Beserlpark

Beserlpark is a joking name in Vienna for a "small, miserable park". Recently, the term has also been used for a small car park without a derogatory character.

The word, which comes from the Viennese dialect and is now used both in colloquial language and sometimes in written language , describes a small urban park the size of a large traffic island or a green and public forecourt of a building up to the maximum size of a block and is surrounded by houses. For a number of years, vacant lots in the very densely built-up area within the Vienna Belt have been converted into small parks. It is greened mainly with bushes and a few trees, has benches for social gatherings and, depending on the space available, often a toddler playground and / and a fenced ball playground for the older children and young people. Some Beserlparks were given their own names and until the mid- 1950s many, like the large parks, were fenced off.

etymology

The Brehmpark in Simmering , a few hundred square meters large Beserlpark

There are two derivations for the word, one linguistically based, which is well documented, and one influenced by folk etymology.

• The word component Beserl originally had nothing to do with the fact that stunted bushes or trees grew in small, neglected parks, which were called Beserln in the Viennese dialect. The oldest use of the term Beserlpark occurred in connection with a park that was established in 1860 on the Franz-Josefs-Kai on the banks of the Danube arm there, today's Danube Canal. A remark in Moriz Bermann's book Old and New Vienna proves that this was not a miserable park . History of the imperial city and its surroundings from the year 1880. The author described the Kaiser-Franz-Josef-Park and its avenue as a pretty location that served as a playground for happy children. According to Bermann, the "buxom servants" of these children, "swarmed by handsome warriors", were strolling in the park. So Beserl was a joke expression for maids. In his dictionary of Viennese language, published in 1847, Carl Loritza noted the verb "beseln" (= busily tripping back and forth, being busy) and the expression "broom" for a "reckless, dirty woman". Finally, in a dictionary of crooks language from 1922, the expression "Beserl" can be found as a term for a "reckless, young woman" or an "uncontrolled (secret) prostitute". The Viennese police doctor Josef Cabinet becomes even clearer in the work Die Prostitution in Wien , published in 1886 : "The meanest prostitutes, usually not provided with a health book, use the public parks, especially the Stadtpark , the Rathauspark , the Park am Franz, to practice their shameful trade at night -Josefs-Kai Quai (Beserlpark), the Prater, etc. "

• When the original meaning of the expression "beseln" was forgotten, the word Beserlpark was transferred to small, meager parks whose bushes or trees looked like brooms. This explanation was given by Arthur Schnitzler , for example, in his posthumously published autobiography Jugend in Wien , which this primarily in 1915 and 1918 under the title Life and Resonance. Werk und echo had worked out: "We had the most frequent gatherings in the new facilities on the Danube Canal , the newly created Quaipark, which was popularly called the" Beserl "Park because of its not yet very lush tree growth, which incidentally did not particularly concern us. because we usually met in the dark hours of the evening after the piano lessons that Fännchen gave in friendly families. "

Use outside of Vienna

In the meantime, the word has also been used in urban areas of Lower Austria - where, for example, a “Beserlpark Festival” has been taking place in Mank since 1994 and a medium-sized park on the corner of Julius Raab Promenade and Radetzkystraße in St. Pölten bears this designation as the official name - Upper Austria , It is known in Salzburg , Carinthia and, to a lesser extent, in Styria and Innsbruck and is actively used by parts of the population to designate certain parks. In the Alemannic dialect counting Vorarlberg and also in Bavaria, the term is little known.

Reception in art and culture

In the Wienerlied the Duo Czapek dedicates the song “A klaner Beserlpark” to him , the poetry “Das Grabgespenst vom Beserlpark” can be found in the estate of Ernst Waldbrunn , as well as the concepts for “Love in Beserlpark” and “Summer in Beserlpark” in the estate of Peter Herz . Certain processes can often be observed and are repeatedly addressed. Above all, the old people from the area feed the pigeons, which occurs in Ludwig Hirsch's gruesome song about the sex offender "Der Herr Haslinger". Other topics addressed are the problem with the dog poop left behind in the small urban green oasis and the boys' football games .

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1. ^ Austrian Dictionary, 42nd revised edition, Vienna 2012, page 111
2. ↑ Working group of the university press offices in Germany - Annual conference 2004 at the TU Vienna: Wienerisch ( Memento from September 6, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
3. ^ Workers' newspaper: Parks without bars , April 26, 1956
4. ↑ Sigmar Grüner, Robert Sedlaczek: Lexicon of language errors of Austria, Vienna 2003
5. ^ Moriz Bermann: Old and New Vienna. History of the imperial city and its surroundings, Vienna 1880, page 1159
6. ^ New idioticon Viennense, that is: The vernacular of the Viennese with consideration of the other regional dialects, Vienna-Leipzig 1847, page 25
7. ^ Albert Petrikovits: The Weiner crooks, pimps and whores, Vienna-Cologne-Graz 1986 = reprint of the 2nd edition, Vienna 1922, page 20
8. ^ Josef Closet: Prostitution in Vienna in a historical, administrative and hygienic relationship, Vienna 1886, 1st volume, page 376
9. ^ Arthur Schnitzler: Youth in Vienna - September 1879 to July 1882
10. ↑ www.beserlpark.at
11. ↑ Citizens' Service St. Pölten: Parks in the city area , February 23, 2006
12. ↑ ostarichi.org: Beserlpark , Stand January 13, 2007
13. ^ Gregor Retti: Database on the German language in Austria - Beserlpark ( Memento of September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) , as of July 11, 2006