Pendle Borough Council
Market Street, Nelson, Lancashire BB9 7LG
Tel: 01282 661661 Fax: 01282 661130
Marl's history as an urban community is brief. Its documented rural tradition goes back eleven hundred years to 890 A.D. and is still alive on almost 200 farms. A 20,000-strong workforce at the modern chemical plant and coal mines with their sophisticated technology presents a striking contrast to the traditional elements. It is this contrast that gives the town with its 92,000 inhabitants its special appeal. Relics from past centuries, lovingly restored and under preservation as items of historical interest include the lower section of the tower (ca. 1250 A.D.) of the Neo-Gothic parish church of St. George, a baroque staircase in the Leuchterhof, once a monastery and now a farmhouse, and the watermill in Altmarl the historic city centre, which now houses the local history museum with its wealth of exhibits.
Marl's development from a village to an urban community was virtually a leap into the 20th century. The upswing in the mining industry from the turn of the century attracted additional workers, mainly from eastern and central Germany - people for whom housing had to be provided: miners' housing estates, purpose-built in 1910 and destined to go down in architectural history. Some 50 years later, Marl was once again making history with its housing schemes. One day these, too, will be listed buildings.
The architects of the Sixties were inspired by new ideas in urban development. Pure expediency gave way to imagination. It was architects from southern Germany who designed the first "Hugelhaus" (hill-type house) - a multi-storey residential pyramid around which the still unique complex of such buildings has grown.
In 1960, Hans Scharoun, architect of the innovative Philarmonie in Berlin and a trend-setter in living, organically structured architecture, designed an elementary school building. This is still popularly known by his name. Its specially accentuated assembly hall is used occasionally as a concert hall. The architecture of the Seventies is exemplarised by a comprehensive school, and that of the Fifties by a grammar school.
Contemporary techno-scientific progress comes into its own in modernisation and expansion programmes at local hospitals. Two examples are the annex of the municipal Paracelsus hospital, whose chapel is adorned with stained glass windows executed in 1955 and 1987 by the artist Georg Meistermann, and St. Mary's hospital, run by the Roman Catholic parish of St George.
Pigeon lofts, so often the expression of the working man's sporting interests, are much in evidence in this mining town. Recreational and hobby flyers rub shoulders at Loemuhle airstrip with passengers using business aircraft. All sorts of popular sporting activities go on in and around the circular sports hall, whilst riding stables cater for top-ranking equestrian interests.
"Weatherproof" shopping facilities are provided at two different locations in Marl: in the Marler Stern, the 1970's "city," and on the Hulsstrasse, where late 19th century gables are in perfect harmony with glass arcades. And there's another feature that these two centres have in common: free parking, right next door.
Right beside the large-scale industrial plants and pit-head gear of the major workplaces in Marl, people enjoy life, have their homes, go for walks or sit contentedly in the park. Not only on the outskirts of town - but right in the centre too. Rural idylls, romantic streams and meadows, woodland, gardens and parks: all these are part of this "industrial town in a green setting". Trade and industry account for less than six percent of the town area, with twenty percent going to housing and the associated retail trade, including all traffic areas.
Agricultural enterprises utilize forty percent, and 700 hectares of parkland plus 1900 hectares of woodland - most of it within the "Hohe Mark" nature reserve - account for thirty percent.
A collection of 20th century sculpture has been steadily growing in Marl ever since the Fifties. In 1978/79, the collection - enhanced by internationally representative exhibitions such as "City and Sculpture" (1970 and 1972) - began to take shape. The "Glaskasten" (glass showcase) was built, a museum of sculpture that now has a firm place in the German art world. Besides contemporary sculptures such as those by Richard Serra, classic works such as Max Ernst's "Habakuk" (ca. 1934) form part of the open-air display.
The Philarmonia Hungarica is at home in Marl and in major concert halls throughout the world. Its repertoire has formed the programmes for three decades of civic concerts open to season-ticket holders. This orchestra - founded after the 1956 Hungarian uprising and based in Marl - has played with almost all musicians of international renown, conductors and soloists alike. The honorary president of the Philarmonia Hungarica is Yehudi Menuhin. It was another honorary president, Antal Dorati, who rehearsed this orchestra for its performance of the 104 Haydn symphonies, for which it was presented with the first golden disc ever to be awarded to a symphony orchestra.
Marl's adult education centre, known popularly as the "insel" (the island) was among the first institutions for adult education in the Federal Republic. In 1955 it was the first adult education centre to be housed in its own premises, and Marl held the record for many years in pro capita expenditure on adult education. Since 1975, the "insel" and the municipal library have had the benefit of larger premises in the new city centre. They are still closely involved with the local community and enjoy an excellent reputation for cultural and political activities and for communication.
VIPs from the world of television meet up once a year at the municipal theatre in Marl, as they have done for over 25 years now, for the presentation of the Adolf Grimme prize. This prize, awarded by the German association of adult education centres, is the most coveted trophy for producers, actors and authors working in the field of television. Local residents form a regular part of the "Marl Group" that meets at the Adolf Grimme Institute to select the prize winners. This institute also offers courses and forums on relevant media topics, deals in its wide-ranging project work with relationships and co-operation between (further) education and the media, and publishes the bi-monthly magazine W + M covering these topics. Since 1989, the "Marl Media Culture Days" have been established as an annual autumn event.
Farms still represent an important economic aspect in Marl. Forty percent of the local land is given over to arable farming. The wheat grown on it is used traditionally not only for baking bread but also for producing "Korn," the popular product of local distilleries. A number of the old farmhouses are listed buildings.
The miner as such has long since given way to the mining technologist. He follows the ever-deeper coal seams northwards, currently at a depth of eleven hundred meters, in a technologically advanced mine. The Auguste Victoria colliery is an enterprise owned by the Ruhrkohle AG.
The Huls AG, the chemical concern originally known as the Chemische Werke Huls, was founded in 1938 and has been owned by the VEBA (United Electricity and Mining Company) since 1979. More than 30,000 people are employed worldwide by Huls, 14,000 of them in Marl. The products, marketed in more than 110 different countries, include refined chemicals, raw materials for detergents and paints, plastics, synthetic rubber, catalysts and silicon products - names and materials often of significance only to the expert but in everyday consumer use throughout the world.
Other enterprises located alongside the chemical plant and collieries have long since developed beyond the status of ancillary industries. Together with new branches - including a large, independent newspaper house - their total workforce almost equals that of the "giants". The "TechnoMarl" center for technology and chemistry has been set up at the edge of the town forest as a stake in the future. It is here that enterprises find opportunities for establishment and expansion. Structural enhancement in action!
Marl's Website (in German)
