Friedrich-Schmidt-Platz
The Friedrich-Schmidt-Platz is on the 1st Vienna district, Inner City and Vienna in the 8th district, Josefstadt . It was named in 1907 after the architect of the Vienna City Hall (then the New City Hall ), which opened in 1883 on the east side of the square , Friedrich von Schmidt .
Location and characteristics
The Friedrich-Schmidt-Platz interrupts since 1907, running in a north-south direction, three-lane in both directions today Landesgerichtsstraße , part of the two-line , and parallel to it, directly to the rear facade of City Hall subsequent Rathausstraße . The Landesgerichtsstraße was laid out on the edge of the previously undeveloped glacis (used here as a parade and parade ground) in front of the houses in the suburb of Josefstadt facing today's old town , after the city walls had been demolished from 1858.
The square is part of the district called Rathausviertel, which was created from the construction of the parade and parade ground from 1870. Here, up to the 1960s was from 1872 to 1883 New Town Hall called the center of the Vienna City Administration built for the original other locations on the Ringstrasse had been in discussion.
The open space at the rear that the architect had planned was designed as a park, but initially had no special name. A memorial was erected there in 1896, five years after the architect's death. In 1907, the city administration decided on the name Friedrich-Schmidt-Platz and extended its numbering to include the buildings that were opposite the town hall on Landesgerichtsstraße or previously on the north and south side of the square addresses on Felderstraße (since 1899, previously since 1874 Magistratsstraße ; parallel to the north front of the town hall) or Lichtenfelsgasse (parallel to the south front).
The square, now defined by the numbering of the houses, forms a narrow, north-south extending rectangle; The district border 1/8 runs on the western edge of the park behind the town hall, so that the lanes and sidewalks on the two-way line are entirely in the 8th district, including the tunnel of the U2 subway line and the exits to the subway - Rathaus station west of the lanes (only the exit on the south side of the square is in the 1st district). In the 8th district, west of the two-way lanes , on the square that widens to the north is the small Floriani Park, which extends to the confluence with Florianigasse. The style of the construction along the square is strictly historical in the 1st district (second half of the 19th century), in the 8th district it is Biedermeier (first half of the 19th century).
The line of two has changed significantly in the course of its existence. Electric tram lines have operated since 1901, especially the E2, G2 and H2 lines (so named since 1907). From 1966 onwards, they were guided in a tunnel in which the Friedrich-Schmidt-Platz / Rathaus stop was located. The tunnel has been on the U2 underground line since 1980 and stops at Rathaus station. At the eastern corner of Friedrich-Schmidt-Platz are the entry and exit of the underground car park for the city of Vienna that was built in 1946 from an air raid shelter ( town hall bunker ). Cycle paths also run across the square.
Buildings and parks
No. 1: Town Hall
The New Town Hall was aligned with the Ringstrasse. The building, built in a neo-Gothic style, was built by Friedrich von Schmidt in 1872–1883 . The entire eastern length of Friedrich-Schmidt-Platz (1st district) is taken up by the rear of the town hall between Felderstrasse (since 1899, previously since 1874 Magistratsstrasse) and Lichtenfelsgasse. The facade has a protruding central projection and shows the following statues: In the middle the Vindobona by Edmund Hellmer , on each side 4 allegorical figures ( Justice , Strength and Wisdom from Edmund Hellmer, and Loyalty from Heinrich Fuß ; art , science and the group education and charity from Edmund Hofmann von Aspernburg).
On the side of the town hall facing the square, the municipal council meeting room is located on the first floor. The architect therefore planned a car entrance here, from which arriving councilors could get directly to their meeting room via stairs 7 and 8; there was and still is a passage to the arcade courtyard. (A fire engine was later kept ready in the driveway; at the end of the 1960s the driveway was replaced by an information office called Rathausinformation , later the city information center.)
No. 2: America House
The remarkable arcade house, freestanding on three sides (side fronts: 1., Rathausstraße 7, and 1., Landesgerichtsstraße 8) was built in 1882 by the architects Dionys Milch and Heinrich Hellin . The city expansion fund stipulated that the house should be built with arcades for the entire town hall arcade ensemble . The historicist building is designed in old German forms and has two corner projections with high drum domes . The specially designed central axis shows a high attic gable and three-storey bay window . The arcade is vaulted with ribs . The side entrance in Rathausstrasse is lavishly designed with a Corinthian column portal, wrought iron grilles and profile busts. The foyer behind is clad in stucco marble , with gray-green fields and pilasters following on a black base , and is extended towards the stairwell. The stucco coffered ceiling has ceiling paintings and putti.
Here's the America House Vienna settled. This had existed since April 15, 1946. It was initially located as a US information center at Kärntner Strasse 38. In 1957, it moved to the Opernring-Hof . Since 1971 it has resided at Friedrich-Schmidt-Platz 2. It was originally operated by the United States Information Agency (USIA) and housed an American library. When the USIA was dissolved in 1999, the America House was also closed. In April 2012 it was reopened under the aegis of the Embassy of the United States and was mainly used as a venue, for example for lectures and especially for the cultivation of jazz.
No. 3: Former Military Geography Institute, former Eichamt
The most dominant building on the house front in the 8th district is the former Military Geography Institute on the corner of Schmidgasse 1. It was built by Franz Ferdinand von Mayern in 1840–1842 and is an example of a monumental administrative building from the time of Vormärz . In 1870–1871 it was increased by one floor. The building was originally on the suburban front and on the exposed glacis. The cubic structure consists of a two-storey base zone on which three similar upper storeys lie, which are divided by giant Doric pilasters. A tower-like pavilion was set up in the central axis, which served as an observatory until 1927. On the domed hipped roof there is a gilded globe as an attachment, on the front there is a portrait relief by Johannes Kepler .
The Military Geography Institute was founded by the Imperial and Royal Army in Milan and moved to Vienna with the construction of this building. It was one of the most important cartographic institutions of its time, in which accurate maps of all the countries of the Austrian Empire and neighboring regions were created. The writer Franz Karl Ginzkey worked at the institute , for whom a plaque was attached to the building. After the end of the monarchy, the Federal Office for Metrology and Surveying (Landesaufnahme) was located here from 1923 to 1983 and was responsible for issuing official maps. Today the offices of the Vienna City Administration are housed here.
No. 4: Former Czernin's palace and picture gallery
See: Palais Czernin in Josefstadt
The building was built in 1837 for the Czernin family from and to Chudenitz . From 1845 to 1954 the private art collection founded by Johann Rudolf Graf Czernin was located here. The original right wing of the palace was later torn down and replaced by the office building opened in 1916 at No. 5.
No. 5: Magistrate's office building
The office building of the City Council of Vienna at the corner of 8., Tulpengasse 1, was built in 1914–1916 by Fritz Keller . It was built in place of part of the neighboring Palais Czernin. It is a cube-shaped, block-like building with massive volute consoles with cornices between the first floor. Colossal pilasters with stylized acanthus capitals structure the floors. The vestibule is octagonal with arched niches and passages. In the stairwell there are figural and ornamental ceramic reliefs by Franz Barwig the Elder (1916). Mainly the office of the City Councilor for Culture and the Municipal Department 7 responsible for culture , unofficially known as the Culture Office , are located in the house.
No. 6: Former Lilienfelder Hof
The building was erected in 1839 and is on the corner of 8. Tulpengasse 2. It was bought by the Lilienfeld Abbey in 1844 ; This Lilienfelder Hof was the fifth in a row that the monastery had operated in Vienna since 1260.
No. 7
This Biedermeier suburban rental house was built in 1839 by Anton Hoppe and Ignaz Ram . There is a lattice balcony above the arched portal, and there are flat gable roofs with rose decorations on the main floor. Behind the original wooden door is a groin-arched entrance. Right next to the house is the corner 8., Florianigasse 1, the property 8., Landesgerichtsstraße 7.
No. 8–9: Former Palais Obentraut
The arcade house, freestanding on three sides (side fronts: 1., Landesgerichtsstrasse 10, and 1., Rathausstrasse 9) was built by Ladislaus Boguslawski in 1882/1883 . The client was Hedwig von Obentraut (née Münzberg), wife of the politician and administrative officer Adolf von Obentraut (1833–1909). The city expansion fund stipulated that the house should be built with arcades for the entire town hall arcade ensemble . It is an example of an important late historical house in old German and Renaissance forms. The facade has shallow side risalites with high gables and domed corner oriel turrets , which are divided by half columns and caryatid hermes . The arcade is vaulted with ribs and decorated with paintings. On the side facades there are stucco driveways with pilasters , aedicules and coffered ceilings . Double marble columns lead to the staircase, the wooden doors are decorated with etched glass decorations. There are pawlats in the courtyard .
The house was owned by the Province of Lower Austria , which also included Vienna until 1920, and when the state property was divided between the two federal states of Vienna and Lower Austria excluding Vienna in the separation law passed by the Vienna and Lower Austrian state parliaments, it became the state at the end of 1921 Assigned to Vienna. Today the building houses the Viennese planning workshop of the magistrate, which operates exhibition rooms on the ground floor. The building is a listed building .
Park and monument
Between the rear of the town hall and Landesgerichtsstrasse there is a park in the 1st district; it was laid out in 1885 by city gardener Gustav Sennholz according to plans by the architect Lothar Abel. In the middle of the park, the Friedrich von Schmidt memorial designed by Edmund Hofmann von Aspernburg and Julius Deininger was erected in 1896 on Landesgerichtsstrasse , a late historic bronze statue on a stone plinth. After it was demolished for safety reasons during the Second World War, it was rebuilt in 1951 and, as part of the traffic-related redesign of the Landesgerichtsstrasse, in which the tram was moved underground in the mid-1960s, without the original architectural framing by Julius Deininger on the northern side of the park.
Floriani Park
In the 8th district there is a small and narrow green area between Landesgerichtsstraße and the house front, which is called Florianipark (like Florianigasse leading away from there, named after a house sign showing Saint Florian ). In the middle of the park in front of house 8., Friedrich-Schmidt-Platz 6, 1970 a bronze sculpture by Fritz Wotruba from around 1960 called the standing figure was positioned.
literature
- Bundesdenkmalamt (Ed.): Dehio-Handbuch Wien. II. To IX. and XX. District , Anton Schroll, Vienna 1993, ISBN 3-7031-0680-8
- Bundesdenkmalamt (Ed.): Dehio-Handbuch Wien. I. District - Inner City , Berger Verlag, Horn 2003, ISBN 3-85028-366-6
- Peter Autengruber : Parks and Gardens in Vienna , Promedia, Vienna 2008, ISBN 978-3-85371-281-8
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ From day to day. (...) Town hall bunker becomes large garage . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna February 6, 1946, p. 3 , column 2, middle ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
- ↑ Rathausstrasse 7 Identity addresses: Landesgerichtsstr. 8 Friedrich Schmidplatz 2 ViennaGIS: cultural asset .
- ↑ America House Reopening. ( Memento of the original from March 26, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. austria.usembassy.gov, April 16, 2012.
- ↑ cf. US Embassy programs and events. ( Memento of the original from March 28, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. austria.usembassy.gov (updated content, accessed March 26, 2016).
- ^ Stadtrechnungshof Wien: History of the House of Vienna 1., Rathausstrasse 9 / Landesgerichtsstrasse 10 , accessed on July 22, 2020
Coordinates: 48 ° 12 ′ 39.5 ″ N , 16 ° 21 ′ 22.8 ″ E