Maximilianstrasse (Regensburg)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Maximilianstrasse in Regensburg , usually shortened Maxstraße called, emerged after 1810 in the heavily damaged area of southeastern Old Town. It is an almost 1 km long, dead straight and unusually wide road from north to south, untypical for Regensburg. It connects the Domplatz and the Alten Kornmarkt with the train station and thus offers a direct route to the old town of Regensburg .

Maximilianstrasse (2014), view from south to north.
Far in the background: Tower of the Niedermünster Monastery,
front right: Post-war building
behind it, house no.25

Location, layout and description of the street

Maximilianstrasse was not built until after 1810 in what was then a large area in the south-east of the city. After the demolition of the city ​​wall at the southern end of the street after 1860, the street was extended to the then newly built train station. In the 20th century the street was split into two sections. The longer, approx. 800 m long northern section was designated as a traffic-calmed area after a redesign at the beginning of the 21st century and is now used by the electric old town bus. This section of the street is built on on both sides and all residential and commercial buildings as well as hotels and restaurants can be found here. The approx. 200 m long southern street section, which was called Bahnhofstraße until 1903, has no side buildings. It leads to the railway station of the Federal Railroad and is very busy because it is connected to all the roads that continue. Today, the southern section of road opens up even the bus station on the Ernst Reuter Platz, in the tree-lined Fürst-Anselm-Allee is integrated

Building history and development of the street

Origin of the street and buildings in the 19th and 20th centuries

Maximilianstrasse with tram around 1900,
view from north to south (? Unsure because of the church tower in the background)

Maximilianstrasse was laid out in the south-east of Regensburg after 1810. There in 1809, between today's Dachauplatz in the east and the Peterstor in the west, during the Napoleonic fighting in the Battle of Regensburg, all houses and several church buildings were completely destroyed by the bombardment of French batteries.

While Regensburg was annexed to the Kingdom of Bavaria, the new Bavarian administration of the city followed the will of the citizens in the reconstruction of the houses in Fröhlichen-Türken-Straße and took the historical building lines into account, but the plan was to completely reorganize the old Pauluserwacht area to the east of the old urban fabric. There in the southern area of ​​the former Roman legion camp Castra Regina , where a tangle of narrow and crooked streets had formed in the course of the Middle Ages, a street was created as a wide, dead straight street without regard to the old building stock. This was supposed to express a decidedly urban new beginning under Bavarian auspices, which was expressed in the naming of the street in honor of King Maximilian . On the other hand, Prince-Bishop Dalberg, as the former sovereign of Regensburg, initially suggested the name "Napoleon's Quarter".

In the north, the street began as an extension of the existing Speichergasse on the Alter Kornmarkt between the Carmelite Monastery in the east and the Old Chapel in the west. The road had the Kepler monument erected in 1808 as its southern destination and focal point, but it had to be relocated to the west in 1859 when Maximilianstrasse was extended to the new train station. Because the monument was placed in front of the then still existing city ​​wall on Fürst-Anselm-Allee, the city wall was broken here. For the population, however, passing the city wall without a gate was so unusual that the decision was made to build a new city gate here. In 1820, the late classicist gate system of the Maxtor , the last remains of which were only lost in 1955, was built in 1820 with the significant participation of the master builder Karl von Fischer from Munich .

On May 17, 1811, the court commissioner Freiherr von Weichs , who was staying in Regensburg for the takeover of the city by Bavaria and who should also deal with the reconstruction of the new district, was particularly committed to the construction and the name Maximilianstrasse . He described the new street prophetically as "because of its openness and beauty as useful and suitable for the settlement of businesses." In addition, the street is the only " not dark and angular " street in Regensburg that is also suitable as a residential area. To connect neighboring residential quarters, the wide Maximilianstraße was given a cross street, today's Königsstraße, which divides it into two equally long sections.

However, decades passed before the predicted economic success materialized. As old postcards show, the first development on the new street was rather modest, because none of the houses had more than three floors. Because the existing land ownership structure was not taken into account when planning the road, there was a lack of investors, and for a long time there were many vacant lots, some of which are still only provisional. It was not until the end of the 19th century that the modest development was upgraded with some buildings from the Wilhelminian style in the north and a hotel at the south end. After the Second World War, construction began in the southern northern section of the street in the style of the post-war architecture of the time, without taking historical circumstances into account and initially also without taking into account the monuments found in the former Roman wall.

Individual buildings on Maximilianstrasse

The list of architectural monuments in Regensburg-Zentrum contains seven entries for buildings on Maximilianstrasse that were erected between 1888 and 1924. According to the list, three of the buildings were new builds. For four buildings remains of previous buildings are mentioned in the list, e.g. B. Romanesque cellar vault. With the exception of one, all the buildings on the west side of the street were built on large double plots that were connected to the partially built-up plots immediately adjacent to the west on the Schäffnerstrasse and Brixener Hof streets.

Parkhotel Maximilian (2013)
Cafe Fürstenhof (2013)
  • Maximilianstraße 28: The Parkhotel Maximilian was one of the first buildings to be built from 1888 on the property ideally suited for a hotel at the southern end of Maximilianstraße near the train station and parks. The Maxtor had been built there 80 years earlier, the western portico of which now had to give way to the new building. The large plot of land between Fuchsengang and St. Petersweg, extending far to the west, encompassed the former kennel area of ​​the demolished city wall, so that the remains of the wall, which also contained the remains of the Roman wall, could be used as foundations. The client was the wealthy brewer Franz Josef Bergmüller (1833–1890), owner of the Carmelite monastery brewery, who died in January 1890 before the hotel was completed. The architect was Julius Poeverlein, who built the hotel with a magnificent neurococo facade, corner cores and 18 window axes. The hotel, leased annually for 16,000 gold marks, was opened in March 1891. In 1970, the hotel, which was in great need of renovation, was bought by the city of Regensburg for demolition in order to realize a planned new City Center building project on the large site up to Petersweg. The demolition was prevented by the intervention of the Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation , supported by the resistance of the population. The hotel was bought privately, extensively renovated and reopened in 1980.
  • Maximilianstraße 4: Das Café Fürstenhof was built in 1910/11 by the architects and contractors Joseph Koch and Franz Spiegel, who also acted as builders and bought the property that was only already built on Schäffnerstraße. From the outset, Koch had intended to set up a dance café, chose the name Fürstenhof and applied for a license to operate it. He was able to realize his artistic ambitions during the construction and one of the most beautiful Art Nouveau houses in Regensburg was created with a narrow but representative four-storey facade, which from the 1st floor. is withdrawn in the middle part. Each floor offers a special design, whereby the ground floor with three basket arch openings was traditionally intended as a beer restaurant. The 1st floor has a continuous balcony, the 2nd floor a balcony flanked by two Baroque oriels, the 3rd floor is structured by rectangular windows without a balcony and the storey in the mansard roof is structured as a curved gable with stucco elements.
  • Maximilianstraße 6: A residential and commercial building was built from 1888 and rebuilt in 1924. It was a four-storey and eaves mansard roof house with an upper floor and facade structure with strict rows of pilasters ,
  • Development Maximilianstrasse (2013)

  • Maximilianstrasse No. 6 (2013)

  • Maximilianstrasse No. 8 (2013)

  • Maximilianstrasse No. 10 (2013)

  • Maximilianstrasse No. 12 (2013)

  • Maximilianstrasse No. 25 (2013)

  • Maximilianstrasse 8: A residential and commercial building built in 1910 by the architect Karl Frank, who had come to Regensburg from Munich in 1905, bought the property stretching to Schäffnerstrasse and founded a construction company. The four-storey and eaves mansard roof building was extended in 1924 and presents a historicizing facade structure with a central bay and pilaster structure.
  • Maximilianstraße 10: A four-storey mansard roof building with an eaves and a gable and richly carved bay window, built in 1910 by Karl Frank.
  • Maximilianstraße 12: four-storey mansard roof building with an eaves side with Art Nouveau elements and bay windows, built in 1910/11 by Karl Frank.
  • Maximilianstrasse 25: four-storey Walmdachbau with rich art nouveau facade, facing south with Fußwalm , built in 1910-11 by Albert tear. The building resulted from the conversion of an older building. The cellar dates from the 17th / 18th centuries. Century.

Design and use of the street in the 21st century

Maximilianstraße (2016) View from the northern section over the southern section of the train station

During the term of office of Mayor Hans Schaidinger , the northern section of Maximilianstrasse was redesigned into a traffic-calmed zone in 2002/3 . Since then, this so-called residential road has had a uniform street space without separate footpaths and driveways, where vehicles are only allowed to drive at walking speed and have to follow special parking regulations. At the end of 2019, this traffic calming measure is to be reinforced by interrupting Maximilianstrasse as a residential road with a 100 m wide pedestrian zone between Grasgasse and Königsstrasse.

The measures to redesign Maximilianstrasse were preceded by an urban planning competition in 1987/8 to design Maximilianstrasse as the most important entrance to the old town. In a subsequent moderated participation process, the citizens of Regensburg and the most important interest groups were also involved and the plans were further developed. The starting point for the planning remained the particular history of the road. This history should be visibly preserved as the reason for the straight course of the boulevard, which is atypical for the old town of Regensburg. In a deliberate contrast to the small-scale old town paving, a large-format green-gray paving was chosen. To reinforce the effect, a trench profile with a central groove was chosen and the road cross-section was divided into zones by light bands. With an artistically developed light-art concept, points of light sunk into the ground were to create a guideline from the train station to the old town, supported by 6 m high light steles at a distance of 75 meters. A fountain was planned at the entrance to the old town, the design of which remained open at the time.

The redesign involved extensive civil engineering work (sewerage, electrical supply, etc.). Since the completion of the construction work, there have been repeated complaints in newspaper reports and letters to the editor and various criticisms of the condition and design of the street space with the uniform covering of granite slabs of the same color and the type of lighting. The incomplete development of the street and frequent vacancies are lamented. There is general talk of the decline of Maxstraße after the redesign, of a downward spiral and an eyesore with vacancies and cheap shops. The lawsuits lead to counter-speeches from the building authorities but also to new proposals for design and use:

  • The street is too wide, which is in contrast to the narrow streets of the old town. The historical circumstances of the development of the street speak against this. In addition, the width of today's street was the result of a competition because the bus should not obstruct pedestrians.
  • The street appears to be too wide which could be achieved with another paving stone - cobblestones - which would make the street appear optically narrower. Cost arguments speak against a new paving.
  • The street invites you to park your delivery traffic permanently. That disturbs the flair of a shopping street. Lowerable bollards can help.
  • The street needs trees and benches to counteract the monotony. The pipes laid under the paving make planting impossible.
  • The facades have decayed, especially when they are vacant. There must be paint in the facades. Facades are a matter for the homeowner.
  • Half of the shops are empty. Better usage concepts are required.
  • The new street lighting is rejected and the historic street lighting is missing.
  • The revitalization of the historic tram is proposed as an attraction for Maximilianstrasse and the entire old town . It should shuttle back and forth between the main train station and the cathedral, with the drive being carried out without overhead lines in the form of an attached hydrogen cell generator with batteries (see Mosskamp Dortmund station), the groove of the grooved rail should be closed with a bike protection to protect cyclists and pedestrians.

Remarks

  1. ↑ In 2019, construction work began at the previous bus station with the demolition of some post-war buildings to build a temporary new bus station. Ultimately, it is planned to build a completely new local transport hub near the train station

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Eugen Trapp: On the urban development of Regensburg in the Kingdom of Bavaria . In: Hans Jürgen Becker, Konrad Maria Färber (Hrsg.): Regensburg becomes Bavarian. A reader . Friedrich Pustet, Regensburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-7917-2218-4 , pp. 159 f .
  2. ^ A b Karl Bauer: Regensburg Art, Culture and Everyday History . 6th edition. MZ-Buchverlag in H. Gietl Verlag & Publication Service, Regenstauf 2014, ISBN 978-3-86646-300-4 , p. 22-25 .
  3. ^ Karl Bauer: Regensburg Art, Culture and Everyday History . 6th edition. MZ-Buchverlag in H. Gietl Verlag & Publication Service, Regenstauf 2014, ISBN 978-3-86646-300-4 , p. 31 f .
  4. ↑ Jonas Doerfler: Maximilianstrasse - the southern entrance to the old town . In: 40 years of urban development funding in Regensburg - a success story . City of Regensburg, Planning and Building Department, Office for Urban Development, Regensburg 2011, ISBN 978-3-935052-96-2 , p. 45 f .
  5. ↑ petition for a nicer Maxstraße. Retrieved on August 20, 2019 (German).
  6. ^ Bahnhof-Mooskamp.de. Retrieved July 26, 2019 .
  7. ↑ Innotrans: The rails will be velosicher - Golem.de. Retrieved on July 26, 2019 (German).