Palace Square (Münster)
| Palace Square | |
|---|---|
 |
|
 Palace Square with the Prince-Bishop's Palace |
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| Basic data | |
| place | Munster (Westphalia) |
| District | Münster-Mitte |
| Created | 1759 |
| Hist. Names | Neuplatz (1759-1927); Hindenburgplatz (1927-2012) |
| Confluent streets | Neutor, Überwasserstraße, Frauenstraße, Bäckergasse, Wilmergasse, Hüfferstraße, Am Stadtgraben, Badestraße; |
| Buildings | Prince-Bishop's Palace |
| use | |
| User groups | Pedestrian traffic , bicycle traffic , public transport , car traffic |
| Technical specifications | |
| Square area | approx. 12.5 ha |
The Schlossplatz is a square in the Westphalian Münster . It is located west of downtown, in front of the castle and will host the held three times a year sends , the tournament the winner and finish area for the Sparkassen Münsterland GIRO - the third largest with over 4,500 participants race in Germany. From 1927 to 2012 it was called Hindenburgplatz , previously it was called Neuplatz from 1759 . With around 12.5 hectares, Schlossplatz is one of the largest inner-city open spaces in Europe .
history
Development
The history of the Schlossplatz goes back to the late Middle Ages . At that time it was not possible to speak of a square, rather it was an open field in front of the city wall, where traders, outcasts and highwaymen cavorted. The square only came into the city area and within the city walls in 1661, when Münster was taken by Christoph Bernhard von Galen after a successful siege. He had the western city wall torn down and a citadel built. The area of the palace square should serve as an esplanade , i.e. as a free field of fire on the city. Even at that time there could be no question of a place.
Neuplatz (1759–1927)
This only changed in 1759, when this area was given the name "Neuplatz" under the administration of the prince-bishop. Ten years later (1769), the Neuplatz became part of the general plan by Johann Conrad Schlaun , who had received the order from Prince-Bishop Maximilian Friedrich von Königsegg-Rothenfels to build a residential palace on the site of the citadel: The square was to be surrounded by small forests and pools on its main axes The central axis should allow a clear view of the lock. His plan remained unfinished, however, as after his death in 1773 his successor Wilhelm Ferdinand Lipper replaced the French design concept with an English design ideal. It was not until 1800 that the promenade, also designed by Wilhelm Ferdinand Lipper, was continued across the square.
After the Congress of Vienna in 1815, Münster belonged to the Kingdom of Prussia and the industrial revolution in Germany required the expansion of the infrastructure. Considerations arose to run a “Rhine-Weser-Elbe Canal” through the square. However, this idea was not realized, so that from now on the square was mainly used for parades and military marches. Otherwise, the square remained almost unchanged until the end of the 1920s, when the sudden death of the elms planted in the middle of the 19th century made a redesign necessary. Of particular importance during this time was on Nov. 9, 1918, than on the Neuplatz the same day as in Berlin , the proclamation of the Republic in Germany took place.
Hindenburgplatz (1927-2012)
In 1927 the inner city square, then known as Neuplatz, was renamed Hindenburgplatz. On April 3, 1933, Field Marshal General and President Paul von Hindenburg was appointed honorary citizen of the city of Münster.
After the renaming, not much changed in the appearance and use of the space. There was a design competition in 1929 - and again in 1951 - and later the administration led by the NSDAP planned a monumental redesign of the cityscape between the castle and St. Paulus Cathedral , which should be on a visual axis. Hindenburgplatz would also have been affected by this; however, it remained a place for parades and military marches in the Free State of Prussia .
On May 10, 1933, the book burning initiated by the National Socialist German Student Union took place on Hindenburgplatz, as in numerous German cities .
After the extensive destruction of Münster during the air raids in World War II , Hindenburgplatz was used for the temporary storage of the cleared debris until it could be finally removed. As long as this situation lasted, the broadcast could not take place in the usual place and avoided the Domplatz . Sheep were kept and vegetables were planted on Hindenburgplatz in the post-war period.
After the Second World War , there were initially concepts to use the square as a central link for university facilities after the University of Münster had moved into the palace as its administrative headquarters. In 1951 a design competition was called for Hindenburgplatz. Due to the increasing motorization of the population, traffic also increased significantly around Hindenburgplatz. This is how the “Hindenburgplatz” street, which runs in front of the square, takes on an important connection function. The square itself will become a parking lot with around 1,000 spaces. After an ideas competition held in 1970 to solve urban planning and traffic problems due to the different ideas of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the city of Münster, the square has remained almost unchanged since then.
As a result of the storm depression Kyrill in January 2007, many trees on the promenade in the area of Hindenburgplatz and in front of the castle were uprooted or so badly affected that all remaining trees in this area had to be felled and time-consuming and costly replanting became necessary. As part of the "Citizens' Trees" project, 210 winter linden trees , financed by donations from Münster, were planted on the promenade at Hindenburgplatz and at the castle.
Discussion of the name and renaming to Schlossplatz (2012)
Because of its role during the Weimar Republic, the naming of the square after Paul von Hindenburg has been publicly discussed since the end of National Socialism.
In its directive No. 30 of May 13, 1946, the Allied Control Council demanded the “removal of German monuments and museums of a military and National Socialist character”. According to the historian Alfons Kenkmann , all street names that were reminiscent of the First World War should be removed, as well as persons, organizations and institutions that were directly related to it. The Ministry of the Interior and Münster's regional president duly passed this regulation on to the cities and districts. The person of Hindenburg was expressly included in this regulation. It was the job of the city council or an appropriate committee to enforce the instructions on site. In Münster the “Committee for the Renaming of Streets” was responsible. Its members decided on July 29, 1947 a series of renaming, including renaming Hindenburgplatz back to the historical name Neuplatz. The decision was not implemented, however, the aforementioned Control Council directive was repealed in 1955. Since then there have been several initiatives to rename the square.
On March 21, 2012, the City Council of Münster decided in a secret ballot to rename Hindenburgplatz to Schlossplatz. In this vote, 53 of the council members present voted for a renaming and 23 council members against (four council members were absent). In the previous discussion, the majority of the CDU parliamentary group was in favor of retaining the name, unlike CDU mayor Markus Lewe and the other parliamentary groups and parties in the council. The renaming was preceded by information events such as exhibitions that highlighted Hindenburg's role against the National Socialists.
Due to a collection of signatures by a citizens' initiative that advocates the renaming in "Hindenburgplatz", the city council voted again on June 27, 2012 on the renaming. At the council meeting there was a clear negative result of 62 votes against and 14 votes in favor of renaming.
This new decision led to a referendum , as the signature collection exceeded the required quorum of 9,499 signatures with 15,123 valid signatures (around 16,700 in total).
The referendum took place on September 16, 2012. 59.38% of those who voted rejected the voting question “Should the council decision of March 21, 2012 on the renaming of Hindenburgplatz be repealed and so the place keep the name Hindenburgplatz?”, So the place has been called “Schlossplatz” since the council decision. Participation in the vote was 40.3%.
Urban planning changes
The square itself essentially consists of the two large parking spaces “Schlossplatz-Nord” and “Schlossplatz-Süd”. Due to the almost unchanged situation since the end of the Second World War, the course is in a poor condition, partly made up of pitted road surfaces and gravel. In addition to gas-tier end in Muenster, located on tour attractions of the place three times a year serves as a meeting space for the end .
In order to upgrade the square in terms of urban planning and culture, plans for the “ Kulturforum Westfalen ” were in progress at the beginning of the 21st century . The original design provided for a music hall and a museum for the Regional Association of Westphalia-Lippe to be built on the site . However, the planning for this proceeded only slowly, especially due to the difficult question of how the loss of parking spaces could have been compensated and at the same time a sufficiently large, contiguous area could have been maintained to be able to continue the broadcast. Due to the tight budget situation of the participating institutions City of Münster, Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe and Land Nordrhein-Westfalen, the construction of the art gallery was stopped at the beginning of December 2006 for reasons of cost. The planned music hall should not be affected by this. After the city council had decided on financial support of around 12 million euros in October 2007, around 70% of voters spoke out against this in a referendum on April 27, 2008, which meant that the project was stopped.
In January 2012, plans were presented according to which an underground car park with 600 parking spaces should be built under the square by 2020. It is intended to continue the opportunity to be given the final to take place on the Palace Square.
literature
- Schlossplatz - Hindenburgplatz - Neuplatz in Münster: 350 years of space (11th workbook) . LWL monument preservation, landscape and building culture in Westphalia in cooperation with the Münster City Museum, Münster 2012, ISBN 978-3-939172-94-9 .
Individual evidence
- ^ Street names in Münster - Schlossplatz. In: City of Münster. Retrieved December 16, 2019 .
- ↑ Eberhard Grunsky : A place for many purposes . In: Schlossplatz - Hindenburgplatz - Neuplatz in Münster: 350 years of space (11th workbook) . LWL monument preservation, landscape and building culture in Westphalia in cooperation with the Münster City Museum, Münster 2012, ISBN 978-3-939172-94-9 , p. 13 .
- ↑ a b c d Westfälische Nachrichten : A lot of interest in Hindenburg Platz plans: Applause for an area to relax and celebrate , Münster, Peter Sauer, March 9, 2012
- ↑ Westfälische Nachrichten : Hindenburg is an honorary citizen - and now ?, Münster, Martin Kalitschke, February 6, 2008.
- ↑ Ultimo - uni-special münster: Münster for beginners , summer semester 2012, p. 20
- ↑ Westfälische Nachrichten : Five years after "Kyrill" many wounds have healed: 210 "Citizens' Trees" were planted on the promenade , Münster, January 18, 2012
- ↑ City magazine Echo Münster: Hindenburgplatz: Name should disappear as early as 1947, ( Memento of the original from January 29, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. January 24, 2008.
- ↑ [1]
- ^ Westfälische Nachrichten : Farewell to Hindenburgplatz: Council decides to rename it to Schlossplatz, Klaus Baumeister, March 21, 2012.
- ^ City of Münster : Speeches on the renaming of the Hindenburgplatz by the parliamentary groups and the Lord Mayor in the wording March 21, 2012.
- ^ Westfälische Nachrichten : Exhibition on street names should help: Why Hindenburgplatz should be renamed, Münster, Lukas Speckmann, January 26, 2012.
- ^ Westfälische Nachrichten: Council majority for Schlossplatz - referendum comes , Klaus Baumeister, June 28, 2012
- ^ Münstersche Zeitung September 16, 2012: Citizens' decision: Münster clearly decides in favor of Schlossplatz ( Memento from October 20, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Preliminary final result , electoral office of the city of Münster
- ^ Münstersche Zeitung : December 8, 2006
- ^ Westfälische Nachrichten : April 27, 2008
- ↑ Westfälische Nachrichten : Schaustellerverband, Uni, Westfalenfleiß and WBi relaxed: Nobody is turning the Ferris wheel yet, Münster, Ralf Repöhler, January 12, 2012
- ↑ bolles-wilson.com: Three scenarios for Münsters Hindenburgplatz ( Memento of the original from April 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , January 11, 2012 (22.1 MB; PDF)
Web links
Coordinates: 51 ° 57 ′ 49 ″ N , 7 ° 37 ′ 1 ″ E