Arsenal Square

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The Arsenal Square is a large open space in the old town of Wittenberg , framed by the legal road, the armory , the monastery church and the arsenal department store.

origin

Until the middle of the 18th century, that part of the old town that now forms Arsenalplatz was densely built. Here there were residential and commercial buildings with associated courtyards and gardens. In 1760, the Wittenberg fortress came under fire from the imperial troops, causing numerous houses to burn down. Since a number of these houses were demolished without being replaced by new buildings, the later Arsenalplatz was created as a large open space.

Later use and naming

After the open space was created, it was fortified and served as a deployment area for military units. This was particularly favored in the 19th century by the proximity of the armory. This is how the official name of the square as the location of the arsenal (armaments) came about . When the city became less fortified from the 1870s onwards, it lost its importance as an inner-city parade ground and fell into disrepair. This development continued in the 20th century despite repeated attempts to convert it. From 1945 to 1992 the square with parts of the adjacent buildings was occupied by army units of the USSR and therefore closed to the public. From the 1990s, various uses of the square and the surrounding buildings were considered. A number of historic buildings and their backyards then fell victim to the construction of the Arsenal shopping center.

Archaeological finds

During the work to excavate the construction pit for the planned department store since 2010, the remains of numerous historical cellars have been found. This included the cellar of the Reformation printer Hans Lufft , who died in Wittenberg in 1584. The State Office for the Preservation of Monuments and Archeology rated it as particularly important from a Reformation-historical perspective. A cellar was also found that could be attributed to Matthäus Aurigallus , who assisted Martin Luther in translating Bible texts from Hebrew . During the excavations, a cellar made of lawn iron stone from the 13th or 14th century was also found, which is in all probability the oldest secular building found in Wittenberg.

present

Along with the market, Arsenalplatz is the largest inner-city open space in Lutherstadt Wittenberg. As a link between the historical city information , the museum of the city collections in the armory , the council archive and the Arsenal department store, it is one of the most heavily used places in the city. An opening of the buildings of the historical city information to the square, as well as its planting is planned.

literature

  • Antonia Brauchte, Isabelle Fräse: Cellars as sources for urban research - first results from Wittenberg. In: The Ernestine Wittenberg: University and City (1486–1547) (= Wittenberg research. Volume 1). On behalf of the Leucorea Foundation, ed. by Heiner Lück , Enno Bünz , Leonhard Helten , Dorothée Sack , Hans-Georg Stephan . Imhof, Petersberg 2011, ISBN 978-3-86568-270-3 , pp. 169-179.
  • Antonia Needed: Cellars from the 13th to 18th centuries in Wittenberg. Structural structure and use. In: The Ernestine Wittenberg: City and residents. Part 1: Text volume (= Wittenberg research. Volume 2.1). On behalf of the Leucorea Foundation, ed. by Heiner Lück, Enno Bünz, Leonhard Helten, Armin Kohnle , Dorothée Sack, Hans-Georg Stephan. Imhof, Petersberg 2013, ISBN 978-3-86568-917-7 , pp. 91-104.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Andreas Boos: Glass pearls of the market economy. In: zeit.de. Die Zeit , June 11, 2011, accessed on August 23, 2018.
  2. ^ The archaeological investigations on Arsenalplatz. In: zwoelfmedien.net. October 6, 2011, accessed on August 23, 2018 (PDF; 7.2 MB).
  3. ↑ a b (mz): Arsenalplatz in Wittenberg is now complete. In: mz-web.de. December 18, 2016, accessed August 23, 2018.
  4. ↑ a b MZ: Two cellars on Arsenalplatz remain. In: mz-web.de. March 18, 2011, accessed August 23, 2018.
  5. ↑ a b Hendrik Bohle: Whisper architecture - The reinvention of the Reformation city. In: thelink.berlin. April 7, 2017. Retrieved August 23, 2018.

Coordinates: 51 ° 52 ′ 5 "  N , 12 ° 38 ′ 35.5"  E