Augsburg-Lechviertel
The Lechviertel is a district of Augsburg . With around 4,000 inhabitants, it is part of the Lechviertel district, eastern Ulrichsviertel, and belongs to the Augsburg city center planning area .
History of the Lechviertel
The Lechviertel lies below the slope edge of the Augsburger Hochterrasse , which runs along the Maximilianstrasse-Karolinenstrasse-Hoher Weg-Frauentorstrasse axis through the Augsburg old town , and was the center of Augsburg's handicrafts for centuries . Here were the workshops of file cutters , weavers and tanners as well as those goldsmiths and silversmiths who, until the 18th century, produced, among other things, the world-famous Augsburg table silver, which was eaten at all European courts at that time. Even today you can visit a few historical handicraft businesses, above all the old silversmiths .
After the loss of imperial freedom and incorporation into Bavaria in 1806, the former handicraft center became a residential area for poor citizens. The houses were falling apart, rubbish piled up in the narrow streets, diseases spread. Even after the reconstruction, which followed the severe destruction during the Second World War , the Lechviertel remained a district that was mainly inhabited by socially disadvantaged Augsburgers.
Plans by the city council in the 1960s to completely demolish the Lechviertel in order to make space for modern new buildings were not implemented due to widespread protest from the Augsburg population.
The Lechviertel today
At the beginning of the 1980s, extensive renovation of the Lechviertel began. The historic cobblestone paving was restored to the old streets, and the Lech canals, which were largely covered over after the war, were exposed again. Many medieval craftsmen's houses are now sought-after residential addresses, and numerous boutiques, bars and pubs have settled in the winding streets. The once disreputable Lechviertel has become one of the most popular districts for both tourists and the people of Augsburg themselves.
The Lech canals
The three Lech canals run parallel through the area from south to north, partly accompanied by alleys of the same name. From west (at the foot of the raised terrace ) to east (before the inner city moat ) these are:
- Front Lech
- Middle Lech
- Rear Lech
They once served to supply water and energy for the many medieval craft businesses that powered their machines with the help of water wheels. Until the floodplain sewer system was built in 1910, the sewers also served the purpose of disposing of sewage .
The water for the Lech canals is branched off the Lech at the height of the Hochablass and flows in the capital stream (in the further course also Kaufbach) along Friedberger Strasse to the city center. The brook branches south of the old town to distribute itself in small watercourses over the whole old town. In the north, the canals reunite to form the Stadtbach , which in the Wolfzahnau flows back into the Lech just 100 meters above the Wertach estuary .
While the Lech canals were covered up in the 1930s and after the war until the 1960s, they have now largely been restored to their historical condition as part of the renovation of the old town. Today it is mainly they who give the medieval streets of the Lechviertel their special flair. With the canals, the bridges have also returned to Augsburg's old town, so numerous that the Fugger city now supposedly has more bridges than Venice.
Sights in the Lechviertel
- City butcher
- Comedy in the Gignoux house
- Artisan houses
- Brechthaus
- Kresslesmühle cultural center
- Evangelical Barefoot Church
- Old silversmiths
See also
Web links
- Website on the redevelopment program for Augsburg Old Town (PDF; 1.04 MB)
Coordinates: 48 ° 22 ' N , 10 ° 54' E