The best kept secret in Barcelona's Eixample or the best kept secret in Barcelona's Eixample
Although today the Lehmann Factory It is considered one of the **most important and dynamic creation spaces in the city of Barcelona**, where an enormous diversity of disciplines coexist that help to enrich the neighborhood in which it is located, the Eixample, its beginnings were very different …
As the book explains: The Lehmann factory, a creative lung in l'Esquerra de l'Eixample , it all started thanks to the confluence of two German families of Jewish origin and the fascination of two lovers for the city who left the Universal Exhibition of 1888 full of joy.
Undoubtedly, a story that shows the traces of Nazism in Spain after Franco's victory, but also the cultural and business survival of that first thrust, as well as the creative force of today's Barcelona.
Lehmann Factory or the best kept secret in Barcelona's Eixample
A LITTLE HISTORY
In 1891, the land on the new left of the Eixample where the factory is now located _(Carrer del Consell de Cent, 159) _, was at that time is owned by Mrs. Maria Zanni , widow of Pablo Barba, who at that time wanted to build a fence, a house, a collector, the sidewalk and a passage for carriages.
Initially, in a project drawn but not built, there was a building with a ground floor and 5 floors, although finally only the ground floor, a floor and a central passage were built which today continues exactly in its current position.
Secondly, Ernst Paul Lehman , born in Berlin on June 9, 1856 and died in Brandenburg an der Havel on June 10, 1934, was one of the most important world toy manufacturers . In 1893, Lehmann decided to set up one of his factories in Barcelona, right on the land owned by Mrs. Maria Zann; from there began the history and the name of Lehmann Factory.
An old toy factory converted into a creative space
Entering through the central passage –just as it is today–, we find a practically square patio around which all the factory operations were carried out. In April 1903, the company built in this courtyard a chimney 25 meters high to use as oven and how muffle (chamber that during the firing of pottery protects certain pieces from the direct flame and combustion gases of the oven), for the firing and decoration of porcelain and later for the hearths with a crucible where the metals were melted.
In addition, history tells that during the Civil War, the primary dedication of the factory was to make plates and cutlery for a single client: the republican army . And he also tells that when the factory closed definitively in 1935 , coinciding with the rise of the Third Reich, some workers remained to weave plush costumes, a business that was called Le Man Brothers.
Years later, specifically during and especially after the war, around 1939, the premises remained unchanged but gradually began to be occupied by new tenants with small businesses, such as a printing shop, a machine shop, a carpentry shop, a metal shop , etc. What implied transformations in the existing constructions.
THE FACTORY TODAY
Little by little, and to respond to this new demand, the new owner Mr. Josep Soldevila Canaleta kept the Lehmann name and began compartmentalize, transform and expand the premises from the year 1943 ; just as he also left the roofs of the old workshops and the warehouses around the courtyard of the old factory to be taken care of.
The continuous extensions, lifts and other constructions were later altering what had been the industrial site; and actually this charmingly inhospitable place is still a great unknown in the heart of Barcelona.
Finally and during the last almost 20 years the space has been occupying with twenty studio-workshops with fashion designers, graphics, photographers, artists, art galleries, potters, interior designers, architects, entertainment people, antique dealers, painters, carpenters ... Always with a bohemian air and very similar to other places that we can still find today in big cities like Paris, Milan or Berlin.
Here it is cooked and smoked
Eden Studio, Vísteme Despacio , Natalia Ojeda, Arturo Frediani, Trestrastos , Rooftop SmokeHouse , Editorial Comanegra , ISOL , Paella Studio, El Culturista, Freshthink, Tendencias TV among others... They are some of those who occupy what used to be, and Even today it is still called the Lehmann Factory.
renowned fashion designer Joseph April (and one of the three owners of the NU#02 concept store in Barcelona) was one of the first to rent one of the studio-workshops in the factory: “I have had my design studio-workshop for more or less 17 years. fashion in the factory. I entered because I was looking for a different work space in Barcelona, a special place. I remember that while I was looking for options, the real estate agent called me and told me that he had a weird place I sure liked it... and the truth is that it was love at first sight ", comments April to Traveler.es.
"At first there were only workshops to use as carpenters, blacksmiths, carriers, furniture restorers … And, little by little, it has been changing towards studios and workshops where creativity and mind are exploited and creative professions such as architects, designers, painters or artists in general. Today the "third generation" occupies the factory spaces, the one of the computers . People who are more dedicated to concepts, to creating web pages, applications... So if we were to make an evolution in time we could say that the Lehmann Factory has gone from the plane (type of carpenter's planer), to the pencil and, from there, to the computer", recalls the designer.
And this is not all, because in addition to the christmas market that they organize every year in the central patio; Next Saturday, May 26, the factory is organizing a completely free open day from 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
The twenty creative spaces that coexist in Lehmann will show us the interior of their premises, as well as organize a market with books, samples of craft products, activities and workshops for children and adults and, as if that were not enough, there will also be live music, art exhibitions and street food.
It is normal that many –as Josep also tells us– continue to address her as “an oasis in the middle of the Eixample”. Don't you think?
Lehmann Factory or the best kept secret in Barcelona's Eixample