Sigmundstor (Salzburg)
The Sigmundstor , known locally as the Neutor , is a tunnel that was built in the city of Salzburg in the 18th century . It connects the old town with the Riedenburg district and is 131 meters long. The Sigmundstor is the oldest road tunnel in present-day Austria and after the Urnerloch next to the Gotthard Pass in Switzerland (64 meters long, completed in 1708) and the eastern tube of the Ilz breakthrough in Passau - as far as known - the oldest road tunnel in Europe. It used to be one of the city gates of the historic old town. From 1916 to 1940 it was also used by trams , and since then the Salzburg trolleybus has been running through Sigmundstor.
prehistory
In 1675, the Salzburg court building commissioner Michael Springrueber approached Court War Councilor Guidobald Franz Freiherr von Hegi to expand the Hofstall quarry so that the Mönchsberg is cut in half, which then only by means of should remain connected to each other with a drop-off wooden bridge. After the possible fall of the fortifications in the area of the Monika and Augustinerpforte, the entire Mönchsberg would otherwise have come into the hands of the enemy up to the fortress frontworks and the old town would have come under fire from above. In 1676, Hegi approached Prince Archbishop Max Gandolf von Kuenburg with the same request and asked to check whether the Mönchsberg could not be cut through at its narrowest point. In his remarks, he also mentioned for the first time the high benefits for urban expansion. The valley low of the Riedenburg as a settlement area close to the old town could easily be made usable through the breakthrough and the new district could also be relatively easily secured militarily.
From 1676 to 1687 (Max Gandolf's death) the quarry at the court stable was operated and the mountain was excavated 35 m wide. After that, the further work was given up again due to inefficiency. These works can still be seen today, the breakthrough that has begun forms a viewing terrace carved into the mountain next to the festival hall and above today's Sigmundstor.
Building history
_-_Gedenktafel.JPG)
In 1759, the then building commissioner Elias Edler von Geyer brought the idea of the Mönchsberg piercing back to the now Prince Archbishop Sigismund Graf Schrattenbach . The plan was initially considered to be feasible, but for cost reasons it was initially decided to build a temporary tunnel that would later provide the basis for dividing the Mönchsberg into two parts - a plan from which those responsible then gradually moved away.
On May 14, 1764, the tunnel construction began on both sides, and on September 2, 1765, the partition was broken. Major engineer Elias von Geyer was in charge of construction management. The construction costs of the tunnel structure itself amounted to 5,565 guilders and 50 cruisers and were thus around a third lower than assumed before construction began. The total costs amounted to 19,820 guilders, of which the portals alone accounted for 11,538 guilders.
The excavated rock of the 135 m long, 5.5 m wide and 7 m high "hole" - approx. 4,500 m³ of rubble - was used for road construction. The tunnel increases by 8%, which favors natural lighting.
The Sigmundstor as a work of art
The facades on both sides were architecturally designed by Wolfgang Hagenauer , the sculptures are by Johann Baptist Hagenauer .
The east portal
At the entrance of the Sigmundstore, on the old town side, an inscription was affixed over the relief bust portrait of the sovereign, which still reminds of the builder Sigismund Graf Schrattenbach: “ Te saxa loquuntur ” (“The stones talk about you”). In front of today's east portal, another archway was originally attached as an extension of today's frescoes of the horse pond. The space around the horse pond thus had a strictly symmetrical and harmonious appearance. The splendor gate behind it lost its original surprise effect by removing the front gate.
The west portal
The portal in the west (towards the Riedenburg district) shows the coronation of the tunnel portal a statue of the Burgundian king, martyr and Saint Sigismund († 524) over war trophies and Schrattenbach's coat of arms.
The inscription there reads: “ D (eo) O (ptimo) M (aximo) - D (ivino) Sigismundo M (artyri) publico bono, commodo decori. SIgIsMVnDI ArChIepIsCopI SaLzVrgensIs P (rincepis) S (acri) R (omani imperii) comitib (us) de Schrattenbach aeternae memoriae W (olfgangus) Hagenauer archit (ectus) ”(“ God, the greatest and highest - the holy martyr of the state, Sigismund Complacency for Sigismund, Archbishop of Salzburg and Prince of the Holy Roman Empire (German Nation) from the von Schrattenbach family, the architect Wolfgang Hagenauer ”). The capital letters add up as Roman numerals (V = U) to give the year 1767.
The plinth of the statue reads " Joan (nnae) Hagenauer inv (enit) exc (ussit) et eff (ecit) " ("Johann (Baptist) Hagenauer invented (the statue), broke it out (from the stone) and completed it").
The planned ruin bastion
The blueprint envisaged the realization of an associated military outbuilding in the Riedenburg in the form of a ruined park with an artistic decoration. These ruins were intended to symbolize the ruins of the Roman city of Juvavum, which the population had revived, and the old age of the city of Salzburg. The park itself, apart from two ruin obelisks, was no longer implemented due to Sigismund's death in 1772. Johann Baptist von Hagenauer was dismissed after a dispute with the more thrifty Archbishop Colloredo , but his brother Wolfgang remained in office as the royal court building director.
The former military kennel in front of the west gate
Until around 1860, the Sigmundstor was fortified by a kennel on the west side , which was surrounded by a defensive wall with a guardhouse and toll house, which was again enclosed on three sides by a wide moat with drawbridges. The Sigmundstor itself could be protected from attack with a stick gate (that is, with palisades).
Today's meaning
Today the narrow Sigmundstor with two lanes is an important traffic route from the western parts of the city to the old town and is often overloaded during the festival . Next to the road runs on the northern side facing away from the fortress a smaller tunnel for pedestrians and cyclists, from which access tunnels lead to the northern of the two old town garages located in Mönchsberg. The tunnel through the mountain, located on the fortress side and intended only for pedestrians, leads somewhat from the direct path parallel to the road tunnel. It also offers access to the southern old town garage and direct access to the festival hall during performances.
The original name of the gate was not able to gain acceptance among the population at first. The name "Sigmundstor" was not revived until after 1990, as the square on the old town side, which was named "Sigmundsplatz" after Sigismundus Christoph von Schrattenbach, was changed to his name after Herbert von Karajan's death . In the population of Salzburg, however, the name “Neutor” stubbornly persists to this day, especially since the road leading from the gate continues to bear the name “Neutorstraße”.
Shortly before the municipal council and mayoral elections in 2019, the SPÖ , NEOS and the Greens decided to block the Neutor gate in Salzburg's old town for private through traffic with cars. After losing the first round of the election, the Salzburg SPÖ distanced itself from the joint decision in March 2019.
literature
- Adolf Hahnl: Das Neutor (= series of publications by the Salzburg City Association. Cultural property of the homeland. Issue 6, ZDB -ID 842494-9 ). Salzburg City Association, Salzburg 1977.
- Clemens M. Hutter: The Neutor is more than a “hole in the mountain”. Bastei - Magazin des Salzburger Stadtverein , 2018, 67th year, pp. 34–35.
- Reinhard Medicus: The old fortifications of the city mountains. In: Christian F. Uhlir (Ed.): Salzburger Stadtberge. Mönchsberg, Kapuzinerberg, Festungsberg, Nonnberg and Rainberg. edition winterwork, Borsdorf 2011, ISBN 978-3-86468-033-5 , pp. 138–157.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.alpenpass.com/schweiz/gotthard/gotthard.htm
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20190811224034/http://www.salzburgcoins.at/Landesfuersten/html/L17_schrattenbach.htm
- ^ SPÖ rows back: "No Neutor lock". ORF Salzburg, accessed on March 13, 2019 .
Coordinates: 47 ° 47 ′ 54.3 " N , 13 ° 2 ′ 21" E