City of Passau | Illford District (Part 2)
Following the granting of land to the Passau City Corporation in 1810, significant efforts were made to establish the area as a major centre of commerce, only a small amount of the early Georgian commerical buildings remain and are focused on the area to the east of the Perseus National Library.
Most of the original buildings were demolished by the Victorians and Edwardians and replaced by soaring and massive office buildings and warehouses. The area was home to the first purpose-build office building in Perseus and came complete with fire-proof rooms and staircases as it was the headquarters of the Pearl Insurance Company and was designed to be entirely fire-proof to avoid losing records.
A lot of the Victorian buildings were themselves demolished by Edwardian architects whom were influenced by the Chicago School. They built some of the tallest buildings in Europe and Atlantica-Alba and helped cement Passau's reputation as a leading commercial centre. Art Deco played a significant influence in buildings construction or redeveloped from the 1930's, Illford's commercial district retains a lot of those buildings and the area is recognised for it's Art Deco architecture which has been beautifully maintained and is now protected.
In 1965 the commercial district of Illford area was listed as an area of significant architectural merit and afforded enhanced protections to protect against demolitions. The area was therefore spared from the architectural vandalism of the 1960's and 70's that other districts of Passau did not escape and was subsequently corrected
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