Neumarkt (Wuppertal)
The Neumarkt is an inner-city square in Wuppertal and the location of the Elberfeld weekly market that takes place every weekday . Along with Laurentiusplatz , it is one of the central squares of the Elberfeld district .
history
The Neumarkt developed into an urban square relatively late. Previously, the area had served the Reformed community of Elberfeld as a cemetery outside the old town center. This, in turn, was created when the old cemetery around today's Old Reformed Church was abandoned and burials within the settlement area have no longer been permitted. For this second cemetery, the property north of the city at that time was chosen, which could no longer be flooded by the Wupper . It was outside the ring of fortifications that the “Wall”, “Grabenstrasse” and “Morianstrasse” streets trace north of the Wupper.
With the rapid economic boom around 1800, the city of Elberfeld also grew around Neumarkt. Finally, the burial place was relocated again and in 1809 the current Neumarkt was designed. Several streets crossed there and, from the end of the 19th century, the tram track . Since the inauguration of the new Elberfeld town hall , the Neumarkt has also become an administrative center.
The severe destruction of the Elberfeld city center during the air raids on Wuppertal in World War II changed the edges of the square and the buildings. The functions of the Neumarkt have not changed until today.
Square shape
The Neumarkt has an irregular polygonal shape. The south-eastern edge of the square is determined by the course of the former city wall, outside of which the cemetery was laid out. Numerous streets flow into the square, the most important of which are Poststrasse , Friedrichstrasse , Wall , Klotzbahn and Neumarktstrasse . The latter was laid out as planned in order to better connect Neumarkt to the Luisenviertel . To the east, the square touches one of the most important north-south streets in Wuppertal, Morianstraße or Gathe .
The square itself as well as some of the streets that flow into it are designed as a pedestrian zone . The Neumarktstrasse, however, represents an important inner-city east-west connection for individual traffic, which cuts off the square to the north. The street Wall is mainly used by buses.
Today the square is surrounded by large-format buildings. The former Elberfeld town hall, today an administrative office of the city of Wuppertal, occupies a dominant position. The building, built in the eclectic style with a 79 m high tower, is the last evidence of pre-war development. To the west, only separated from the square by the street Wall , is the building of the former Tietz department store , whose historical facade on this side was replaced by a steel and glass construction after partial destruction in the Second World War and is now a branch of GALERIA Kaufhof GmbH houses. To the east, the square was bordered by a department store, the historicist facade of which was replaced by a successor in the style of the time in the 1960s. After the demolition in autumn 2006, a modern new building was built there. To the southeast, Neumarkt is bounded by a terraced office and commercial building belonging to Commerzbank AG , which blocks the line of sight to the main train station. It replaced the building of the Heydt-Kersten & Sons bank .
The center of the square is occupied by the Jubilee Fountain, a copy of the Neptune Fountain in Trento , which was donated by the Beautification Association in 1896 and inaugurated in 1901. The revealing representation of Neptune with a fully modeled pubic region sparked some protests at the time.
A modernized air raid shelter is located below the square . The corridors run under the market, there are wooden benches and exits to more than 40 rooms. 450 people can find shelter under the Neumarkt.
Individual evidence
- ↑ WZ-online.de, December 18, 2008 ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Neumarkt: Bunker entry in the criticism
Web links
- Architectural monument overview Neumarkt in the Wuppertal monument list
Coordinates: 51 ° 15 ′ 31 ″ N , 7 ° 8 ′ 47 ″ E