Graetzl

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Grätzl are parts of residential districts in Vienna . Alternative spellings are Grätzel , Gretzel , Gretzl , Krätzl and Kretzl . A Grätzl usually comprises several blocks of houses, but there are no official boundaries for these smallest urban units. A part of the district can include several Grätzl.

definition

The identity of a Grätzl is determined by the differentiation from neighboring areas or one's own attitude towards life. As with the Veedel in Cologne and the Kiezen in Berlin , a Grätzl is a “'felt' socio-spatial, everyday category”. This is often due to the fact that, apart from the city center, today's area of ​​Vienna originally consisted of many different villages , which only gradually became a whole. Despite numerous demolitions and new buildings in history, due to urbanization, in some parts of the city you can still recognize the original village character, for example by means of small squares, narrow streets, low buildings, or more rarely, also by means of preserved original buildings . Usually, a Grätzl sees itself only as part of a former suburban community or a current part of the city, which is based on official boundaries. But small parts of the city in particular, such as the Spittelberg , are not infrequently viewed as their own Grätzl.

Graetzln can be found mainly in the districts around the 1st district (which reflects the original size of Vienna within the city walls), as the various villages around Vienna were located close to the city. In newer districts such as the districts of Donaustadt and Floridsdorf north of the Danube , in the original floodplain area Brigittenau south of the Danube or Liesing in the southwest of the city, people used to not speak of Grätzln. In the meantime, however, the word is less narrowly defined in common parlance. Younger, characteristic residential areas are sometimes referred to as Grätzl, for example the Leberberg in Simmering or the Laaer Berg in Favoriten.

The less urban a district is, the more the perception shifts from “Grätzl” to “Area”. For example, districts with a lot of industry can be industrial areas , but never Industriegrätzl .

Figurative meaning

Grätzl is also used as a synonym for “the immediate vicinity”. So “to stay in the Grätzl” means not to go far. “Not getting out of the Grätzl” means not to leave the familiar surroundings, not to be open to new things or to be very domestic.

etymology

The word Grätzl is etymologically related to the word "tear". In Middle High German there is also the term irritation , which is also formed to “tear” and means something like “periphery”.

List of Grätzln (selection)

The Karmelitermarkt in the Karmeliterviertel

See also

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Olaf Schnur: Neighborhood research at a glance: concepts, definitions and current perspectives . In: Olaf Schnur (Ed.): Quartiersforschung. Between theory and practice . VS, Wiesbaden 2008, p. 34, ISBN 978-3-531-16098-6 .
  2. ↑ Municipal Department 21 of the City of Vienna: A Grätzel sets the course: Participation Process Nordbahnhof (= workshop report , volume 150), Municipal Department 21 of the City of Vienna 2015, ISBN 978-3-903003-02-6 ( full text online , PDF, 5 MB)