The city of Salzgitter granted permission for this back in December 2010. A special excavator, which started work on February 28, will ensure the environmentally friendly dismantling.

This so-called "long front excavator", which is around eight meters long and around five meters wide and weighs around 100 tons, has been assembled on site. With the excavator tongs on a 36-meter arm, the individual concrete parts of the twelve-storey buildings are pinched off from above. The demolition material is constantly moistened with water and transported away by special vehicles in order to keep dust levels to a minimum during the work.

The outdated high-rise buildings had not been fully occupied for some time. Investments in the exterior façade and elevators were also needed, and some of the building fabric was dilapidated. As the demand for living space in high-rise buildings is also declining, this was not done for reasons of profitability.

The demolition of the high-rise buildings, which is now underway, and the subsequent use of the demolition sites, which is still to be determined, fit seamlessly into the "Socially Integrative City" concept adopted by the city of Salzgitter in agreement with the state of Lower Saxony. According to the owner, Colonia Real Estate (CRE), the resulting vacant areas will not initially be built on again, but used as green spaces.

In addition to the demolition of the high-rise buildings, CRE is also currently modernizing its other buildings on site with the support of the "Socially Integrative City", so that Fredenberg will be upgraded even further.