DOGEWO21

DOGEWO21 – formally the Dogewo Dortmunder Gesellschaft für Wohnen mbH – is a housing and services company headquartered in Dortmund, Germany. It is a subsidiary of DSW21 – Dortmunder Stadtwerke AG and Sparkasse Dortmund, and it manages 16,403 apartments (as of December 2024) in nearly all of Dortmund's city districts, making it the largest housing provider based in Dortmund. Beyond apartments, it rents garages, parking spaces and commercial properties. The company traces its origins to 11 October 1918, when it was founded as the Dortmunder Gemeinnützige Siedlungsgesellschaft mbH (DGSG). Its purpose was to provide "appropriately furnished apartments in buildings it constructed itself at low prices" to less affluent people and families. The City of Dortmund was the largest of 56 shareholders, alongside major industrial firms such as Hoesch and the Deutsch-Luxemburgische Hütten AG, as well as church institutions and private individuals. The company was renamed Dortmunder Gemeinnützige Wohnungsgesellschaft (DGW) in 1937 and today operates under the DOGEWO21 brand. DOGEWO21 presents itself as more than a landlord. It runs a tenant portal for managing tenancy matters online, offers local service teams in each city district, and operates "ExtraPlatz" community locations that host neighbourhood activities such as reading sessions, seated dance groups, language cafés and discussion cafés. It also pursues sustainability and modernisation programmes: facade insulation, window replacement, conversion to air-source heat pumps, barrier-free conversions and new construction. A current new-build project, "Am Sattel" in Dortmund-Huckarde, comprises twelve subsidised, barrier-free apartments in a three-storey, energy-efficient building with 866 m² of total living space, seven two-room and five three-room units of 63 to 87 m², with balconies and terraces. The company publishes sustainability reports and runs apprentice-led projects such as "GreenStyle" for waste separation and disposal in its neighbourhoods. As a Dortmund-focused provider, DOGEWO21's market is the city of Dortmund and its districts. Its ownership structure ties it to the municipal utility and savings bank group, and its activities combine rental housing management with social and ecological commitments in its neighbourhoods.

DOGEWO21 was founded on 11 October 1918 as the Dortmunder Gemeinnützige Siedlungsgesellschaft mbH (DGSG). Its stated goal was to provide "less affluent persons and families with appropriately furnished apartments in houses built and erected by the company itself at low prices." The City of Dortmund was the largest of 56 shareholders, alongside major industrial works such as Hoesch and the Deutsch-Luxemburgische Hütten AG, as well as church institutions and private individuals. The acute housing shortage of the immediate post-war period required rapid provision of housing, so the first construction projects of 1918/19 were exclusively multi-storey apartment blocks such as the "Lutherblock", a now-listed four-storey building with 64 apartments that was ready for occupancy in mid-1919. In the first two and a half years after its founding, the DGSG built about 500 apartments, which did not resolve Dortmund's housing shortage. The occupation of the Ruhr in 1923/24 and the rapid acceleration of wartime inflation further worsened the city's economic and social situation, which also affected the construction industry. Until 1924 the DGSG could realise only part of its planned projects, and only with financial support from industry. From 1924, with the stabilisation of economic conditions – especially thanks to the newly levied house interest tax – the settlement company's construction projects gained momentum again. Particularly in the east of the city, which offered free building land, several apartment blocks were built by the end of the 1920s, such as the expressionist-style Lenteninsel in Körne. By 1928 the DGSG had completed around 2,000 apartments, a number it doubled in the following one and a half years. From 1929 the company not only managed its own property but also municipal land in trust. In 1929 the DGSG felt the precursors of the Great Depression. The 1929 business report already predicted construction restrictions due to a shortage of money, and indeed by 1932 the DGSG had to scale back its construction programme further and further, facing growing rent arrears, frequent tenant turnover and vacant apartments. Despite its own strained situation, the DGSG tried to accommodate its tenants' social situation as far as possible and refrained from terminations. From 1931 the company waived dividend payments, instead founding the Dr.-Eichhoff-Stiftung to support tenants in need, introduced winter relief for the unemployed from 1932 and, as part of that winter relief, reduced rents by 20% for six months. After the National Socialist seizure of power from March 1933, the DGSG faced "Gleichschaltung" and personnel "purges". The Nazi regime filled leadership positions with party members and reorganised the company's shares so that by 1936 the number of shareholders had shrunk to three: the City, which now held 70%, plus the Hoesch works and the Westfälische Wohnstätten AG. The NSDAP also ordered forced mergers: in January 1941 the DGSG took over the Gemeinnützige Kreisbaugesellschaft Hörde mbH, and in May 1943 the Dortmunder Gemeinnützige Bau-Hellweg-AG. The party also tried to influence the company's housing policy. The propagated small-settlement construction on the edge of the city was to be implemented, and so-called Volkswohnungen (small apartments near industrial works) were to be built. The settlement company spoke in favour of small settlements and praised their advantages, but in the first years of Nazi rule it built exclusively multi-storey houses with small apartments in densely populated city districts. Only with the Oespel settlement at Oespeler Dorney/Steinweg and the "Rudolf-Heß-Siedlung" in Renninghausen were small-building settlement projects begun in 1936 and 1938 respectively, though these could not be fully completed. The concentration on multi-storey buildings led to the company's renaming in 1937: from 16 April 1937 it operated as the Dortmunder Gemeinnützige Wohnungsgesellschaft (DGW). Between 1933 and 1936 the company built on average only 120 apartments per year, fewer than in the crisis years of the Weimar Republic (about 500 in 1918/19, over 400 in 1922/23). Only from 1938 did the number of new buildings increase, as rearmament required housing for skilled workers; the DGW now built an average of 230 apartments. Nevertheless, from 1937 the company reported increasing difficulties in carrying out planned construction projects. At the outbreak of war, Dortmund was short of 14,000 apartments. In 1940 the NSDAP issued an official new-build ban that stopped all construction projects because of the war. From August 1941 to the end of 1943, air raids destroyed houses, first on Lippstädter Straße. By the end of 1943, 1,634 apartments had suffered material damage. Housing counts four months after the end of the war showed that about 70% of the entire housing stock had been affected. In the post-war period the company continued as a municipal-affiliated housing provider. It was renamed Dortmunder Gemeinnützige Wohnungsgesellschaft (DGW) in 1937 and today operates under the DOGEWO21 brand. As a subsidiary of DSW21 – Dortmunder Stadtwerke AG and Sparkasse Dortmund, DOGEWO21 manages 16,403 apartments (as of December 2024) in nearly all Dortmund city districts, making it the largest housing provider based in Dortmund. It also rents garages, parking spaces and commercial properties. In recent years the company has focused on modernisation – facade insulation, window replacement, conversion to air-source heat pumps, barrier-free conversions – and on new construction such as the "Am Sattel" project in Dortmund-Huckarde, as well as on social and ecological neighbourhood programmes including ExtraPlatz community locations and apprentice-led sustainability projects.

• 2026

  New-build "Am Sattel" in Dortmund-Huckarde with twelve barrier-free apartments; viewings from late September 2026.

• 2024

  Manages 16,403 apartments in Dortmund as of December.

• 1943

  Takes over Dortmunder Gemeinnützige Bau-Hellweg-AG in May.

• 1941

  Takes over Gemeinnützige Kreisbaugesellschaft Hörde mbH in January.

• 1937

  Renamed Dortmunder Gemeinnützige Wohnungsgesellschaft (DGW) on 16 April.

• 1932

  Introduces winter relief for the unemployed and reduces rents by 20% for six months.

• 1931

  Waives dividend payments and founds the Dr.-Eichhoff-Stiftung to support tenants in need.

• 1929

  Company begins managing municipal land in trust.

• 1928

  Around 2,000 apartments completed.

• 1919

  First apartment blocks such as the "Lutherblock" (64 apartments) ready for occupancy.

• 1918

  Founded on 11 October as Dortmunder Gemeinnützige Siedlungsgesellschaft mbH (DGSG).

Dortmund's largest locally based housing provider, combining rental housing management with social and ecological responsibility in its neighbourhoods.

• Rental apartments

  16,403 managed apartments across nearly all Dortmund city districts (Dec 2024).

• Garages and parking spaces

  Rented out alongside apartments.

• Commercial properties

  Commercial objects rented by the company.

• Tenant portal

  Online access for managing personal data, damage reports, appointment overviews, processing progress, forms and documents.

• ExtraPlatz community locations

  Neighbourhood venues hosting reading sessions, seated dance, language cafés and discussion cafés.

• New-build "Am Sattel"

  Twelve subsidised, barrier-free apartments in a three-storey energy-efficient building in Dortmund-Huckarde; 866 m² total living space; seven two-room and five three-room units of 63–87 m².

1. 1Wohnung mieten bei DOGEWO21dogewo21.de
2. 2Wohnraum schaffen in Dortmunddogewo21.de
3. 3Nachhaltige Zukunft bei DOGEWO21dogewo21.de
4. 4Wir modernisieren für Sie!dogewo21.de
5. 5DOGEWO21wikidata.org
6. 6DOGEWO21de.wikipedia.org