Pawlatsche
The pawlatsche is a term that was adopted from the Czech language into Austrian German . The Czech word pavlač means an open house entrance. In parts of Austria (including Vienna and Graz ) the term is used for the arcades surrounding the inner courtyards. In the so-called Pawlatschen houses , access to the apartments is only possible via the Pawlatschen around the Pawlatschenhof .
The vertical access to the individual levels is via a level access in the inner courtyard. Behind it an often narrow stone staircase winds upwards, similar to a spiral staircase in a tower. This staircase leads to the individual pawlatschen passages.
After the fire in the Ringtheater in Vienna in 1881, it was forbidden to develop apartment buildings via Pawlatschenwege - for new buildings (insufficient escape routes). The word can also be found in the connection Pawlatschenbühne for an open-air backyard or board stage. Pawlats are also characteristic of the architecture in Budapest around 1900.
The advantage lies in the better use of the developed apartments, as there are no hallways and corridors within the house. Pawlatschen are more cost-effective than staircases with the same function, they are more space-saving because the floor space of a wall is omitted, they offer the apartment user a balcony to ventilate and some summer shade, the courtyard facade together with the eaves protection from driving rain and in the courtyard a rain-protected and snow-free all-round walkway.
→ See also: arcade
