Hernals station square
Bahnhofsplatz Hernals (also Hernalser Bahnhofsplatz ) is a name for the not officially named large indentation of the Hernalser Hauptstraße at the S-Bahn station Hernals am Frauenfeld in the west of Vienna . In addition to Elterleinplatz , which is closer to the center , Bahnhofsplatz is the second noteworthy space-like interruption of the almost 3 kilometer long main axis of the 17th district of Vienna. The adjacent buildings recall the original conception of this urban space, which is currently dominated by through traffic, as a representative public square. As a result of a redesign project (2014/15), the forecourt outside the city was given the name Platz der Freiheit .
History and spatial position
When, after the western suburbs were incorporated into Vienna in 1890/2 , it was decided to build a suburban line that was supposed to better connect the new urban area, a station for the Vienna Stadtbahn was also built in the then sparsely populated border area of the formerly independent communities of Hernals, Dornbach and Ottakring . Connecting the Gersthof and Ottakring stations, there was a diagonal crossing of the track with the Hernalser Hauptstrasse, the most important traffic and development axis of the 17th district. This situation resulted in an inclined position of the station building on a rectangular parcel space in the late founding period. This created irregular forecourt on both sides. The much larger one opens in the direction of Frauenfeld and Dornbach and has a small park and a cobblestone, almost rectangular forecourt that looks as if it was designed for a small market. A southward path leads through the park to the Kongressplatz , which is already beyond the Hernals district border in the Ottakring area. The tram station for line 43 is to the north of the park. The smaller, triangular forecourt on the inner city side opens in the direction of Neuottakring / Wattgassenviertel and is important for bus and taxi traffic.
In the MA18 documents (town planning and urban development), the urban space in question is not referred to as the station square, but rather as the "Stationsumfeld S45-Station Hernals", divided into a "forecourt at Hernalser Hauptstrasse" and a "forecourt at Heigerleinstrasse".
Structural environment
There are some remarkable buildings, especially on the outskirts of the city, which interrupt the homogeneous development of the outer Hernalser Hauptstraße with four and five-story apartment buildings from the late 19th century. In addition to the monumental station building by Otto Wagner , which was opened in 1898 and provided the most important impetus for urbanization in the area, which was previously hardly developed in terms of settlement technology , the Holyhof , built in 1928/9 according to designs by Wagner's student Rudolf Perco , is worth mentioning. The architect referred to the irregular space by aligning the striking facade of the triangular building with the corner stone balcony and a tower-like cant to the station building.
The corner house at Hernalser Hauptstrasse / Heigerleinstrasse, which was only built in 1914 according to plans by Martin Smid, also refers to the square with its striking inclination. The Neo-Biedermeier-style late Secessionist residential building appears unusually bourgeois for the grid district in the border area of Hernals and Ottakring, which is characterized by workers' houses with flat facade tectonics, and to some viewers like a suburban version of the Looshaus in Vienna's city center. The plaster decor on the main street side has not been preserved, but is likely to have duplicated the one on Heigerleinstraße and would therefore be easy to reconstruct.
To the west are four apartment buildings designed by the well-known turn-of-the-century architect Oskar Marmorek ( Marmorek houses ), which were built in 1906. Of these, the striking house at Hernalser Hauptstrasse No. 186 with a tail gable and strict structure and the neighboring house (No. 188) have been best preserved. No. 182 lost its striking triangular gable in the course of a recent loft extension. What is unusual about the rather unadorned house No. 184 is the six-storey structure, which is rare for suburban conditions. The building block is completed in the west by the Türkenritthof (No. 190–192), a municipal housing built in 1927/8 according to plans by Paul Hoppe (brother of the better-known Emil Hoppe ) in the "romantic style" with bay windows, gables and loggias. The U-shaped building block, which by no means negates the late Wilhelminian style, is closed in the south by a portal construction with the stone group Türkenritt , which refers to an old Hernals custom.
The third monumental individual element in the ensemble of squares next to Holyhof and the adjacent corner house is the station building with the adjoining bridge over the street. Due to its inclination, it does not have a front facing directly onto the main street, which is why the two entrance facades are almost equally designed. The asymmetrical building, with its monumental corner (crowned corner projecting over portal, brick viaduct arch , platform roof visible from the street), however, also has a significant effect on the square.
Transport hub
Due to its location at the intersection of important traffic axes (Hernals-Dornbach via Hernalser Hauptstraße, tangential connection B222 between Gersthof and Sandleiten ), the square is characterized by through traffic. The decision to take the B222 across the square and across the corner of the park instead of past the station building to the east has significantly impaired the quality of stay at the square and in the park. The latter is primarily used as a meeting point for alcohol consumers, and less often for older citizens to rest.
In the course of a pedestrian survey in 2010 (see sub-item literature), the traffic situation in the vicinity of the station was recorded and assessed. The complexity of the traffic junction, for example, which leads to long waiting times and phases of traffic lights, as well as the too small dimensioned traffic island (tram station out of town), which leads to crowding and problems for pushchair users, was described as problematic.
literature
- MA18, pedestrian survey S45-Station Hernals (Vienna, 2010).
- Dehio Vienna, X. to XIX. and XXI. to XXIII. District (Vienna, 1996).
- Achleitner, Friedrich: Austrian Architecture in the 20th Century, III, Vienna [II]: 13. – 18. District (Vienna, 1995).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Pedestrian survey S45-Station Hernals on www.wien.gv.at, accessed on May 13, 2014
Coordinates: 48 ° 13 ′ 24.6 ″ N , 16 ° 18 ′ 52 ″ E