Mariannenpark
The Mariannenpark is a 22.3 hectare park in Leipzig-Schönefeld . It was built on the grounds of the former Schönefeld manor from 1913 , completed in 1928 and redesigned several times in the second half of the 20th century.
prehistory
The park was created on a field west of Lindenallee (today: Schönefelder Allee), which belonged to the Schönefeld manor. The last owner of the manor, Clara Hedwig Baronesse von Eberstein auf und zu Schönefeld (1816–1900), had already decreed in 1881 that, after her death, a pension facility should be set up in the castle to the north of today's park for the poor daughters of higher officials and officers (“ Eberstein'sches Mariannenstift zu Schönefeld ”) and the park belonging to the palace as well as“ the old beautiful linden avenue and - where my wish is particularly directed - the piece of field west of the avenue as long as possible undeveloped - to the manor and the monastery for all time should stay ". After the death of Baroness von Eberstein, the community council of Schönefeld took the decision in 1903 to build a park on the field. The Mariannenstiftung's board of trustees granted the community a heritable building right in 1911 , which was to apply until December 31, 2010.
Tendering, planning and creation
In the context of the tender, two promising designs competed with each other, each expressing very different ideas about the art of horticulture. While the design by Leipzig gardening director Carl Hampel was based on traditional ideas, the design by Leberecht Migge was based on the progressive design of the Volksgarten . After Hampel's draft, favored by the Schönefeld municipal council, did not find the approval of the Mariannenstift Board of Trustees, the decision was made in favor of Migge's plans. In addition to the creation of a playground and a club meadow, these envisaged a toboggan hill, a soccer field as well as a pond and tennis court, which were not realized later. The modern design concept of Migges was finally reflected in a letter from the municipality to the royal administration in 1913 , in which the provision of the funds required for the construction of the park was requested: “The creation of the park is a necessary requirement of the municipality. Above all, the park should serve the working population of Schönefeld, who are poor in facilities and public places, for recreation and the youth as a playing field for physical training. "
In the course of 1913, Migge began to implement his design. He was supported by up to 215 previously unemployed citizens from Schönefeld. After the plantings and lawns in the first part of the park had been completed in August 1914, the community of Schönefeld accepted the areas. After the outbreak of the First World War , redesign work largely came to a standstill. In addition to the preparatory work for the remaining design of the second half of the park, the focus was now on maintaining the already completed site. The interruption of the work was due not only to the conditions of the war economy but also to the incorporation of Schönefeld into Leipzig in 1915: Because now the park fell under the authority of the Leipzig gardening director Hampel, whose design had been rejected two years earlier. In the same year, the contract concluded between the community of Schönefeld and Migge was terminated at Hampel's instigation on the grounds that the city “Leipzig […] does not [need] such a consultant, since its expertise is available to the officials of its garden administration. "
Due to the lack of manpower and material, the completion of the park was delayed even after the end of the war. When Hampel retired in 1920, his successor Nicolaus Hermann August Molzen decided to revise the existing plans. In doing so, he tried to incorporate Migges' formal language. After 15 years of construction, the gardens, initially known as “Volkspark Schönefeld”, were finally completed in April 1928. In memory of Marianne Wilhemine Rosine Freifrau von Eberstein (1792–1849) the park was named "Mariannenpark" in 1931.
Use, maintenance and gradual redesign
The park remained in its original form until the beginning of the 1950s. Although anti-aircraft guns were deployed on the toboggan hill and the meadows of the park during the Second World War , the war left little traces of the park's appearance. In 1952, VEB Garten- und Landschaftsbau took over the maintenance of the park. In the north-eastern part of the park, a three-story building was erected in 1954, which served as a nursery school and kindergarten for the Deutsche Reichsbahn until the beginning of the 1990s . The current user of the property is the CVJM Leipzig e. V.
The aim of the council of the city district of Leipzig-Nordost, to transform the Mariannenpark into an “intellectual-cultural and sporty-tourist center”, was followed by several projects. In 1964, on the occasion of the festival week for the 15th anniversary of the GDR, an open-air stage was built in the north-western park area, which was fundamentally redesigned in 1978/79. From mid-1972 a memorial was built in the area immediately south of the kindergarten area. This so-called Thälmann honor grove served in the following years as a backdrop for vows by the pioneer organization Ernst Thälmann and for the swearing-in of soldiers of the National People's Army . On the occasion of the VI. Gymnastics and sports festivals of the GDR were built in 1977 in the park, a large chess field, table tennis tables, a mini golf course, an aerial tramway and other sports equipment.
Despite the changes made over time, the Mariannenpark has largely been able to retain its original character. It is therefore considered an important testimony to the horticultural art of the early 20th century. In 1991 the park and the castle park to the north were included in the list of cultural monuments of the Saxon State Office for the Preservation of Monuments as a monument to garden and landscape design .
The south-eastern corner of the park is the beginning and end of a 23 km long, signposted cycling and hiking trail that leads through the Parthenaue via Abtnaundorf , Plaußig , Taucha , Panitzsch to Zweenfurth .
literature
- Michael Rohde: A people's park of the 20th century in Leipzig by Migge and Molzen . Park maintenance for the Mariannenpark . In: Die Gartenkunst 8 (1/1996), pp. 75-107.
Web links
- Information and floor plan. City of Leipzig
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Mariannenpark. In: Website of the city of Leipzig. Retrieved March 6, 2014 .
Coordinates: 51 ° 21 ′ 13.5 ″ N , 12 ° 24 ′ 13.3 ″ E