Upper town (Bregenz)
The Upper Town is a district of Bregenz in Vorarlberg in Austria .
history
The castle settlement was founded around 1200 by the Counts of Montfort . The settlement was divided into 57 so-called "Hofstätten", each with two ares . These were passed on as inheritance . In 1409 Bregenz was divided between Hugo von Montfort and his nephew Wilhelm von Montfort . The border in the upper town ran along the central axis. This was probably widened in the course of the following years. In 1451 and 1523 the upper town was bought by the Habsburgs . From the 16th century, wealthy families bought several parcels and merged them into larger parcels. However, a large part of the upper town was preserved in small parts. In 1798 the upper town lost its position as a fortress, but new buildings and additional breakthroughs in the city wall were not created until the late 19th century.
Characteristics and location
The upper town's medieval settlement structure has largely been preserved. The castle settlement, founded around 1200, is a planned town, which can be seen from the clear orthogonal floor plan. The settlement is divided by Eponastraße , the central axis. The two parallel side streets lead into rectangular squares: the Amtsplatz and the Ehregutaplatz, which lead to the city gates. The defense and residential buildings are located on the northern terrace protrusion and on the south-eastern narrow side, where the Fronfeste was later built. Farm buildings with economic and manorial functions were built along the city wall. There are different reasons for sticking to the original building structures. For example, the town wall prevented settlement development, on the other hand, urban life shifted more and more towards the north, which led to economic stagnation in the upper town.
The current development goes back to the Middle Ages and the early modern period. however, some buildings were demolished at the end of the 19th century and replaced by houses of the original type. As a result, the upper town has retained its medieval character to this day. This also applies to the small-scale internal structure, but also to the open-plan Burghalde with the manageable fastening ring. The streets of the upper town are paved, relatively narrow and slightly curved and thus form a visually closed street space. The two- to four-storey residential buildings were built using a closed construction method. The buildings along the city wall have small front gardens facing the street, while the other buildings have spacious courtyards.
Important buildings
literature
- DEHIO manual. The art monuments of Austria: Vorarlberg. Bregenz. Bundesdenkmalamt (Ed.), Verlag Anton Schroll & Co, Vienna 1983, ISBN 3-7031-0585-2 .
- Peer Johann / Böhringer Friedrich: Monument Guide Vorarlberg. Bregenz, Leiblachtal, Rhine delta, Hofsteig . 1st edition. Bucher Verlag, Hohenems 2016, ISBN 978-3-99018-289-5 , pp. 11 f .
