A view of Bahnhofstraße around 1915

Every month, the Bocholt City Archives present the "Photo of the Month" - a historical photograph from the Bocholt City Archives.

In 1878, the town of Bocholt was connected to the railway line to Wesel, which was built by the Cologne-Minden Railway Company. The first station building was erected a short distance south of the former shooting club. The name "Bahnhofstraße", as the newly laid-out access road to the railway premises in 1881, was a natural consequence.

The viewer is standing at the eastern end of Bahnhofstraße and, in this autumnal scene dating from around 1915, is looking westwards from the station. The magnificent manufacturers' houses on the northern side of the street, built in the 1880s and 1890s in the Historicism style, catch the eye. On the far right, the villa of the Jewish merchant Emil Cohen comes into view; it was purchased by the town of Bocholt in 1927 and has served as the mayor's official residence ever since. From 1936 onwards, the Nazis used the building as headquarters for the local Hitler Youth. Destroyed by bombing in 1945, the ruins were cleared in 1960 and the site has remained undeveloped to this day. The house next door belonged to the Jewish manufacturer Iwan Magnus. The following villa was built by the manufacturer Heinrich Budenberg, who sold it to the Jewish industrialist Max Cohen in 1909. Behind the other residential buildings stands the tower of St Joseph's Church.

In contrast to the right-hand side, the left-hand side of the street is lined with only a single row of trees. The buildings, which stand in a row, were also predominantly home to merchants from Bocholt's upper classes. Although their houses also convey a noble and spacious impression, they are nowhere near on a par with the stately villas opposite. On 13 December 1904, the town councillors decided to have the northern row of trees felled. However, this led to a "fierce protest" among the residents of Bahnhofstraße, as the local daily newspaper put it at the time. The council's decision was ultimately not implemented, meaning that the citizens could continue to take pride in their - in the words of the newspaper - "only avenue% $.

Photo: Bocholt City Archives, Image Collection No. 523, Text: Wolfgang Tembrink