Marienplatz (Munich)

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Marienplatz
Muenchen Small City Coat of Arms.svg
Place in Munich
Marienplatz
The Marienplatz and the New Town Hall
Basic data
place Munich
District Old town
Created 1158
Newly designed 1972 (conversion to a pedestrian zone )
Hist. Names Marktplatz (until approx. 1700), Schrannenplatz (until 1854)
Confluent streets Tal , Dienerstrasse, Weinstrasse, Kaufingerstrasse , Rosenstrasse, Rindermarkt
Buildings Old Town Hall , New Town Hall
use
User groups Pedestrian traffic , bicycle traffic , public transport
Space design Marian column , fish fountain
Marienplatz around 1900
Marienplatz with a view of the Frauenkirche, the Marian Column and the New Town Hall

The Marienplatz is the central square of Munich city center and the beginning of the pedestrian area .

location

Marienplatz is located in the old town at the intersection of the two main axes, the east-west axis between Isartor and Karlstor , which was part of the Salzstrasse from Salzburg and Reichenhall via Landsberg am Lech to Switzerland, and the south-north axis between Sendlinger Gate and the Schwabinger Gate , which was demolished in the 19th century, on the site of today's Odeonssplatz . In the north it is bordered by the New Town Hall , in the east by the Old Town Hall , the south and west side are department stores and other commercial buildings, often with restaurants. It is a good 100 meters long and around 50 meters wide.

history

Michael Wening :
The Munich market
Marienplatz Munich in 1964

Marienplatz has been the center and heart of the city since Munich was founded in 1158 by Heinrich the Lion . This is where the two main streets met, so that it was and is decisive for urban development and life over the centuries. To this day, Marienplatz is Munich's urban center.

In 1315, the future Emperor Ludwig granted the Bavarian Munich market freedom with the stipulation that the Marienplatz, then known as the market square , would remain undeveloped "forever". From the very beginning there were different markets for eggs, grain, wine and fish, so that for centuries Marienplatz was simply called “market” or “place”. When grain was mainly sold on the market square, it was also called Schrannenplatz , although the fish market was traditionally held in the northeast corner at today's Fischbrunnen .

The square was also a place of execution and served both knight tournaments and as a festive reception room for the city, for example during the visits of the emperors in the 15th and 16th centuries. It was not until 1481 that the buildings on the square (including a chapel) were demolished, creating a rectangular open space.

In 1566, with the construction of the landscape houses , in which the representatives of the estates and landscapes of the Bavarian duke had their seat, Marienplatz became a place of political activity that it has remained to this day. The political significance of Marienplatz was also closely linked to religious motifs. In 1638, Elector Maximilian I had the Marian Column erected on Marienplatz, then known as the market square , in gratitude for protecting the city during the Swedish occupation in the Thirty Years' War . What is now a landmark of Munich was an affront for the citizens of Munich at the time, because the Marienplatz was declared a “ Freiung ” due to the royal favor letter of 1315 and was thus understood as the city's own territory. With this regularly renewed privilege, only the city of Munich was entitled to build on the square. Thus, with this act, the prince not only showed his religious-political success, but also permanently took over the center of urban sovereignty. To the west, the market closed the house with the old main guard, the so-called Thomass-Eck , from Cuvilliés the Younger .

After the grain market was relocated to the Schrannenhalle on Blumenstrasse in 1853, Schrannenplatz was called Marienplatz from October 9, 1854 . So that the magistrate wanted the city of Munich the Patrona Bavariae trust and so the city from a broken in July 1854 Cholera - epidemic save. From 1888, trams ran on Marienplatz .

The next big change was the construction of the New Town Hall on the north side of the square, which took place in three sections between 1867 and 1909. A total of 21 town houses, whose arcades and fine stucco casings had shaped Marienplatz up to then, had to give way to the colossal neo-Gothic building by architect Georg von Hauberrisser . Among them was the government building of the landscape houses.

During the Second World War , the buildings around Marienplatz were badly damaged. Now the historical buildings on the south side have also been lost, including the “Peterhof” with its fine baroque gable facade. The ruins on the south side of the square were subsequently torn down and the building line was partially set back several meters in order to create more space, especially in the east of the square. The Hugendubel House, which was later rebuilt several times, was built in place of the Peterhof. For the construction of the Kaufhof in the 1970s, the ornate Roman Mayr House from the previous turn of the century had to give way.

Marienplatz underwent a decisive change with the construction of the pedestrian zone, which was opened in 1972. Freed from individual traffic, Marienplatz is once again the urban center of Munich. The Marian column was moved more into the center of the square. On the occasion of the Olympic Games , Erwin Schleich built a tower next to the Old Town Hall from 1971 to 1974 according to the appearance of 1462. The original tower of the Old Town Hall was destroyed in the Second World War.

Center of the distance measurement

Marienplatz Munich

In the 19th century, the distance information, as it can be found today, for example, on the distance tables on the motorways, referred to the Marian column. The house numbering of the individual streets also begins at the next point relative to Marienplatz with house number 1; here the idea of ​​the star-shaped urban development of the 19th century is still recognizable. Exceptions are streets without a relative closest point to Marienplatz (e.g. ring roads).

traffic

Marienplatz is now the center of the pedestrian zone and therefore completely free of traffic. The original passage from Oberanger to Dienerstraße is now Fahrradstraße, but it has more of the character of a fire service entrance to the pedestrian zone with functions for bikes, buses and taxis.

For local public transport, the subway and S-Bahn station Marienplatz went into operation in 1971 ( U-Bahn ) and 1972 ( S-Bahn ) under Marienplatz . On four levels, an underground here crossing station from running in east-west direction S-Bahn line and the underground diameter line U3 / 6 in north-south direction emerged. Marienplatz station is one of the most important transfer stations in Munich and was expanded to include two tunnels between the underground and the S-Bahn in 2006 as part of preparations for the World Cup. The Marienhof will probably continue to be a major construction site, as a large shaft for the construction of the second main S-Bahn line is to be built here. Until around 2003, the subway control center, the central control and monitoring point for the Munich subway, was also located in the station building.

Mezzanine floor

The mezzanine floor under Marienplatz is around 1700 m². From here you can get to the S-Bahn and U-Bahn platforms. In the basement there are entrances to department stores, snack bars and ticket counters. An architecture competition was announced for the renovation. On January 14, 2011, the Munich architects Allmann Sattler Wappner won the competition. The renovation took place between 2012 and 2015.

Christmas market

Regular events

Attractions

Aerial view of Marienplatz

Fountains and monuments

  • Fountain and monuments at Marienplatz

  • Marian column

  • Herbal Market Fountain ⊙

  • Fish fountain

  • Adorable Julia ⊙

Others

literature

  • Klaus Gallas : Munich. From the Guelph foundation of Henry the Lion to the present: art, culture, history (=  DuMont documents: DuMont art travel guide ). DuMont, Cologne 1979, ISBN 3-7701-1094-3 .
  • Freimut Scholz: Munich's Marienplatz through the centuries: materials for visiting the Munich City Museum and Marienplatz . Museum Education Center, Munich 1992.
  • Wolfgang Till and Thomas Weidner: Typically Munich: The anniversary book of the Munich City Museum . Edition Minerva, Munich 2008.
  • Sebastian Lang: Contested space. Marienplatz in Munich under National Socialism. In: Margit Szöllösi-Jantze (Ed.): Munich in National Socialism. Image policy of the “capital of the movement”. Wallstein, Göttingen 2017, ISBN 978-3-8353-3090-0 , pp. 92–111.

Web links

Commons : Marienplatz  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ E. Steinkopf: Munich. A new leader. 10th, revised and expanded edition. Munich: Karl M. Lipp 1979, p. 57.
  2. ^ Stop Marienplatz: Beauty cure in the underground , SZ Munich, accessed again November 24, 2012.
  3. ↑ muenchen.de: M-WLAN at Marienplatz. Retrieved May 6, 2017 .
  4. ↑ Marienplatz. In: fcbayern.com. FC Bayern Munich , 2020, accessed August 25, 2020 .


Coordinates: 48 ° 8 ′ 14 "  N , 11 ° 34 ′ 31"  E