Graben (Vienna)
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The Graben is one of the most famous streets in the center of Vienna's old town, the 1st district . It starts from Stock-im-Eisen-Platz / Stephansplatz (with St. Stephen's Cathedral ) at the beginning of Kärntner Straße and leads northwest to the cross axis Kohlmarkt - Tuchlauben . Narrow historical streets branch off from the ditch, which was designed as a pedestrian area like a square. It functions as a luxurious shopping and promenade and, together with Kärntner Straße and Kohlmarkt, forms the “golden U” of Viennese retail.
Street history
The creation of the ditch
The ditch goes back to the old Roman camp Vindobona , where a wall along the current street and today's Naglergasse formed the south-western wall of the fort , with a ditch in front of it. This moat was still there in front of the medieval , two to three meters thick and six meters high castle wall. At the end of the 12th century, the city of Babenberg was expanded , financed by the ransom for Richard the Lionheart . The trench - probably with the remains of the wall - was filled in and leveled. The moat thus became one of the first streets in the urban expansion zone. In this area of the city there were even larger undeveloped areas, which probably contributed to the fact that the name Graben has survived to this day.
The moat in the Middle Ages
The planned construction of the city expansion can also be recognized by the different buildings north and south of the moat. The development on the north side is still irregular today and there was only one narrow passage to St. Peter's Church , the so-called Jungferngässchen . A lingerie shop called Zur Schwäbischen Jungfrau , whose name also refers to the Swabians who settled there, was founded in 1720. In contrast, in the 13th century, five lanes were regularly laid out on the south side, namely Obere Bräunerstraße (today's Habsburgergasse), Untere Bräunerstraße ( Bräunerstraße ), Färberstraße ( Dorotheergasse ), Laderstraße (Spiegelgasse) and Reifstraße (Seilergasse). A lot was still undeveloped here, but that changed quickly.
According to the historian Karl Oettinger , the construction of the trench replaced the Hoher Markt –Wipplingerstraße as the main artery. The new compound allegedly led by Am Hof on Bognergasse and the ditch to Stock im Eisen -Platz and turned there towards St. Stephen's Cathedral in order on the Rotenturmstraße the Wollzeile reach. The traffic therefore no longer had to pass through the main market on Hohen Markt. However, since practically all roads in the city came to an end and there was hardly any reason to drive towards Schottentor at the time, this theory is controversial.
At that time there were mainly wooden houses on the moat, which led to a disaster on March 23, 1327. In the house of the pastor of St. Stephen, Henry of Lucerne in the Wallnerstraße a fire broke out that over the short time carbon market covered the entire trench and destroyed the whole area. King Friedrich the Beautiful was also present during the rescue work . Although the ditch was not yet a preferred location for the nobility at that time, it was evidently the home of Swabian families who had come to Vienna with Rudolf I.
The only building known from this period is the Freisingerhof .
At the turn of the 13th to the 14th century, the moat was built with groups of houses at both ends. This created the Paternostergässchen at the northwest end , an extension of Naglergasse and at the southeast end the Grabengasse and the notorious narrow Schlossergässchen , where the locksmiths set up their workshops. Related artisans, such as blacksmiths , were also there. The narrowness of Schlossergässchen repeatedly gave rise to criticism as a traffic obstacle. The ditch was seen more as a plaza than a street. At that time, however, it was not yet an exclusive address, especially because the so-called Murder arose in its area , an open stream that was used for sewage disposal and caused a corresponding smell. Over time, however, the settlement of various notables increased, initially mainly wealthy citizens of the city.
The moat in the baroque period
Although the structure of the moat remained more or less the same, the character began to change. It was shaped primarily by the Arkadenhof , a striking Renaissance building that only had to give way to today's Grabenhof in 1873. The moat became the scene of various festivities, including celebrations of hereditary homage . This prompted the local homeowners to remodel their buildings and add rich decor to the facades. In 1701 the old St. Peter's Church was demolished and rebuilt by 1708.
In the course of the 18th century the use of the market was reduced, in 1753 the green goods dealers were removed and in 1772 the Christmas market had to give way. The moat became the main scene of urban life and the preferred promenade area. This was not limited to the nobility, the rise of the entrepreneurs could also be seen, the clearest characteristic being the establishment of the Trattnerhof by the book printer Thomas Edler von Trattnern . However, prostitutes , the famous Graben Fraulein and Graben nymphs, also appeared.
The regulation of the ditch
The upswing of the Graben continued at the beginning of the 19th century. More and more luxury shops settled here, with the shops being provided with artistically valuable signs. With these settlements and the increasing traffic, the two blocks of houses at the ends of the moat became more and more obstacles. The first Austrian Spar-Casse had the corner houses on the Tuchlauben demolished in 1835 and its main building, which still exists today, was erected by 1838. In 1840 the buildings at the northwest end of the moat were removed. Started after Czeike in 1866, the houses at the eastern end between Grabengasse and Schlossergasse (both abandoned) were removed, so that the ditch now passed directly into Stock-im-Eisen-Platz and through this a clear view of Stephansplatz was possible. In the 19th century, almost all of the old houses on the Graben, with the exception of Palais Bartolotti-Partenfeld , were replaced by new buildings. Jungferngasse was widened, creating open access to St. Peter's Church. The Trattnerhof was replaced in 1911 by a two-part new building with a central passage (named after the farm) to Goldschmiedgasse .
The moat in the 20th and 21st centuries
The ditch was now not only a place for luxury shopping and coffee breaks, but also a busy traffic area. The horse busses that were still in use at the beginning of the 20th century were replaced by regular buses, for which the adjacent Stephansplatz formed a traffic junction. In the 1910s and 1920s, horse-drawn carriages and fiakers were replaced by cars , for which more and more space was required. The traffic on Stock-im-Eisen-Platz, the connection from Graben to Stephansplatz, was last regulated from above; the traffic cop's booth was on a high stand above the crowd. The first neon lighting in Vienna was put into operation here on December 4, 1950 .
After the Second World War, various design proposals were discussed, including two for roofing the trench. In May 1973, work began on the Stephansplatz subway station , largely in the open construction method, which meant that the trench was no longer a passage to other parts of the old town. On November 22, 1971, the first pedestrian zone in Vienna was set up here, initially on a trial basis . In the course of the underground construction , the trench was rebuilt in several phases and the pedestrian zone was expanded in stages. In this context, five architects or teams of architects were commissioned with suggestions for the design. The idea of Group M to cover the trench was particularly controversial . When designing the pedestrian zone, the difference in level between the previous sidewalks and lanes was largely eliminated. The connection Habsburgergasse – Jungferngasse – Petersplatz is crossed across the moat by a city bus with small vehicles.
Today the Graben is again one of the most important promenade and business streets in Vienna. It is heavily frequented by tourists and in the summer season is occupied by restaurants with numerous pavement gardens . Together with Kohlmarkt and Kärntner Straße , it forms the so-called “Golden U” on traditional old town shopping streets that have a high offer and are designed as pedestrian zones.
The moat as a marketplace
The moat served as a market place from the earliest times. The fruit trade was mentioned as early as 1295, shortly after the ditch itself was first mentioned in documents. The trade in cabbage began around 1320, and about a hundred years later with other vegetables . These products also gave the Graben the names Grüner Markt and Kräutermarkt . From the 14th century, flour and bread traders are also passed down. The bakers themselves did not get permission to bake large loaves of bread again until 1442. So-called bread banks were built on the ditch , which the bakers had to rent. In Paternostergässchen, paternosters, that is, producers of rosaries , settled. From 1424 onwards, meat banks on the Graben were also mentioned in the chamber office accounts , although there were strict regulations regarding their opening times. Because of the odor nuisance, according to a decree by Ferdinand I in 1564, the meat banks were to be relocated, but this did not happen completely. In the 18th century the business activity shifted more and more to the neighboring houses and in 1753 the vegetable market was closed as the last market.
The moat as a fairground
Because of its location and size, the moat was particularly suitable for parades. Corpus Christi processions have been known since 1438, but they should have existed earlier. With the rise of Protestantism , they played a particularly important role in demonstrating the Catholic faith. At the time of Emperor Charles VI. a daily mass was held at the plague column. In the 18th century there was an almost weekly procession, but this was restricted by Maria Theresa , and Joseph II left only the Corpus Christi procession.
The moat also served as a place for triumphal procession, especially when the archdukes and emperors moved in. Evidently from 1620 it was the scene of the hereditary homage celebrations , at which the estates paid their respects to the sovereign, the first known time with Ferdinand II.
building
Freisingerhof and Trattnerhof
The Freisingerhof was the first monumental building on the moat. The Hochstift Freising owned land here and probably had a courtyard built at the end of the 12th century, the name of which is only recorded in 1273. The irregular Romanesque building served on the one hand as an administrative center for the properties of the monastery in the vicinity of Vienna, on the other hand as accommodation for the bishops of Freising and their diplomatic representatives. Initially it was referred to as Dompropsthof , the first known documented name as Freisingerhof dates back to 1468. In addition to the main building, the courtyard also comprised a few other houses in the area.
The publisher and court printer Thomas Trattner Edler von Trattnern bought the farm in 1773 and had an apartment building, which was huge for that time , built on the property of Peter Mollner , which was completed in 1776. Opinions about the building were divided. On the one hand its sheer size impressed, on the other hand the many small rooms and vaults were criticized. The building was labeled Trattner n hof , but the name Trattnerhof prevailed. The entrance portals were decorated with caryatids by Tobias Kögler . The house remained in the possession of the Trattner family and was only sold at the beginning of the 19th century. In 1911 the building was demolished. According to the plans of Rudolf Krausz , two houses (Graben 29 and 29A) were built on the site, separated by a narrow alley, creating a second connection to the oldest part of the city on public land for the first time. This street still bears the name Trattnerhof today .
Anchor house
This house was probably built for himself by Otto Wagner from 1894 to 1895 . The name is derived from the fact that the previous building was bought by the insurance company Der Anker in 1873 . The type of basement with its glass surfaces already indicates later building structures such as those used in reinforced concrete construction. From 1971 it was used by Friedensreich Hundertwasser .
Bartolotti-Partenfeld Palace
The Palais of Barons Bartolotti von Partenfeld is the only baroque building on the Graben that still exists today. It was built around 1720 and is attributed to Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt . The main front with two portals is in Dorotheergasse, in the staircase there is a figure of St. John of Nepomuk from the early 18th century. The steps of the main staircase and the spiral staircase were made of Kaisersteinbrucher Kaiserstein . Until 1735 the palace was owned by the Bartolotti family , Baron von Partenfeld , who came from the Venetian and was elevated to the rank of count in 1729.
Generalihof
This building from the years 1794 to 1795 by Peter Mollner and Ernest Koch was rebuilt in 1831 by Josef Klee . Here was the seat of the music shop of Leopold Kozeluch , who among other things published the works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart . From 1871 the building was home to the prestigious Gunesch Institute for Girls, run by the pedagogue Adele von Gunesch . The Assicurazioni Generali insurance company bought the house in 1894 and had the facade changed the following year, and the house was given an attic structure . In the building is the shop of the prominent men's tailor Knize , designed by Adolf Loos .
Grabenhof
The building, formerly also called Thienemannhof , is the work of Otto Thienemann and Otto Wagner. Since it was built from 1873 to 1874, it is still of historical character. The roof was extended in 1947 by Alfons Hetmanek .
The listed Grabenhof is owned by the Austrian Civil Service Insurance and has also been used as a place for cultural encounters since 1991. On June 18, 1994, a memorial plaque was unveiled for Josef von Sonnleithner , who lived in the arcade house that was on the site of today's Grabenhof until 1874. He became famous through the founding of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna .
First Austrian Spar-Casse
The expansion of the first Austrian Spar-Casse founded in 1819 , the first in the whole of Old Austria, required a change of headquarters several times in its early days. In 1825 she moved into the Graben 21. After buying three neighboring houses, she had them demolished and house No. 21, and the architect Alois Pichl built a new, large building from 1835 to 1839. Until the move to the newly built Erste Campus near Vienna Central Station took place in 2016 , the building was the headquarters of the internationally active Erste Group and its subsidiary Erste Bank Austria. The building extends from the corner of the trench to the Tuchlauben to Jungferngasse (St. Peter's Church). There are still bank counters on the ground floor.
shops
Due to its proximity to the Hofburg and its central location in the middle of the old town, the Graben developed into a shopping street for the upper class in the 19th century. Here, as in the two adjoining streets Kohlmarkt and Kärntner Strasse , several companies settled which had been recognized as suppliers to the court .
After 1918, the end of the monarchy at the end of the lost World War I, the density of luxury shops decreased significantly, but increased again, especially towards the end of the 20th century. However, in some cases, long-established family businesses have now been replaced by “outlets” of international brands, as their operators were more easily able to raise the rents, which had risen sharply for business premises.
The well-known clothing company E. Braun & Co. , with its restaurant at Graben 8, on the corner of Spiegelgasse, was taken over by the Palmers chain; The company Hennes & Mauritz moved into the house in 2005 , continuing the tradition of selling clothes in the shop and keeping the historic interior furnishings. In 2008 the pastry shop Lehmann am Graben 12, a former purveyor to the court, had to close its doors.
There are currently the following business premises:
- Main business of the Augarten porcelain factory , former Hof porcelain manufacturer, Stock-im-Eisen-Platz 3, corner of Spiegelgasse
(The house numbers on Graben begin with 7. The numbers in front of them no longer exist since the buildings on Stock-im-Eisen-Platz were numbered separately.)
- E. Braun & Co. , Graben 8, corner of Spiegelgasse, kuk Hof gentlemen's outfitter. Today H&M Exklusiv is located there.
- Skinning Liska, Graben 12
- Albin Denk , Graben 13, court porcelain supplier
- Anton Heldwein , Graben 13, court jeweler
- Kniže & Comp. , Graben 13, corner of Bräunerstraße, Hofschneider
- JB Filz's son , Graben 13, court perfumer
- Julius Meinl am Graben Delicatessen, Restaurant, Graben 20, corner of Naglergasse
- Erste Bank , Graben 21, corner of Tuchlauben
- To the Swabian Jungfrau , Graben 26, yard laundry supplier
- Nägele & Strubell , Graben 27, court perfumer
- Wilhelm Frick bookstore , Graben 27, Hof bookstore
- Watchmaker Huebner, Graben 28
- Altmann & Kühne , Graben 30, Confectionery
Other structures
Plague column
On the occasion of the end of a plague epidemic in 1679, Emperor Leopold I vowed the erection of a mercy column in honor of the Holy Trinity . Construction began in the same year, but there were numerous changes in the planning and changes in the artists involved. The column was not completed until 1692 under the direction of Paul Strudel .
The almost 19 m high column has a complex iconographic program in which the three figure plays a special role. It not only serves to glorify the Trinity, but also to support Leopold's political goals.
The Viennese plague column was style-defining and was imitated throughout the monarchy.
Trench well
There are two wells on the moat . As early as 1455, the city accounting books contained issues for a fountain, the water of which was drawn in pipes from the garden of the Hofburg , the stone fountain house was crowned by the statue of St. Florian . The statue of Florian gives an indication of the purpose of the well, it was primarily used to extinguish conflagrations. The fountain created by the master stonemason Hanns (Puchsbaum) was adorned with four lion heads , which is why it was soon referred to as the lion fountain . He stood on the west side of the trench in front of the house "Zum golden Hirschen". In addition to Master Hanns, Master Augustin Ratsmid was also named, he created the lion heads.
When it was decided in 1638 to introduce a new fire code, the Lower Austrian government found it necessary to build new tube wells on the Freyung and the Graben. Fared a stonemason job to master Hieronymus Bregno with his companion Francesco della Torre , from the imperial quarry on Leithaberg which for his work probably Kaiserstein used. The sculptor Johann Jacob Pock designed a Jupiter statue for this fountain .
There was no figure on the counterpart of the house "Zum Schwarzen Elefanten", the structure can best be compared with a Gothic pinnacle . The (southeast) fountain probably dates from 1561.
At the request of Emperor Leopold I , the fountains were provided with statues of Saints Joseph and Leopold in 1680, which were made by the sculptor Johann Frühwirth . These were replaced in 1804 by lead figures by Johann Martin Fischer . The statues of Frühwirth have since been lost. Both of the current fountains are carved from Wöllersdorf stone . They are known under the names Josefsbrunnen and Leopoldsbrunnen .
Below the Josefsbrunnen is Vienna's oldest underground public lavatory , the public lavatory on the Graben .
traffic
It is unclear to what extent the moat was a main traffic route in the Middle Ages (see above). Due to the construction at both ends, however, it was unsuitable for this. From the 19th century, however, it was one of the busiest streets in Vienna even before motorization , with the south-western side being mostly used. In the 19th century there were numerous places for fiakers and carriages on the ditch.
The first bus line operated by the city's parking vehicle company operated with batteries ran from March 1, 1912 from Stephansplatz across the Graben to the Volksoper . As a result, numerous bus routes ran across the moat. In connection with the underground construction started on Stephansplatz in 1973, the ditch was redesigned into a pedestrian zone from 1974 . As a test run, in connection with the Christmas parade on November 27, 1971, the first pedestrian zone in Vienna was set up here, which was only allowed to be used by fiakers (see illustration from 1973). The final design project comes from Wilhelm Holzbauer and his team and was implemented in 1978. In 1988 the last section between Jungferngasse and Kohlmarkt was included, but the crossing from Habsburgergasse to Jungferngasse is used by small city buses.
The U3 underground line has been running under the ditch since 1991 . The U3 route in the Stephansplatz station, which was opened in 1978, was built in the shell during the construction of the U1 , so that the further course under the ditch was a compulsory point. A stairway from this station leads to the moat. The staircase is not roofed over, as one wanted to protect the cityscape as much as possible; its installation in one of the neighboring houses was not possible due to the excessively high transfer charges.
literature
- Vienna City and State Archives , Upper Chamber Office accounts 1648, 1651
- Felix Czeike : Der Graben , Paul Zsolnay Verlag , Vienna-Hamburg 1972
- Dehio-Handbuch Wien I. Bezirk - Innere Stadt , Berger Verlag, Horn / Vienna 2003, ISBN 3-85028-366-6
- Reinhard Engel: Luxury from Vienna I. Czernin Verlag , Vienna 2001. ISBN 3-7076-0121-8
- Ernst Kurz : The urban development of the city of Vienna in relation to traffic , Magistrat der Stadt Wien (MA18), Vienna 1981
- Harald Marincig: 80 years of bus service in the municipality of Vienna 1907–1987 , Wiener Stadtwerke-Verkehrsbetriebe, Vienna 1987
- Rudolf Gerlich, R. Andraschko: City for pedestrians - Design of public spaces in Vienna - Selected examples , Compress Verlag, Vienna 1985
- Manfred Koller and Rainer Prandtstetten: Restauratoren Blätter Volume 6 on the subject of The Vienna Plague Column , November 1982. Austrian section of the International Institute for Conservation (IIC).
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Viennese shopping streets - Das Goldene U ( Memento from December 7, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Public Girls 'School, Vienna 1, also: Girls' School Gunesch ( Memento of the original from January 6, 2013 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. . Austrian National Library, accessed on April 28, 2012.
- ↑ The End of the Button King. Neue Zürcher Zeitung, May 7, 2004, accessed on February 4, 2009 (German).
- ^ Paul Lester: Inner City of Vienna: Are we digging up tradition? Die Presse, April 2, 2004, accessed on February 4, 2009 (German).
- ↑ Braun & Co, Frimmel button shop: traditional shops are converting or closing. Network for Monument Protection Austria, May 24, 2004, archived from the original on September 28, 2007 ; accessed on January 15, 2016 .
Coordinates: 48 ° 12 '31.6 " N , 16 ° 22' 8.8" E