Fragment of concrete covering the River Sieg

The uncovering and redesign of the River Sieg bank and the renaturation of the river undertaken since 2012 lay at the heart of the city renewal project titled ‘Siegen – Towards New Shores’. The goal of this was to upgrade the inner city and so give it a new image. The two square, reddishly-speckled sections of concrete are souvenirs from the demolition of the River Sieg concrete cover that occurred in this process. The ‘Siegplatte’ was the name given to the concrete covering that was built over the River Sieg in 1967 and 1968, and which provided parking space for more than 200 cars. Its demolition in 2012 was initially a source of controversy in the city community as it made parking in the centre more difficult, and shop owners feared it would have an impact on retail trade. More than almost any other urban planning measure, this encapsulated the shift away from the model of the car-friendly city. Before the car park was finally removed, pupils from various schools in Siegen painted the concrete in the initiative ‘Concrete Cover: Art’. Parts of the River Sieg concrete cover could subsequently be acquired on site. Steps on the site of the former Siegplatte have now transformed the former River Sieg concrete cover into a place where people can congregate and unwind.