a master academy is founded on the bridges

European arts and crafts are threatened with extinction. The lack of demand for arts and crafts stemmed from the view, common for decades but now outdated, that they were "unfashionable" techniques: since, on the contrary, arts and crafts are both sustainable and in keeping with the spirit of the times, training in them should be professionally established on the bridges.

In order to ensure the artisanal design for 60km of bridges, junior staff are already being trained during the years of preliminary planning for the bridges. Their first major market will be the Frankfurt Bridges.

During the years of preliminary planning, the training will take place in a provisional building before moving to the actual master academy on the Offenbach Master Bridge section above the Kaiserlei. The academy is supplemented by a boarding school, as it offers training and further education for children from the age of 12 as well as for seasoned master craftsmen who wish to continue their education.

Preservation of European arts and crafts in construction

The Second World War destroyed many masterpieces of architecture - irretrievably, as was first thought. But in the decades that followed, many cities did not spare the money and effort to have the cultural heritage that were thought lost rebuilt.

Over 70% of Frankfurt was destroyed in the war. Even if the reconstruction in the post-war years was initially rather characterized by cost constraints and mostly plain architecture, since the 80s of the last century the people of Frankfurt have increasingly devoted themselves to the reconstruction of old buildings: the Ostzeile and the Schwarze Stern at the Römer, the Alte Oper, the Neue Altstadt and many more.

With the Frankfurt Bridges, this movement is continued: About 60% of the Frankfurt Bridges are in the style of the old Frankfurt, the remaining 40% - partly also artistically enriched, partly minimalistic - are architecturally modern in design.

When it comes to arts and crafts, Frankfurt can look back on a rich past: As an international trading city, it already had architectural and artful buildings from numerous European styles before the war.

Experts on this Topic

Zentralverband des Deutschen Handwerks - Zentralverband des Deutschen Baugewerbes e.V. - Handwerkskammer Frankfurt-Rhein-Main - Handwerkskammer Wiesbaden - Handwerkskammer Kassel - Handwerk Connected

FFM Nordend West Roland Meinecke Wiki C.

Diversity of architecture in Frankfurt: from oriental charm and Art Nouveau to buildings with Italian flair or the aura of an English country estate.

FFM Innenstadt Roland Meinecke Wiki Commons v

FFM Sachsenhausen Eva Kröcher Wiki Commons

Frankfurt also had an impressive sculptural tradition

alle Bilder, Stiftung Altes Neuland Frankfurt

And the Frankfurt sculptors undoubtedly had a sense of humor, as the gentlemen on the keystones on the windows of the Frankfurt District Court prove: One wonders at their sight which unloved fellow citizens they wanted to make a fool of. . . .

A favourite material of Frankfurt's stonemasons and sculptors: the red Main sandstone

In Frankfurt you can admire a wide variety of wrought ironwork: lanterns, balcony railings or window grilles - numerous styles are represented

European arts and crafts on a 30km route: museum-like art for all residents

Despite the Second World War, Frankfurt, Germany and the whole of Europe are still full of artisan beauty from the pre-war period.

The planning of the Frankfurt Bridges follows on from this master craftsmanship: Thousands of running metres of wrought ironwork for bridge railings, stonemasonry for cladding the columns, glasswork for sight protections on the bridges, stucco work for arcades and much more are required for this.

Particularly in those areas of the Frankfurt Bridges that run through residential areas, it is important that the bridge is beautiful from all sides: from below through vaulting or ceiling painting, from the side through stonemasonry cladding of columns and bridge corpus, and from above with greenery and beds for the view from the adjacent houses, from where bridge neighbours will gain full sight of artfully designed structures on the bridges.

Another important aspect of this firework display of European craftsmanship is that handicrafts are extremely sustainable.

Experts on this Topic

Handwerkskammer Frankfurt-Rhein-Main - Bundesverband Deutscher Steinmetze - Zentralverband der deutschen Natursteinwirtschaft - Landesinnungsverband Steinmetz- und Steinbildhauerhandwerk Baden-Württemberg - Kreishandwerkerschaft Leipzig Steinmetzinnung

Sustainable construction with artistic craftsmanship

Old craftsmanship is extremely durable. Whether made of stone, wood or forged iron: Made of good material and with quality workmanship, these buildings and their trades last for centuries - as can be seen not least in the oldest buildings in Frankurt, the half-timbered houses in Sachsenhausen.

Even glass art can be durable: The rose windows of the 13th-century Notre-Dame Cathedral even survived the fire of 2019 in parts of the church.

The materials used are also sustainable, either because they are made from renewable raw materials such as wood, or because hardly any CO₂ is released during their production or extraction, as is the case with natural stone, or simply because of their long service life.

For this alone, it is worth reviving our old craft tradition in times of climate change.

Quinlan Terry, a renowned architect from Great Britain whose buildings all follow classical architecture, sums up the advantages of the sustainability of traditional construction methods:

"If we want a future for our grandchildren, I propose that we build traditional buildings."

Prince Charles' favourite architect used to say: "The classical architecture lasts for centuries - while modern architecture lasts for decades"

Classical architecture is an art that requires years of training in the use of materials and design

If we want to preserve tradition and promote the impact of ultra-modern aspects that it has, such as "sustainability", then we need many more craftsmen who can do this again.

The modern economic principle of the post-war world, to save time and expensive material and thus also money in the creation of a product, is legitimate in some areas. However, in many areas it also brings with it a throwaway or demolition culture that is no longer in keeping with the times.

If craftsmen are to invest time and skill in their art again, then this investment must be rewarded according to its return on investment - and this is quite attractive from the point of view of longevity.

In addition to material longevity, there is also that of lasting acceptance by people of all kinds and origins. It is no coincidence that people travel halfway around the world to admire old art sites, old buildings or works of art from ancient times in museums: Things made with time and with knowledge, handed down over generations, have a timeless beauty which is also recognised by people from completely different cultural circles.

Does art in itself come from (technical) skill? The answer is quite clearly: no.

There is quite wonderful art by people who have never received training in any technique.

Where the depth and expression of a work of art come from cannot be described in words or analysis.

But if you want to create classical architecture art, then the technical skill to do so must be taught intensively - just as you could not paint in the style of the old masters without learning the technique needed to do so and practicing and refining it for years.

Albrecht Altdorfer –The Adoration of the Magi – Städel Frankfurt

Mark Rothko - No. 6 (Violet, Green and Red), sold for 140 million 2014

Innovation of the European arts and crafts in construction

We can learn a lot from the architecture of past centuries, also with regard to very topical issues such as insulation: There are traditional building materials such as clay, for example, which have quite excellent insulating properties if they are used correctly. Wooden buildings can also have very good insulating properties, and even natural stone can be used to insulate old brick facades instead of retrofitting them with rigid foam panels.

Another field where new requirements can be combined with new technology and old craftsmanship is glass art: Artificial illumination of glass art was only possible in the 19th century with candles or gas or kerosene lamps - all illuminants that become very hot and leave soot marks in the long run. With modern LED lights, completely different lighting effects can be created for stained glass or cut crystal glass.

Glass processing with the aid of laser equipment, for example, also opens up completely new dimensions in lighting.

Stucco can be used in a classic protective way, but also in a modern innovative one

Stucco on old building facades has numerous functions: First, it serves as a decoration, and second, it also serves as a drip edge that protects wooden windows or facades from water. In addition, they cover on the facade the part where the wooden ceiling beams, which lie on the outer wall of a building and would push away the plaster, because the wood of the beams „works“. The plaster would fall off in these places if cornices were not placed there, which are often made of wood themselves. If the facade plaster were not protected in many ways by these elements, it would crack, moisture would penetrate and the whole building could be massively damaged.

Martin Ranft Standesamt Baku - stuck-restauration.com

In modern buildings, however, master plasterers can use their stucco techniques to build so-called Rabbitz constructions (spanning): In the double-skin Rabbitz construction, the plaster base is applied to a load-bearing, lightweight steel structure both inside and outside. This allows the space between the interior and exterior walls to be used for insulation. Since the construction is much lighter than building with masonry, highly modern flowing shapes can be created.

Plasterer's art can also be used indoors in many ways

In the interior, stucco also had many functions: It served not only as decoration, but also to improve the acoustics of the room, because in a high room without structure on the ceiling eachr sound reverberates more strongly. However, if stucco is applied, it breaks up the sound. Therefore, for very large and high rooms usually applies: the more lush the stucco, the better.

In addition, stucco in old buildings was mainly placed along the top of the corner between the ceiling and the wall. The background for this was that air rushes along the wall from bottom to top: at the coolest point, the humidity condenses. This causes dust to stick to the walls above and below the corner, forming dark edges. Since air does not flow angularly, but roundly, the old master plasterers anticipated this rounding, so to speak, by coving, so that mould was not encouraged at the corners.

Fascinating innovative elements can also be created in the interior with conventional stucco techniques: For example, illuminants in suspended stucco ceilings can create fascinating effects - something that was previously impossible or a fire hazard due to the nature of illuminants.

56 Donald J. Bergquist - don-denver.blogspot.com

When residents look out of their windows at the bridges, they do not see a boring privacy screen, but magnificent glass art: When the light from the pathway lights on the bridges shines through it after dusk, it unfolds a mysterious glow or sparkle. With modern illuminant effects, traditional glass art can take on a whole new spectrum of effects.

Isn't handicraft over 30km too costly? Don't we need industrial mass production?

Even if handicrafts look very individually made, the first impression is deceptive: Even in the past, certain elements were mass-produced, as far as the machines were available, and then only adapted and supplemented on customer request and order.

If you walk attentively through Frankfurt's streets and look at the old buildings, you will notice that there are certain forms and elements that are repeated again and again.

However, there is another reason for the repetition: What looks like pure ornamentation at first glance, has a tangible function in almost all cases, which ensures that the building and its trades survive permanently and without frequent repair cycles.

Stucco profiles duplicated - storage must be carried out under the correct conditions: room temperature and room humidity must not fall below or exceed certain values

Profiles on the facades of old buildings are not meaningless ornaments: most of the elements have a protective or even static function.

While today houses are built with an expectation that they should last 70 to 100 years, in the past every effort was made to ensure that a building would last 100 years or more if possible.

Stucco or stone profiles with drip edges were placed everywhere so that facades or wooden window frames underneath were not damaged by moisture.

Connections were made not only by metal but sometimes also by static natural stone constructions, which we today consider beautiful without realizing the static improvement behind them.

Corner stones or cladding natural stone casettes were placed to protect the masonry - and much more.

Cornices are not purely structural elements of a facade, but fulfil several functions

Protectivefunctionofthecornices: The plaster of the facades is protected from moisture and water streaks by drip edges of the cornices.

Concealingplasteredges: In addition, entire facades cannot be plastered in one go - even under optimal conditions, one managed about one floor per day; without a cornice, one would later see an edge where work was finished and continued the next day. The cornices cover this.

Replacementofotherwisetoothinexteriormasonry: Ceiling beams usually lay as far as possible on the exterior wall of a building. Often, there would then only be space left for one brick row of walls up to the alignment of the facade. This would have been unstable, so the "gap" was closed with a cornice.

Windows and doors made of wood were protected from rain by roofing and profiled soffits. In addition, windows could not be attached so well to pure masonry. Moreover, the mortar of masonry draws significantly more water than natural stone, which is also unfavorable for wood.

Behind the natural stone cassettes under windows were radiator niches. In front of these, the brick masonry would have been quite thin and unstable - therefore, natural stone cassettes were installed: Because masonry only works or holds if it has a superimposed load, and windows are too light as a superimposed load.

Some natural stone elements have a static or stabilising function or serve to "distribute forces": For example, window and door arches made of natural stone do not rest directly on side columns, but on abutments stones to the right and left.

Also keystones at the top in the middle of the arch have static functions: The force of the arch presses on them - without keystone a natural stone arch does not work, which can withstand extremely much, because it is masoned on pressure.

Balusters taper upwards and downwards because this has a finer visual effect than straight columns.

Conversely, it can be said that thickening is necessary in the middle, as this corresponds to the force progression: Because under compressive load, the buckling is greatest in the middle. Accordingly, more material must be applied exactly there.

If you didn't just thicken the middle, but made everything the same thickness, it would also be a waste of material.

Also, the visibility would be much less if you made all the balusters the same thickness from top to bottom.

Fluting can be found on consoles, pilasters or columns.

They are not just for pure decoration, but make areas visually smaller. Especially with columns, this means that you can make them as thick as necessary, and they still look slim and graceful.

Corner stones protect the masonry from crumbling away at the corners: Because in the past, there were no stainless plaster rails - so cornerstones served such a function instead.

Column capitals have the function of "load introduction": the load is taken up by a wider bay and introduced into the narrower column.

The ring washers between the column and the base also have a load-distributing function. Moreover, pedestals were needed because in the past there was no concrete foundation under the supports, and in order to distribute the load more widely, a base of natural stone was created instead.

Moreover, the rings above the bases and below the capitals shorten the column and distribute the load further up or down: The buckling length of the columns is reduced and you can make the column narrower. If the column is longer, the column must be thicker to carry the load.

Balcony brackets are convex or concave rounded because the resulting slope of about a 60-degree angle is statically the best way to transfer the load of the surface above towards the building.

If you made the brackets square, you would waste material by leaving it on the bracket even though you don't need the corner part.

Also, corners break off more easily during transportation and fabrication. Saving material has been very important before: And if you get the shape convex and concave right, you can knock two opposite brackets out of one block.

Can architects nowadays still plan buildings with artisan design at all?

Even if at universities, from the 3rd semester onwards, more and more planning is done with computer drawing programs, the design through sketches is still an integral part of the archtectural training. Architects who were still studying in the last millennium often had to rely completely on their skills with pen and paper, anyway. This provides the most important foundation: Design planning of traditional architecture must be done by hand drawing and cannot be done on a computer, as the CAD-based architectural software available on the market is not designed for this.

In the further planning stages, the architects, like master builders in olden times, must be able to assess the interplay of the trades created by the arts and crafts in terms of their effects, i.e. in terms of statics, insulation, fire protection, etc. In close cooperation with the corresponding master craftsmen, however, this is also possible without any problems.

The sketchbook used to be an integral part of an architect's travel kit

Until the Second World War, architects always travelled with their sketchbooks in order to record everything that had been successfully realised on other buildings and to be able to reconstruct it at home.

This is no longer necessary today, since photography and the Internet mean that other buildings are always available in front of one's eyes. The great advantage of permanent drawing, however, is that it sharpens the eye both for the structure of artisanal elements and for their function on the building.

Thorough training in drawing or sketching existing successful buildings is more effective than any theoretical instruction in stylistics. This also applies to buildings in the style of modern architecture.

Drawing from existing buildings also trains the eye of any architect in another context: proportions and symmetries or balanced asymmetries. These are, in fact, the characteristics that distinguish an old building, i.e. a building from the pre-war period - not the arts and crafts elements: these are merely another component of the art of old building.

Thousands of running meters of wrought-iron railings and elaborate glass privacy cassettes, over 8000 columns with sculpturally decorated natural stone cladding and much more - who is supposed to produce all that?

First of all, it is important to note that this will be European and not just German craftsmanship: The Frankfurt Bridges may be based in Frankfurt and thus primarily revive traditional building styles appropriate to the region; but as explained above, the styles of the Rhine-Main region came to Frankfurt from all over the world through the sketchbooks of architects, and thus it is European craftsmanship at its core.

Due to its size, the whole project is a European project, both scientifically and economically - and also in terms of design.

And last but not least: Without the contribution of artisans from Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria, Italy, Greece, Spain, France, the Benelux countries and also Great Britain, it would not be possible at all to deliver such a quantity of handicrafts in a few years, especially since not all master craftsmen's workshops in Germany can be blocked for this purpose for years.

However, the volume, the detailed design and also the charisma that the Frankfurt Bridges will have for the renaissance of arts and crafts makes it necessary to train young people for all trades directly in Frankfurt: in the Master Academy for the Preservation and Innovation of European Arts and Crafts.

Alexandros Michailidis - istockphoto.com

The last luminaries of their trade: top craftsmanship is threatened with extinction

The fact that the skilled trades have a problem with young talent, especially in Germany, has repeatedly been in the press in recent years. The main reason is the lack of demand, because hardly any clients commission a building in classical architecture, so that the main customers come from the preservation of historical monuments - a limited market. In addition, buildings that are solidly crafted and aesthetically designed cost more to invest in, but are timelessly beautiful and sought-after, and (well maintained or refurbished every few decades) are also almost timelessly durable. Unfortunately, in modern investment calculations, this is usually not as important in project development as short-term amortization or return on investment. Simply put: top quality with artisan design is no longer adequately rewarded.

But even if there is money, the lack of skilled workers for the reconstruction became clear at the latest during the fire of Notre Dame: Craftsmen had to be sought from all over Europe who were still historically skilled in the various trades. From Germany, cathedral builders of the cathedral building lodges were provided, to which ,Chairman of the European Cathedral Builders, Wolfgang Zehetner remarked: " . . . .these building lodges are like the last Gallic villages. In the everyday life of today's building industry this craft no longer exists."

Lack of attractive training and career prospects

Another driver is education policy: For almost half a century, the focus has been on getting as many young people as possible to take the Abitur (Matura), while other types of schools are neglected. But anyone who has analyzed poems or written biology papers up to the age of nineteen without the same level of craft support in adolescence finds it difficult to suddenly pick up a saw or a chisel as a young adult.

If an industry does not grow, is not adequately rewarded and does not find enough young talent, then the end is foreseeable. Accordingly, the last great masters of their trade are dying out in all trades. In 15 to 20 years, there will be no one left in many trades who can still master the arts and skills of their forefathers.

This is why the Frankfurt Bridges will harbour the Master Academy for the Preservation and Innovation of European Arts and Arafts

The Frankfurt Bridges are enriched by a section in Frankfurt's neighbourhood: the Offenbach Master Bridge

The ideal location for a master academy is above the Kaiserlei in Offenbach: The area has direct access to the river Main, so that material deliveries can also be made via the river. The surrounding buildings are all commercial areas, so that even the bridge, which is elevated significantly because of the motorway crossing below, does not face residential buildings.

Moreover, Offenbach also has an important tradition of craftsmanship, to which the „Hochschule für Gestaltung“ (University of Art and Design) still bears witness today, even if its focus has shifted over time to creativity, art, media and design.

The Master Academy for the Preservation and Innovation of European Arts and Crafts on the Offenbach Master Bridge, on the other hand, comprises 20 traditional crafts.

The craft skills are fluent across areas or can be subdivided in each case also into further specialties. And precisely for this reason, a master craftsman academy where all trades are represented is extremely enriching, because the students, apprentices, journeymen (and also master craftsmen who attend the academy for special further training) also permanently learn something about the other trades.

Over 100,000 square meters of space for 4000 master students and their teachers

The Master Craftsman Academy above the Kaiserlei has a workshop or ground floor hall area of 40,000 square metres.

Here, the crafts are spatially grouped together, which have common material, tool and machine bases.

Large elements can actually be produced in the halls. In addition to the ground floor hall area, there are a further 60,000 square metres of building area on the 1st, 2nd and partly 3rd floors, so that a total building area of 100,000 square metres is available.

Of the total area of 90,000 sqm bridge area of the master academy (minus building footprints and path and roadway areas), approx. 30,000 sqm is usable open space, on which partial buildings can also be erected in order to practice the actual construction of trades (e.g. roofing or bricklaying etc.).

At the same time, the resource-saving disposal or reusability of materials can be practiced when these parts of the training-/test-buildings are demolished.

From the use of traditional tools to the handling of state-of-the-art machines: everything is taught

Each hall has the full range of tools and machines historically used for its trades: from the full range of plain, non-electronic tools traditionally used in Europe for purely manual work to state-of-the-art computer-controlled machines.

On the 1st and 2nd floors of the buildings are classrooms, some of which are equipped with computers, others with infrastructure for experimental setups or individual work tables, so that even on the upper floors not only theory and the use of CAD programs can be taught, but also fine motor handicraft activities.

Complete equipment with tool pallets and machines for every trade

On the Offenbach Master Bridge all craft areas are optimally equipped.

While in the basic training the emphasis is on being able to produce elements by hand in the same way as they were produced in pre-industrial times, from the second year of the apprenticeship onwards, work with electrical tools is gradually introduced.

Learning computer-controlled manufacturing comes last, as hand-manufacturing processes more intensively promote knowledge of materials and manufacturing processes.

Young and old are trained on the Offenbach Master Bridge

The Master Craftsmen's Academy offers apprentices and journeymen a training opportunity in all craft areas, and it also offers master craftsmen the opportunity to learn new things from luminaries in their field or specialists with other focuses within the framework of further training courses: The best specialists in the craft world are brought to the Master Craftsmen's Academy from all over Europe for monthly or trimester- or semester-long training courses for an appropriate fee, in order to pass on their knowledge to the up-and-coming talents.

An important part of the concept is also the training of the very young talents, whose targeted promotion should actually begin before the age of 18: Because while historically in the past young people started an apprenticeship in a trade at the age of 14 or 15, and before that they often received a preliminary imprint and prior knowledge of it in their parents' business, nowadays many young people do not arrive at vocational schools until they have passed their A-levels at the age of 19 or, in the best case, after completing the 10th grade at the age of 16 or 17.

In primary and secondary schools - at least in Germany - there has only been a minimal amount of preparatory training in the context of art lessons, and only in a few federal states does the subject of handicrafts still exist in grades 1 to 6.

The talent pool of craft artists: a neglected potential

Today, when we admire the masterpieces from ancient times, there is usually a simultaneous regret that hardly any craftsman can still create something like that nowadays. However, this is exclusively due to the lack of educational structures and the lack of market demand. It is not because the talent pool for this is no longer there in Europe, quite the opposite: Almost everyone has had the experience in their school days that at some point there was someone in the class who could paint like a professional. One wondered enviously how that could be possible, just like that, often classmates who otherwise didn't stand out at all for their brilliant achievements, and where no ambitious parents with early education programs in drawing were behind them. They are simply children who have inherited the talent for artistic creation, just as others have a talent for learning languages, a talent for sports, or an extraordinary musical gift.

However, while there are already schools for sport and music where children from the age of 10 or 12 receive intensive support for their talent and the other compulsory schooling runs more alongside, there are no such talent incubators for craftsmanship - although there are also top talents existing in this field.

The boarding school of the Master Academy

The Master Academy can accommodate 200 young students each year: Lessons for the usual school subjects are taught in classes of 20 pupils, but for the craft training the classes are divided into two trains, as the teachers in the workshops can take care of a maximum of 10 pupils in this age group.

This means that the Master Academy has 600 students for the first three years (12/13 - 14/15 year olds), and another 600 students (15-18 year olds) for the subsequent journeyman period, plus around 200 journeymen who come from other parts of Germany and Europe and pass the entrance examination, but are probably already 18 years old.

There must be a boarding area for the 1,200 pupils under the age of 18, because similar to schools for highly gifted musicians or athletes, either the parents drive the children to the school from further away, or the family even moves nearby. If all this is not possible, there must be a place for the children and young people to stay at the school.

Accordingly, a boarding school is planned for the 600 youngest pupils at the Gerbermühlwerft, with a total building area of around 9,800 sqm; for the older 600 pupils under the age of 18, a boarding school with 9,500 sqm of building area is planned on an area further west above Gerbermühlstrasse.

Journeymen who come to the Master Academy at thr age 18 or older are housed in dormitories or apartments somewhere on the Frankfurt Bridges, just like other apprentices or students.

The master academy offers space for 1,800 incoming students for training and around 200 professionals for further training.

In addition, the spatial capacity as well as teaching capacity for another 300 pupils from the region is given by flexibly increasing the class sizes somewhat.

Boarding school for the 600 12 to 15 year old master students at the Gerbermühl shipyard

Boarding school for the 600 12 to 15 year old master students at the Gerbermühl shipyard

Extract from the bridge-building cadastre for the boarding school for younger pupils

Extract from the bridge-building cadastre for the boarding school for older pupils

In order to have junior staff trained in time for the construction of the Frankfurt Bridges, the master academy has to be established provisionally on another site in parallel to the pre-planning phase of the bridges

The construction of the Frankfurt Bridges - and thus also the construction of the Offenbach Master Bridge - can only be started after an intensive preliminary planning phase of 4 to 5 years.

Since the construction of the first bridge-sections is also likely to take almost 1 year, the first craftsmen with artistic skills will not be needed until 6 years after the decision has been taken. And since it makes sense to start with the somewhat less ornate outer arms first, for example the modern section in the east, it will probably take another one to two years before there is a massive demand for arts and crafts.

Then, however, after about 8 years of preparatory work, the demand for art and crafts is likely to increase rapidly. By then, the first cohorts of young recruits will already have been trained to provide intensive support for the existing companies from all over Europe that will have to work together to cope with this order volume.

It would therefore be important to establish the master academy on a provisional site immediately after the decision has been made, but the Offenbach Master Bridge has not yet been built, and to start the training.

Ongoing talent scouting must become a standard programme across Europe

The Master Academy works with kindergartens and schools throughout Germany and Europe and regularly offers courses on site or holiday courses at the Offenbach Master Bridge.

In some cases craftsmen travel to the kindergartens and schools, in others school children can come to the Master Craftsmen Academy in holiday camps.

The most far-reaching form of scouting, however, is the organisation of courses given by local crafts enterprises on site in the kindergartens and schools in the respective countries: In this way, children can also be identified in Italy, Poland, England, etc. who might later wish to attend the Master Academy which offers boarding for talented kids from the age of 12 years onwards.

One of the main focuses of scouting will be to recruit as high a proportion as possible of girls with a talent for craftsmanship for training on the Offenbach Master Bridge.

Training plans for master academy promote cross-trade thinking

In the first three years, the students do not yet choose a specific craft, but learn together the basics for the artisan construction of buildings. Slight emphases can be set, but in later working life it is helpful if everyone who works on a construction site understands what colleagues in other craft trades are doing. It also means that the choice of focus does not have to be made so early.

For the journeymen, too, training on such a large, international and diverse terrain is a benefit for their later work. And for the master craftsmen who come to the academy for further training courses, in addition to the opportunity to learn something from a luminary or a fellow master craftsman with a different focus, there is also the appealing chance of further training in related trades.

Normal school lessons for the youngest may not be missing

The 12 to 15 year old students all receive a normal school education as well, so that after the first three years of apprenticeship they could graduate from a secondary school, or - if they want to go back to school - they could go back to a secondary school.

For even if the "normal" lessons are shown with only 10 hours in the timetable, it must not be underestimated how much of the school subjects are taught in the other arts and crafts lessons in a practical way: Geometry as well as calculations are indispensable for almost all crafts. For every form of materials science, the basics of chemistry are automatically taught as well. Almost all machining processes require a considerable basic knowledge of statics or physics. The history of Europe also permeates all crafts, so that even the history of music can also be imagined by the pupils. Geography becomes tangible in the context of materials science with the origin of types of stone, old forms of dyeing art or the origin of special woods etc. And the pupils have to learn foreign languages, including English, anyway, in order to be able to communicate with the different masters who are invited to their training.

Timetable for the youngest apprentices - not yet divided into different trades (I) 12-13 year-olds

The Master Bridges run over the highways of the redesigned Kaiserlei, so that the new green spaces relevant for nature conservation remain untouched and could possibly serve as open space for the youngest pupils to play sports

Timetable for the youngest apprentices - not yet divided into different crafts (II) 13-14 year old pupils

Excursions in the first three apprenticeship years

Excursions - Antiquity

Saalburg

Roman Germanic Museum

Liebighaus

Excursiondestinations - Middle Ages

Ronneburg

Old town Büdingen

Old Town Marburg

Eberbach Monastery

Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Excursiondestinations - Domes

Mainz Cathedral (stained glass window excursion)

Speyer Cathedral

Worms Cathedral

Frankfurt Cathedral

Cologne Cathedral (stained glass window excursion)

The sketchbook always with you

Excursiondestinations - Raw material extraction

Miltenberg sandstone quarry

Coblenz slate quarry

Lahn Marble Museum

Excursions - Styles

Baroque/Rococo Fulda

Wilhelminian style Wiesbaden

Art Nouveau Bad Nauheim

Art Nouveau Darmstadt

More distantdestinations - Dome

Minster cathedral lodge

Freiburg Cathedral Construction Lodge

Strasbourg cathedral lodge

Regensburg Cathedral lodge

More distantdestinations - styles

Berlin classicism

Weimar Classicism

Learning content for stonemason journeyman training on the Offenbach Master Bridges

SECURITY

health protection

- professional safety regulations

- Measures to protect personal health at the workplace

- Measures to prevent occupational diseases

- Knowledge of all prohibition, command, warning and rescue signs

- Measures for the safe handling of chemicals

- Knowledge of the principles for personal protective equipment

- Select and use protective equipment properly

Environmental standards relevant to the profession

- Handling waste and disposing of it in an environmentally friendly way

- Handling recyclable materials

- Handling of contaminated substances

EDIT

Tools, equipment, machines, aids

Use of suitable tools, devices, machines and their maintenance

Use of suitable work aids, materials and auxiliary materials

Store all job-specific materials, construction materials and auxiliary materials in accordance with regulations

Knowledge of safety regulations for hand-guided and stationary machines

Learning content for stonemason journeyman training on the Offenbach Master Bridges

Editing

select machining techniques for the production of workpieces: i.e. facades, masonry, floors and stairs as well as special constructions

Plan the use of the workpieces taking into account all safety regulations

Determine the use of suitable types of scaffolding

Apply different types of panel cladding, anchoring systems and setting techniques

Professional measuring, scribing and ripping of workpieces

Making templates for sketches and working drawings

Components and construction methods

Mastering the structureoffacades and the construction forms of facade elements

Mastering thetechniquesofsetting special constructions for building components (for natural, artificial and concrete building blocks)

distinguish between typesofmasonry and the properties and manufacture of masonry made of natural, artificial and concrete blocks

Mastering typesofvaults and parts of vaults

Knowing the requirements for layingsubstrates, selecting techniques for preparing laying substrates

Layingtypes and the laying of floors made of natural & artificial ashlars as well as artificial stone and terrazzo indoors and outdoors, including the use of suitable setting and jointing techniques.

Plan different typesofstairs and master construction methods and regulations for the construction of stairs

Learning content for stonemason journeyman training on the Offenbach Master Bridges

STONES - ARTIFICIAL STONES - CONCRETE

Rocks

Classification of rocks into rock groups and rock types

Origin, extraction and properties and uses derived therefrom

Determine technical rock properties with suitable measuring and testing equipment

Evaluate the usability of the rock on the basis of the results.

Examine and differentiate between rock samples with a microscope and determine suitable areas of application for rocks

Knowledge of professionally relevant mineral and organic binders

Artificial stones and concrete blocks

Know the components and types of artificial and concrete blocks

Explaining the production of mixes

Selecting suitable tools for the production and processing of artificial and concrete blocks

Carry out surface treatments and material selection professionally

Natural and artificial workstones

Professional impregnation and cleaning of natural, artificial and concrete stones

Professional execution of bonding and additions to natural, artificial and concrete blocks

Determine environmental influences on workpieces made of natural, artificial and concrete blocks

Use of professionally relevant measuring and testing equipment to test properties of natural, artificial and concrete building blocks

Document, evaluate & interpret the test results and define suitable areas of application for natural, artificial and concrete blocks

Learning content for stonemason journeyman training on the Offenbach Master Bridges

CALCULATIONS - COMPUTER

Calculations

Calculate lengths, area, volume and mass of workpieces

Calculate and display slope or gradient

Perform scale calculations

Calculate design ratios and proportions

Project related calculations

Material requirement calculations on the basis of plans or sketches

Calculate the working time required for the production of workpieces from natural, artificial and concrete blocks.

Project related records

Create and interpret measurement lists

Labeling and dimensioning drawings according to standards

Create stowing plans and templates both manually and computer-aided

Computer aided working

Draw sketches and working drawings of workpieces made of natural, artificial and concrete blocks, both manually and computer-aided.

Computer-aided representation of workpieces in different views

PROJECT SKILLS

Customer interaction

Recording and discussing customer wishes

Making models according to the wishes of the customer

Develop the project idea and formulate the project goals

Set up a project plan with milestones

Identify the resources required to implement the project

Learning content for stonemason journeyman training on the Offenbach Master Bridges

MONUMENT PRESERVATION - RESTORATION - ART HISTORY

Fonts, ornaments, symbols

Meaning of writings, ornaments and symbols

Suitable working methods for their application

Engraving fonts, symbols and ornaments

Monuments and grave memorials

Relevant connections and foundation work

Renovation and restoration concepts for workpieces made of natural, artificial and concrete stones

Tasks of the preservation of historical monuments

Cleaning techniques for monuments and grave memorials

Environmental influences on workpieces made of natural, artificial and concrete blocks,

Measures for the protection of workpieces

Detect the effects of weathering on factory bricks by damage analysis

Implement appropriate conservation measures

Art historical epochs

give an overview of different art-historical epochs and assign building methods, building styles and building elements to them

Sketch typical building elements of different styles and epochs

About 120 teachers are needed in the master academy to teach 600 - 800 apprentices, 800 - 1000 journeymen as well as 400 - 600 master students and to hold further education courses for about 300 colleagues.

In addition, there are about 50 part-time teachers for those school subjects that are not covered by the handicraft lessons. If up to 300 additional pupils from the Frankfurt region are added as commuters, the classes will be enlarged somewhat (from 10 to up to 12 for the younger ones, and up to 20 for the older ones).

Of the 120 teachers, on average two-thirds are "guest masters" who are invited for a course, trimester or semester to pass on their knowledge to the youth and their specialized knowledge to other masters.

It should be noted that guest masters, despite their presumably comparatively higher age, still have their own workshop, their own customer base or even their own business with employees. Therefore, it will rarely be possible to retain them for longer periods of time, even with attractive fee compensation. The main motivation for the luminaries in their field is likely to be that they are given the opportunity to pass on their knowledge and skills to very talented young people.

In addition, during their guest lectureship they can find employees or perhaps even students with successor potential. Since the students have all already received excellent training at the end of their journeyman's period, a large proportion will probably go to master companies somewhere in Europe afterwards anyway to do their master training directly in a company there.

The guest masters will be accommodated in the masters' houses on the bridge section above Gerbermühlstraße and Strahlenberger Straße. The buildings, which cover around 20,000 square metres, are designed both for individual guests and, in some cases, for families, in case a guest master is prepared to stay longer and would like to bring his or her family.

A core element of the Master Academy for the Preservation and Innovation of European Arts and Crafts are cooperations

While it is common practice for universities and institutes to establish networks or organise exchange years for students and teachers, this exists only to a limited extent for arts and crafts in Europe.

The academy on the Offenbach Master Bridge will therefore be the core of a network that creates connections and exchanges, both for the respective crafts throughout Europe with each other and for different crafts with each other.

The most important cooperations are those with other craft schools or vocational schools - in the Rhine-Main area and throughout Germany: teacher exchange programmes ensure that training knowledge is passed on; and the Master Academy also offers an excellent opportunity for further training with its guest lectureships by luminaries, even for experienced teachers.

Networking in Germany at chamber level can only take place with the help of the Hessian Chambers of Skilled Crafts, which are three of 54 chambers of skilled crafts in Germany in which the German skilled crafts sector is organised. With the help of the Chambers of Skilled Crafts, information exchange on modern technologies, further training opportunities and also talent scouting can be organised in the interest of local skilled crafts businesses: After all, if a skilled crafts enterprise has identified talented young craftsmen in kindergartens and schools in its vicinity, the number of young people who return home well trained from the master craftsman academy and work in businesses there or are in a position to take over businesses increases for their region over the years. This is important, because many craft enterprises are affected by the problem of successors, especially those with a heritage conservation or arts and crafts orientation.

Another important cooperation is the one with the Hochschule für Gestaltung Offenbach (Offenbach University of Art and Design), because for the mission of the academy to "innovate European arts and crafts" the exchange and cooperation with students and teachers from departments of modern product design and art is indispensable.

The HfG Offenbach as an important cooperation partner

40 percent of the Frankfurt Bridges are not built in the classical style, but in a modern style. That's 20 kilometers of bridges that need to be designed in a modern style.

The Hochschule für Gestaltung in Offenbach is known in Germany and also internationally for its expertise in product design, and therefore the "designers" for the modern sector are also potentially recruited from the young talents of the HfG Offenbach.

Cooperations of all kinds between the Master Acadmey and the HfG lend themselves to this and to the spatial proximity as well as thematic overlaps: The students of the HfG shape their products and works of art themselves, partly from materials similar to those used at the academy. Thus, they could deepen their knowledge of sculpture and woodworking, for example, in courses at the Master Academy.

Conversely, the students of the Master Academy can learn from the HfG students in joint projects for all questions of innovation and, if necessary, also take up further training opportunities at the HfG. Whether metalworking, bodywork, lighting effects, creative buildings, etc. - if one wants to go beyond the mere reception of classical models, suggestions and cooperation must be sought with educational institutions where creativity and design as well as modernity are in the foreground.

HfG integrierendes Design – Tioli – David Maurer

HfG interkulturelles Design - Lichtlinie

HfG Materialdesign – imd_ plant transistor

HfG Industrial Design - Aer E-Bike - André Look

Cooperation with the Werner-von-Siemens-School: Networking with electrical engineering

Another important cooperation partner is the Werner-von-Siemens-School in Frankfurt, which trains young people in a wide variety of electrical engineering subjects: The Master Academy does not include the subject of electrical engineering, but in construction the basic knowledge of it or a basic understanding is essential. When it comes to innovation (for example, lighting concepts for glass art) or automation (for example, automatically opening doors and the like), there is always an interface with the electrical engineers.

The students of the Master Academy could be taught the basics of electrical engineering in courses at the Werner-von-Siemens-Schule. And the students of the Werner-von-Siemens-School can in return attend courses at the Offenbach Master Academy, which trains their understanding of handicrafts or also their craftsmanship. Joint project work is also conceivable in order to test the interdisciplinary work and interfaces live.

Cooperation with the Philipp Holzmann School: networking with the heating, plumbing and air-conditioning department

The same applies to the Philipp Holzmann School in Frankfurt: it trains young people in the subjects of heating, plumbing and air conditioning and has a strong focus on ecological issues.

Modern and sustainable construction requires a high level of competence in precisely these areas, also in classical architecture: Insulation, waste heat utilisation, drinking water saving or even rainwater utilisation are important topics in every new building. The Master Academy and the Philipp Holzmann School can enrich their students with the ecological competencies of the other discipline within the framework of cooperation.

Cooperation with the IT College on the Frankfurt Bridges

The IT College of the Frankfurt Bridges is located on the other side of the Main, virtually opposite the Master Academy. All age groups are represented there as well, because anyone who can program excellently, no matter what age or from what country, with or without a school-leaving certificate, can be admitted and study here.

So there, too, are students in the age group of 12 - 18 years who are placed in boarding schools.

For the students of both training centres on the bridges, the world on the other side of the river is an enrichment: for the crafts students, the computer science of computer-controlled machines is extremely important, and for the IT students, every now and then it does them good to build a small wall or carve something out of wood.

In addition, the boarding schools on both sides can help each other out in case of bottlenecks as well as planning joint activities such as sports or excursions with their students.

The Master Academy offers young people a perspective in addition to IT and other computer-related professions.

The demand for craftsmen with artisan skills will be gigantic in the course of the construction of the Frankfurt Bridges. However, if the master academy is founded at the same time as the decision to build the bridge is taken, and if is initially housed in temporary facilities, cohorts of young craftsmen will already be growing up and well trained by the time demand begins.

However, should another city in Europe decide at the same time or earlier to implement a bridge concept with large parts of traditional architecture, then it could even become tight for the Frankfurt Bridges. There are not as many blacksmiths, stonemasons, glaziers etc. as would be needed for two bridge landscapes of this kind in the whole of Europe. There will hardly be enough capacity Europe-wide for the one infrastructure project in Frankfurt.

Craftsmanship will definitely become the new cool career choice with the introduction of beautiful bridges over grey, wide car roads in Europe: The Master Academy shows a way for a young person to be top trained, culturally educated and internationally oriented even without a high school diploma or university degree - and also to have extraordinarily good earning potential.

For it is essential not to let a large part of our human capital simply lie idle in the future: The IT industry is predicted to have a bright future, while many of today's service jobs are increasingly being replaced by intelligent computer programs and more and more jobs are being replaced by computer-controlled machines. However, many young people simply have other talents that have nothing to do with computers and programming. And for this group, the Frankfurt Bridges offer a promising solution with the upswing in arts and crafts - along with the founding of a training center for it.

Conclusion: The Frankfurt Bridges create a new heyday for traditional and at the same time resource-saving crafts in Europe

On the bridges, generations of first-class craftsmen are trained, who not only learn or rediscover the accumulated knowledge and skills of traditional European crafts from old masters, but also develop them further and combine them with the technical possibilities offered by modern research.

This will open up new training and work opportunities for thousands of young people throughout Europe. In addition, the construction of the bridges in Frankfurt and similar structures in other European cities will generate large order volumes for decades to come.

The outdated view that there is a contrast between "arts and crafts&natural materials=old" versus "minimalist&concrete/glass=modern" is completely eliminated: A building world is created that is extremely sustainable through material and durability, and thus a heritage for the future.

Music Pavilions

Handicraft Traditions

Hobby pop-ups

Stage Art

Exercise

Die Brückenwelt

Besondere Quartiere

Brückenvielfalt