Two Banks Garden
The garden of the two banks ( French Jardin des deux rives ) is a public cross-border park between the cities of Kehl in Germany and Strasbourg in France . It lies on the two banks of the Rhine , which are connected by the Passerelle des Deux Rives , and was opened in 2004 as part of the State Garden Show. The area of the garden is about 40 hectares, with the German part accounting for 15 hectares and the French part for 25 hectares.
history
prehistory
Only through the Rhine straightening of Johann Gottfried Tulla in the mid-19th century, the Rhine took in Kehl and Strasbourg at their present form, the Rhine was predictable and navigable. With the opening of the railway bridge over the Rhine in 1861, there was an increased exchange between the two cities.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the commission island in front of the Kehler Rheinufer was developed to create a residential area. For this purpose, the arm of the Rhine running between the city and the island was made into a standing body of water. Since that time, the Kehl Rhine promenade has been a recreational area for the population from Kehl, Strasbourg and the surrounding area.
After the First World War, the French bank of the Rhine was a popular leisure area with summer gardens, games and concert halls. In 1925 a hippodrome was built there, which was used as a training ground for the Wehrmacht during the Second World War . In the 1960s, the Parc du Rhin, a kind of predecessor of the Garden of the Two Banks, was created here. There was an outdoor swimming pool, La Piscine du Rhin . In 1986 it was converted into the L'Océade adventure pool , which ceased operations after 10 years.
idea
The idea for a cross-border garden on the banks of the Rhine goes back to the Strasbourg city councilor and artist Michel Krieger. In 1995, he presented his vision of a symbolic garden to the then mayor of Strasbourg, Catherine Trautmann : The historic Rhine should experience a change in meaning; instead of separating, it should connect in the future. Michel Krieger described this as follows:
- “This garden will be a place of reconciliation. The reconciliation of two peoples, two cultures, which do not express their seclusion, but their openness, which has made the charisma of the Rhine area. "
Emergence
The Kehler municipal council decided in 1996 to apply together with Strasbourg for the 2004 State Garden Show with a cross-border public park, and in February 1997 it accepted the bid. Thereupon Kehl and Strasbourg organized a Europe-wide landscape planning and urban development competition Garden of the two banks / Jardin des deux Rives . The contract was awarded in July 1999 to a design by the landscape architect Rüdiger Brosk and the architecture firm Agirbas / Wienstroer from Essen / Gelsenkirchen. This included a new bridge over the Rhine, which was to become part of a cross-border, circular circular route ( The Path of Time ). In the following, the citizens of both cities were able to contribute ideas and suggestions for the planned park. As a new bridge over the Rhine for pedestrians and cyclists, the design of the Parisian architect Marc Mimrams was chosen in a separate tender in 2000. The conservative city administration of Strasbourg, newly elected in 2001 under Mayor Fabienne Keller , questioned the design of the garden of the two banks and, above all, the location of the new Rhine bridge. Eventually they agreed on a modified design of the park with the bridge in its center instead of on the southern edge. Construction work on the bridge began on February 1, 2003. As part of the opening of the state horticultural show, the garden and the new bridge were inaugurated on April 23, 2004. Since the end of the state horticultural show, the garden on the two banks has been freely accessible to the public.
Attractions
Passerelle des deux rives
The Passerelle des Deux Rives (German bridge of the two banks ) is the heart of the garden of the two banks. It consists of two footbridges that meet in the middle of the Rhine on a large platform. The shorter footbridge is for pedestrians only, the longer one can also be used by cyclists and wheelchair users. The total length of the bridge is 387 meters.
German bank of the Rhine
- Weißtannenturm : A 44 meter high observation tower that was built in 2003.
- Biblical Garden: A path with 17 steles that represent some of the important stations of biblical faith. On the left are motifs from the Old Testament, on the right are motifs from the New Testament. The ecumenical milestone marks the end of the path .
- The UFO ( Unknown Forest Object ) pavilion was built in the form of a UFO in 2004 for the State Garden Show as an exhibition building.
- Alliance memorial plaque : It was erected on the Europa Bridge in memory of resistance fighters of the Réseau Alliance group , who were executed at this location by the Gestapo on November 23, 1944.
- Bronze sculpture encounter by the Munich sculptor Josef Fromm, which was erected on July 1, 1994. Today it is near the passerelle. The former mayor of Strasbourg, Pierre Pflimlin , described it as a "symbol of the good neighborly relations between Kehl and Strasbourg, between Baden and Alsace and beyond that between France and Germany".
- Das Geschichtsband , a bronze sculpture by the artist Kurt Tassotti , which was erected in 2010.
- A play landscape with a water band that connects the Rhine with the nearby Old Rhine.
- As a continuation of the art on the billboard campaign , changing works of art will be exhibited on the banks of the Kehler Rhine.
French bank of the Rhine
- Wall of water: The main attraction on the French side is a 250 meter long and two to five meter high semicircular wall of water made of natural stone, on the top of which you can walk. At the foot of the wall there are water gardens with water lilies and other shore plants.
- Planet path: In the extension of the passerelle there is a 281.5 meter long planet path on a scale of 1:16 billion.
- Alliance memorial stone : It was erected in memory of 29 resistance fighters from the Réseau Alliance group who were executed in Kehl, Bühl and Rastatt at the end of November 1944, when Strasbourg was already liberated.
- Tassigny memorial stone : It commemorates the Commander-in-Chief of the 1st French Army, Marshal de Lattre de Tassigny .
- Temporary gardens: The Jardins éphémères consist of themed gardens by various gardeners in France that are regularly renewed.
- Izanai 2004 : A walk-in work of art by Akio Suzuki consisting of two arched walls .
- A former bunker has been preserved directly on the banks of the Rhine and has since been painted.
Immediate environment
The Europabrücke crosses the Rhine about 500 m north of the passerelle . There is a youth hostel on both sides of the Rhine, about 650 meters away as the crow flies. On the German side of the Rhine, with the rose garden, the old Rhine promenade and the garden of the senses, there are several parks in the immediate vicinity. In the south, the garden of the two banks continues with the Rhine floodplain forest along the Rhine, at the north end is the Villa Schmidt , built in 1914 . On the French side of the Rhine, the Graine de cirque circus school and a riding school border the garden on the two banks.
Some of these grounds are also sometimes viewed as an integral part of the Two Banks Garden. This results in an area of around 56 hectares instead of around 40 hectares.
Culture and leisure
- The Strasbourg Philharmonic has been organizing a free open-air concert on the French banks of the Rhine every summer since 2005 , the Symphonie des Deux Rives .
- The Garten // Jardin association , which was founded in Kehl and Strasbourg in 2001, regularly organizes events on the theme of the garden on the two banks. Among other things, there is a monthly meeting ( café // cake ) on the platform of the Passerelle des Deux Rives .
- In the summer there are dancing events in the Guinguette du Rhin .
- Changing exhibitions in the field of the environment are organized in the UFO pavilion ; it is also used as a classroom.
- The Rhine Festival takes place on both sides of the Rhine at irregular intervals .
- The Sokan drumming group organizes concerts every summer on the banks of the Rhine where people can participate.
- In the field barn right next to the white fir tower, festivals, markets and exhibitions take place regularly.
- There is a fitness trail with 20 stations on the banks of the Kehler Rhine .
Connection
- With the bus lines 2 and tram D of the CTS , stop Jardin des deux rives , or on foot from Kehl train station in about 300 meters.
Others
- During the NATO summit in 2009, the heads of state and government were led onto the platform of the passerelle by Chancellor Angela Merkel on April 4th. There they met the French President Nicolas Sarkozy , who was arriving from the French bank. The passerelle is shown on the logo of the NATO summit.
- The garden of the two banks is the meeting point of two Jakobswegen : the Kinzig valley Jakobusweg and the Alsatian Jakobsweg.
Web links
literature
- Michel Krieger et al .: The garden of the two banks: The genesis of the project between Strasbourg - Kehl , Association Garten // Jardin, Strasbourg 2004, ISBN 2-9523126-0-5
- Angelika Sadlau, Helmut Schneider, Carl Helmut Steckner: The Lange Bruck: 600 years of ways to neighbors , Kehl 1989.
- Hans Hermann, Helmut Schneider: From hereditary enemy to European partner , Baumgärtner bookstore, Kehl 2010.
Individual evidence
- ↑ www.alsace-jardins.eu ( Memento of the original from March 17, 2015) 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.
- ↑ a b Michel Krieger et al .: The Garden of the Two Banks: The history of the project between Strasbourg - Kehl , Association Garten // Jardin, Strasbourg 2004, ISBN 2-9523126-0-5 , p. 17
- ↑ marketing.kehl.de
- ↑ www.archi-strasbourg.org
- ↑ Michel Krieger et al .: The garden of the two banks: The genesis of the project between Strasbourg - Kehl , Association Garten // Jardin, Strasbourg 2004, ISBN 2-9523126-0-5 , p. 29.
- ↑ www.baunetz.de
- ↑ www.kehl.de
- ↑ www.bo.de
- ↑ www.bo.de
- ↑ www.kehl.de ( Memento of the original from April 2, 2015 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.
- ↑ www.kehl.de
- ↑ www.strasbourg.eu
- ↑ www.strasbourg.eu ( Memento of the original from April 2, 2015 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.
- ↑ www.kehl.de
- ↑ www.lavillakehl.com
- ↑ www.grainedecirque.asso.fr ( Memento of the original from March 1, 2015 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.
- ↑ cestrasbourg.wordpress.com ( Memento of the original from April 2, 2015 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.
- ↑ www.kehl.de
- ↑ www.tourisme-alsace.com ( Memento of the original from March 26, 2015 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.
- ↑ www.gartenjardin.eu
- ↑ laguinguettedurhin.fr
- ↑ www.kehl.de ( Memento of the original from April 2, 2015 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.
- ↑ www.kehl.de ( Memento of the original from April 2, 2015 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.
- ↑ www.sokan.eu
- ↑ www.feldscheune-kehl.de
- ↑ www.nato.int
- ↑ jakobswege-nach-burgund.de
Coordinates: 48 ° 34 ′ 9.5 ″ N , 7 ° 48 ′ 10.4 ″ E