Graf-Wilhelm-Platz
The Graf-Wilhelm-Platz is a central place in the Solingen city center. The square has been called Wilhelm II von Berg since 1937 , who gave Solingen city rights on February 23, 1374 . It also houses the bus stop in the city, which is by far the most frequented bus stop in the city, with around 30,000 passengers and 1,200 trolleybus and omnibus journeys .
description
Graf-Wilhelm-Platz is located between the Old Market in the east, the Hofgarten Solingen shopping center in the north, the Neumarkt in the west and the former triangle of the former tram , which is now the mostly simple triangle in the south on Kölner Strasse.
The center of the bus stop is a covered sickle where the diesel buses of the Solingen municipal utility stop. The stops at the edges are reserved for the trolleybuses. The square is largely closed to private traffic, only the passage from the triangle in the direction of Mühlenplatz is possible, the traffic coming from Mühlenplatz is diverted via the Bergstrasse.
history
The Solingen old town was almost completely destroyed by bombs dropped by the Allies on November 4th and 5th, 1944 . The reconstruction, which was aimed for immediately after the Second World War, was basically carried out according to old plans, but some streets were widened in order to give more space to the increasing traffic. The so-called Graf-Wilhelm-Platz, which has only been known since 1937, was also expanded in the course of this, and in the early days made it possible to switch between the various tram lines. The stop there was still called Am Dreieck until the end of the Second World War .
With the demolition of the Monopol cinema and the new construction of the Karstadt department store including the tower hotel according to plans by the architect Kurt Baden, the area around Graf-Wilhelm-Platz received a fundamentally new face in 1968. The tower passage running under the square was one of the largest underground shopping malls in Germany and enjoyed great popularity. In line with this, Graf-Wilhelm-Platz and Neumarkt also changed their appearance in 1976 through some structural restructuring. The bus stop system was expanded and the diesel bus stopping places were relocated to the Neumarkt, so that it no longer offered any space for the weekly market that was previously held there and had to be relocated. The trolleybus stops were on the right and left of Kölner Straße.
The square was again fundamentally redesigned as part of the Regionale 2006 and this time largely traffic-calmed for individual traffic. The Neumarkt was converted back into the marketplace and the weekly market was brought back there. The transit traffic has been diverted from then on Goerdelerstraße. On August 2, 2008, the Karstadt group, which was in financial difficulties, closed its Solingen branch. The tower hotel closed on October 26th of the same year. As a result, planning began for the demolition of the old building complex and the construction of a new shopping center at the same location. After various delays, the demolition finally began in mid-2011, the tower hotel that dominated the cityscape was blown up on December 18, 2011. The Hofgarten shopping center opened on October 24, 2013 and has shaped the face of Graf-Wilhelm-Platz ever since.
Until the demolition of the Karstadt department store, the world's first underground shopping arcade was located under Graf-Wilhelm-Platz , which was named after the tower hotel Turmpassage . Like the tower center, it was planned and built by Solingen architect Kurt Baden. There were various entrances on Kölner Strasse, at Ohliger Tor and in the pedestrian zone. After the construction of the new Hofgarten shopping center , the remaining entrances were filled in. One entrance remains as an emergency exit . After the renovation, there is now a toy shop in the former passage; the passage was integrated into the courtyard garden as a normal retail space.
Transportation
The Graf-Wilhelm-Platz will of all six overhead line bus lines and most bus routes of the Stadtwerke Solingen served (SWS). In addition, the CityExpress line 64 of WSW mobil and lines 250 and 252 of Kraftverkehr Gebr. Wiedenhoff also run across the square.
trolleybus
| line | course |
|---|---|
| 681 |
Central Station - Merscheid - Graf-Wilhelm-Platz - Middle - Hästen 
|
| 682 |
Central station - Forest Church - Graf-Wilhelm-Platz - Grünewald - Höhscheid -Brockenberg
|
| 683 |
Wuppertal-Vohwinkel train station - Vohwinkel suspension railway - Gräfrath - Graf-Wilhelm-Platz - middle - Krahenhöhe - Burger train station
 |
| 684 | Hasselstrasse - Graf-Wilhelm-Platz - center - Widdert school
|
| 685 | Graf-Wilhelm-Platz - Blade Hall - Lard Pit - Aufderhöhe |
| 686 | Aufderhöhe - Schmalzgrube - Mangenberg - Graf-Wilhelm-Platz |
omnibus
| line | course |
|---|---|
| CE64 |
Graf-Wilhelm-Platz - Wuppertal- Cronenberg - Hahnerberg - Historic City Hall ( Steinbeck ) - Wuppertal Hbf
|
| 250 |
Graf-Wilhelm-Platz - Grünewald - Höhscheid - Solingen-Kohlsberg junction - Leichlingen - Leverkusen - Cologne main station / Breslauer Platz
|
| 252 |
Graf-Wilhelm-Platz - center - Odenthal / Balkhausen - Witzhelden - Hilgen - Burscheid bus station
|
| 690 |
Graf-Wilhelm-Platz - Freiligrathstraße - Botanical Garden - Forest Church - Wittkuller Straße - Eschbach
Graf-Wilhelm-Platz - Freiligrathstraße - Botanical Garden - Forest Church - Ittertal - Obenitter |
| 692 | Graf-Wilhelm-Platz - Halfenweiherplatz - Forest Church - Ittertal - Haan Market |
| 693 | Graf-Wilhelm-Platz - Vogelsang - Wittkuller Straße - Forest Church - Humboldt School - Merscheid - Am Frühling - Aufderhöhe |
| 695 | Gräfrath, Abteiweg - Graf-Wilhelm-Platz - Middle - Halfeshof / Meigen
|
| 696 | Graf-Wilhelm-Platz - Stübchen - Hossenhaus - Obenkatternberg - Untenkatternberg |
| 697 |
Graf-Wilhelm-Platz - middle - school Widdert - males
|
| 698 | Graf-Wilhelm-Platz - Wupperstraße - Kannenhof settlement |
| 699 |
Graf-Wilhelm-Platz - Grünewald - Höhscheid -Brockenberg - Kohlsberg
|
| NE21 |
Graf-Wilhelm-Platz - Mangenberg - Merscheid - Central Station - Ohlig's Market - Schützenplatz - Central Station
|
| NE22 |
Graf-Wilhelm-Platz - Vogelsang - Westersburg - Forest Church - Central Station
|
| NE23 |
Wuppertal-Vohwinkel train station - Vohwinkel suspension railway - Gräfrath - Graf-Wilhelm-Platz - middle - Krahenhöhe
|
| NE24 | Hasselstrasse - Graf-Wilhelm-Platz - center - Widdert school
|
| NE25 |
Central station - Aufderhöhe - Merscheid - Graf-Wilhelm-Platz - Grünewald - Höhscheid
|
| NE28 | Graf-Wilhelm-Platz - Wupperstraße - Kannenhof settlement |
Web links
- Photo series from new and old pictures of the place on bilder-von-solingen.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ Data and facts about Graf-Wilhelm-Platz ( Memento of the original from July 21, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on solingen.de , accessed on July 18, 2015
- ^ Press report of the Solinger Morgenpost from February 1, 2008, accessed on July 18, 2015
- ↑ Report and photo series on solingen-internet.de, accessed on July 18, 2015
- ↑ Press report ( Memento of the original from July 22, 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. the Solinger Morgenpost from December 18, 2011, accessed on July 18, 2015
- ↑ Press report of the Solinger Morgenpost from October 24, 2013, accessed on July 18, 2015
Coordinates: 51 ° 10 ′ 15.1 ″ N , 7 ° 4 ′ 58.2 ″ E