Allgemeine Baugenossenschaft Luzern

The Allgemeine Baugenossenschaft Luzern (ABL) is a non-profit housing cooperative based in Luzern, Switzerland. Founded in 1924 during a period of acute housing shortage as a cooperative self-help organisation, it has strongly shaped the city of Luzern ever since. The initiator and first president was Hans Stingelin, a Swiss Federal Railways employee who worked as a sous-chef at Luzern railway station. At its founding the cooperative had 178 members; by 1927 membership had risen to about 800, and in that year the ABL's loan fund (today the deposit fund) was established to finance construction projects. Today the ABL is the largest non-profit housing cooperative in Central Switzerland and the fifth-largest in Switzerland overall, with around 16,000 members. It owns 16 settlements comprising 229 properties and more than 2,000 apartments in Luzern and its agglomeration, and employs around 50 staff. Its real estate is carried on the balance sheet at 494 million Swiss francs, with an insured value of 584 million francs. According to its own website, it offers affordable housing in over 2,250 apartments across 16 settlements, providing a home to more than 4,800 people — families, singles, couples and shared households, young and old alike. The cooperative positions itself as standing for a responsible housing policy without speculation, offering sustainable living space for all generations. Its first major project was the Himmelrich settlement, built from 1925 to 1926 on the Himmelrichmatte agricultural land according to plans by Luzern architect Otto Schärli; the first ABL apartments were occupied there in September 1925. Further construction followed in the Breitenlachen, Bernstrasse, Kanonenstrasse, Stollberghalde, Weinbergli, Spannortstrasse and Obermaihof areas, and the 1930s marked a peak of building activity, with 651 new apartments completed between 1930 and 1939. The Studhalden settlement, begun in 1957, was the ABL's first project outside the city centre. In recent decades the cooperative has focused on densification of existing settlements and new-build projects outside the city limits, as building land in Luzern became scarce and land prices rose sharply. Notable projects include the Tribschenstadt settlement (85 apartments, built 2004–2006) and the comprehensive redevelopment of Himmelrich 3, whose new settlement was inaugurated in October 2023 after eight years of construction. The ABL also operates a member platform, meine.abl, through which residents can report damage, view cooperative documents and communicate with neighbours. As a cooperative, the ABL is privately held by its members rather than listed on a stock exchange.

The Allgemeine Baugenossenschaft Luzern (ABL) was founded in 1924, during a time of acute housing shortage, as a cooperative self-help organisation, and has strongly shaped the city of Luzern ever since. The initiator and first president was Hans Stingelin, a Swiss Federal Railways employee who worked as a sous-chef at Luzern railway station. At the time of founding the cooperative had 178 members. By 1927 the number of cooperative members had risen to about 800, and in that year the ABL's loan fund (today the deposit fund) was established to finance construction projects. The first major building project was the Himmelrich settlement. According to plans by Luzern architect Otto Schärli, the present-day "Himmelrich 1" settlement was built from 1925 to 1926 on purchased agricultural land, the so-called Himmelrichmatte, in the area of Neuweg and Bleicherstrasse. Originally the settlement consisted of eleven six-storey apartment buildings including a mansard floor, with a total of 130 apartments. The first ABL apartments were occupied here in September 1925. In the following years further parts of the Himmelrichmatte were built on: from 1927 to 1929 the "Himmelrich 2" settlement arose on the part of the property now located at Bleicher-, Bundes- and Himmelrichstrasse; from 1931 to 1933 the "Himmelrich 3" settlement was erected at Tödi- and Claridenstrasse and Heimatweg, whose apartments and commercial premises were remotely heated and supplied with hot water by an oil-fired central boiler house. Renovation work on the "Himmelrich 2" and "Himmelrich 1" settlements was carried out from 2006 to 2008 and 2009 to 2012 respectively. The installation of an underground car park in 1994/95 brought the buildings of the "Himmelrich 3" settlement into a slanted position; demolition and rebuilding of the settlement were planned in 2009. At the end of 2011 the city building commission of Luzern approved the densified redevelopment of the site; the winner of the subsequently announced project competition was the design "Larix" by the Zurich architectural firm Enzmann und Fischer. In 2014 the cooperative members of the ABL approved the framework credit for financing the new-build project. The first construction phase began in September 2015. Immediately before the demolition of the old row buildings, the ABL made 50 empty apartments available for the cultural project "Zwischenrich – Abbruchtage". The first apartments of the new settlement were occupied in June 2019; in October 2019 the second construction phase began with the dismantling of the remaining row of buildings on Claridenstrasse. After eight years of construction, the completed "Himmelrich 3" settlement was inaugurated in October 2023. In the 1920s to 1950s further settlement colonies arose in Breitenlachen, at Bernstrasse and Kanonenstrasse (today's "Untergrund 1" settlement), at Stollberghalde ("Untergrund 2"), in Weinbergli, at Spannortstrasse and in Obermaihof. Thus cooperative housing construction expanded for the first time into the hillside areas of the city, where previously private single-family houses and agricultural land had dominated. The 1930s formed a peak of the ABL's building activity: from 1930 to 1939 the cooperative completed 651 new apartments. With the Studhalden settlement the ABL built outside the city centre for the first time. Between 1957 and 1981, 328 apartments were created there, and a further 20 were purchased in 1983. With the completed development of the approximately 50,000 square metre Studhalden property, which had already been acquired in 1946, the ABL had for the time being exhausted its building land reserves in Luzern in 1981. In view of the scarcity of building land in Luzern and the sharply risen land prices, the cooperative's new building activity in the following years concentrated on the densification of existing settlements as well as on new-build projects outside the city boundaries. Facade renovations in the ABL settlements were carried out in the 1950s to 1980s. From the 1970s onwards all ABL apartments were centrally heated, and in the older settlements all bathrooms and numerous kitchens had been modernised. In the 1990s new renovation plans in the "Breitenlachen" settlement (installation of new kitchens and bathrooms, thermal insulation, extension of balconies) met with resistance from the residents. The planned renovation was rejected by a majority at the cooperative's general assembly in April 1997. The reason was the projected installation of roof apartments as well as the envisaged rent increases. This caesura led to changes in the ABL's internal organisation; the tenants of the affected settlements were henceforth fundamentally involved in the planning of future renovation work. The renovation of the "Breitenlachen" settlement was begun in 1999 with a somewhat modified concept and completed in 2007. On the site of the former municipal works yard near the railway station, the city of Luzern in 2000 handed over land to various investors for the development of a new urban quarter. Between 2004 and 2006 the ABL settlement "Tribschenstadt" with 85 apartments was created in the Tribschenstadt development area. In 2016 the ABL took over the building rights for eleven municipal properties of the so-called "Obere Bernstrasse" development area near the ABL "Untergrund" settlement. The city of Luzern had designated the area since 2007 for development with affordable housing and subsequently placed it among 25 housing construction...

• 2023

  Completed Himmelrich 3 settlement inaugurated in October after eight years of construction.

• 2019

  First apartments of new Himmelrich 3 settlement occupied in June; second construction phase begins in October.

• 2016

  ABL takes over building rights for eleven municipal properties in the Obere Bernstrasse development area.

• 2015

  First construction phase of Himmelrich 3 redevelopment begins in September.

• 2014

  Cooperative members approve framework credit for Himmelrich 3 new-build project.

• 2004

  Tribschenstadt settlement built (2004–2006, 85 apartments).

• 1999

  Breitenlachen renovation begun with modified concept (completed 2007).

• 1997

  General assembly rejects planned Breitenlachen renovation; leads to organisational changes and tenant involvement.

• 1981

  Studhalden development completed; ABL building land reserves in Luzern exhausted.

• 1957

  Studhalden settlement begun (1957–1981, 328 apartments); first ABL project outside the city centre.

• 1946

  ABL acquires approximately 50,000 m² Studhalden property.

• 1939

  1930s peak of building activity: 651 new apartments completed 1930–1939.

• 1931

  Construction of Himmelrich 3 settlement (1931–1933) with oil-fired central heating.

• 1927

  Membership rises to about 800; ABL loan fund (today deposit fund) established to finance construction.

• 1927

  Construction of Himmelrich 2 settlement (1927–1929).

• 1925

  First ABL apartments occupied in the Himmelrich 1 settlement (built 1925–1926, designed by Otto Schärli).

• 1924

  Allgemeine Baugenossenschaft Luzern founded during acute housing shortage; 178 members; Hans Stingelin first president.

Non-profit housing cooperative offering affordable, non-speculative housing for all generations in Luzern and Central Switzerland.

• Himmelrich 1 settlement

  First ABL settlement, built 1925–1926 on the Himmelrichmatte, designed by Otto Schärli; originally eleven six-storey buildings with 130 apartments.

• Himmelrich 2 settlement

  Built 1927–1929 at Bleicher-, Bundes- and Himmelrichstrasse; renovated 2006–2008.

• Himmelrich 3 settlement

  Built 1931–1933 with oil-fired central heating; demolished and rebuilt, new settlement inaugurated October 2023.

• Studhalden settlement

  ABL's first settlement outside the city centre; 328 apartments built 1957–1981, plus 20 purchased in 1983.

• Tribschenstadt settlement

  85 apartments built 2004–2006 in the Tribschenstadt development area.

• meine.abl member platform

  Online platform for members to report damage, view cooperative documents and communicate with neighbours.

1. 1allgemeine baugenossenschaft luzernabl.ch
2. 2Allgemeine Baugenossenschaft Luzernde.wikipedia.org
3. 3Wikidata Q2648771wikidata.org