Darmstadt-Martinsviertel

Martinsviertel Independent city of Darmstadt Coordinates: 49 ° 52 ′ 5 ″  N , 8 ° 40 ′ 42 ″  E
Area :	67 ha
Residents :	11,727  (Dec. 31, 2017)
Population density :	17,503 inhabitants / km²
Location of the Martinsviertel in Darmstadt

The Martinsviertel (in the local dialect: Maddinsväddel ) is one of the older quarters and a statistical district in Darmstadt . It is located in the north of Darmstadt and borders the city ​​center to the northeast . For statistical purposes, the city of Darmstadt divides it into the statistical districts Martinsviertel-Ost and Martinsviertel-West, which have a total area of ​​67 hectares and 11,727 inhabitants. This results in a population density of 175.0 people per hectare (rounded). The Martinsviertel was originally a small rural settlement outside the city walls, in which the population still kept pigs that ran around on the street - that's why it was (and is) also called the "Watzeviertel". In the old part of Arheilger Straße there is still a preserved Faselstall in a courtyard .

At the beginning of industrialization, immigrants from the area moved here, so that the population increased from 1630 to 5200 households in just one generation between 1880 and 1910.

In the 1960s, so-called surface renovations came into fashion. The Martinsviertel almost fell victim to the excavator, but thanks to a citizens' initiative that lived there, many old half-timbered houses were preserved and were gradually renovated.

Today the Martinsviertel is one of the most sought-after residential areas within Darmstadt, as it is close to the university and the Herrngarten , partly has attractive old buildings and has numerous bars and shops, especially around Riegerplatz , Heinheimer Straße and Liebfrauenstraße in the center of the district. On the other hand, the quarter shows tendencies towards gentrification , so that the rents there can no longer be raised by all of the ancestral residents.

history

The history of the Martinsviertel begins around 1582 with the expansion of the old suburb. The architects Jakob Kesselhut , Jakob Wustmann, Martin Kersten and Seyfried Pfannmüller were supposed to build a suburb for the civil servants and the court population who immigrated to the Darmstadt residence.

The first development took place in the area of ​​the balloon square, the previous ball playground of the courtyard. Shortly thereafter, the Magdalenenstrasse was expanded.

In 1670 the riding arena was converted into a comedy house. It later became the small house of the State Theater, which was destroyed in World War II and renovated in the 1990s. It was not until the years 1678–1687 that the old suburb was given direct access to the castle and market square. The landgraves' pear orchard and pear garden road, today's Alexanderstrasse, were built. The balloon square and all other streets were planted with linden trees.

Since most of the houses that were built had a similar function, a relatively uniform urban face was developed. Some of the baroque-style gables of the houses have been preserved to this day or, as with the new buildings on Ballonplatz, were newly created.

As early as the end of the 18th century, development began in front of the Sporertor, which was demolished in 1810. The landgraves, above all Ludwig IX., Gave their veterans and their widows a house with an outbuilding for their own agricultural needs. The Gardistengasse and Bangertgasse, later Pankratiusstrasse, were built during this time.

Schools began in Walloth's house in 1819. In 1823 the construction of the balloon school began, in which the school operations continued. After the Sporertor, the Jägertor was demolished in 1824. Nevertheless, the development along Dieburger and Heinheimer Strasse only got going gradually. In front of the former gates were the farmers' and poor people's quarters, which the townspeople disparagingly referred to as Watzeviertel.

Therefore, only medium-sized companies and ordinary citizens moved into the new development. Until then, the center of the Martinsviertel was the Kantplatz . Only after the construction of the Martinskirche in 1885 and a new center of the quarter that was created in this way did the quarter formation begin around Riegerplatz, thanks to the rapidly moving rural population. There was considerable speculation about land and construction, and land prices rose from 1–3 gold marks (1870) to up to 50 gold marks (1905). After the influx subsided, however, prices fell back to around 25 gold marks. As a result of speculation and the drop in prices, the area around today's Friedrich-Ebert-Platz was also nicknamed the Mortgage Cemetery. To curb speculation, the first development plan for the Martinsviertel was drawn up in 1890. However, this had little effect against speculation.

In 1877, the polytechnic school in Darmstadt in the Martinsviertel was elevated to university status by being awarded the title Technical University of Darmstadt by Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and the Rhine. Also in 1877 the Miller's School, today's Schiller School, was founded.

In 1884 the expansion of the water supply in the Martinsviertel began. In 1904 the first Catholic church was inaugurated in Martinsviertel and the second in Darmstadt. On September 30th, the Church of St. Elisabeth was consecrated by Bishop Georg Heinrich Maria Kirstein in honor of St. Elisabeth, Countess of Hesse and Thuringia.

The further densification of the quarter took the urban growth into account. In particular, with the onset of industrialization and the associated population growth, there was increased construction activity from the second half of the 19th century. Around the turn of the century, the Wilhelminian style development, which is typical for large parts of the Martinsviertel, was built with its mostly four-story closed block construction.

When Darmstadt first escaped from the city around 1900, attempts were made to counteract this by founding the garden city on the edge of the Martinsviertel. Joseph Maria Olbrich drafted a proposal for the garden city on Hohlenweg. The aim was to enable inexpensive living while respecting nature. Construction began in 1907. Today's composers' quarter emerged from the garden city .

The Martinsviertel was connected to the local public transport network in 1912 by branch line 5.

The district was also damaged in World War II, especially during the Darmstadt Fire Night on September 11, 1944. Among other things, the Martins and Elisabeth churches were destroyed. However, in contrast to the central city center, a large part of the historical building fabric was preserved.

In 1972 the Martinsviertel was formally designated as a redevelopment area . The aim was to make the district homely again. The careful renovation lasted more than 30 years. The basis for the redevelopment is the Martinsviertel master plan approved by the city in 1975 . With the exception of a planned 4-lane route, the so-called Osttangente , this is still valid today. To this day, the Osttangente pub is reminiscent of the protests of the Darmstadt voter community against the planned route. Planning was abandoned in 1980.

The Karlshof is Darmstadt's largest student residence.

Churches and landmarks

St. Elisabeth Church

Since around 1900 the Catholics in Darmstadt were so numerous that St. Ludwig's Church could no longer hold them, the construction of a second Catholic church in Darmstadt was necessary. Since 1871, a mass with a sermon has been held every second Sunday in the chapel of the municipal Pründnerhaus. The church council of St. Ludwig then decided in 1893 to buy a piece of land in Gardistenstrasse. 40,000 gold marks were spent on this. Since the land was insufficient for the construction, the pastor of St. Ludwig's Church, Dr. Friedrich Elz added a riding court in Schloßgartenstrasse.

The foundation stone for the building was laid on October 4, 1903. The consecration took place, almost two years later, on September 30, 1905, by the Mainz bishop Georg Heinrich Maria Kirstein . The architect Ludwig Becker planned the church. In the year of the inauguration, the pastoral care district was separated from the parish of St. Ludwig and has functioned as an independent parish ever since.

During the Second World War the church was hit by two high explosive bombs, which resulted in almost complete destruction. The community began rebuilding in 1947. The church was consecrated two years later on August 7, 1949, but the damage continued for many years.

The remains of the “Eucharistic High Altar” and the “Mary Altar” can still be found inside the church. Both are masterpieces of the neo-Gothic style of the turn of the century.

See also: List of cultural monuments in the Martinsviertel

Schools in the Martinsviertel

• Christian Morgenstern School
• Schiller School
• Bernhard Adelung School
• Ernst Elias Niebergall School
• Christoph Graupner School

Regular events

• June / July: Kantplatz, book and magazine flea market with reading
• first weekend in August: Citizens pint with flea market in the Bürgerpark
• September: Watzemussiggnacht
• September: Martinskerb
• September / October: Kantplatz, book and magazine flea market with reading

literature

• Helmut Schlicker (Ed.): The Martinsviertel in Darmstadt. , Stuttgart 1982, ISBN 978-3-7984-0565-3 .
• Martin Zimmer, Werner Zimmer, Rolf Lang, Alfred Helfmann (eds.): 400 years of Darmstadt's Martinsviertel. History and life of a district 1590–1990 , Darmstadt 1990.
• Walz, Karin: The Martinsviertel - A journey through time through a lively Darmstadt district. pala-verlag, Darmstadt 2013, ISBN 978-3-89566-331-4 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} PDF file with information on urban area and population figures from the data report 2018. In: Datenreport 2018. Wissenschaftsstadt Darmstadt, accessed on April 24, 2019 . 
2. ↑ Darmstädter Echo, Friday, May 10, 2019, p. 10.
3. ^ Christian Morgenstern School
4. ↑ Schiller School
5. ^ Bernhard Adelung School
6. ^ Ernst Elias Niebergall School
7. ^ Christoph Graupner School. Retrieved April 24, 2019 .