Rahlstiege

The Rahlstiege in Mariahilf

The goose girl fountain at the top of the Rahlstiege

The Rahlstiege is a staircase in Vienna's 6th district of Mariahilf . It connects Rahlgasse with Mariahilfer Strasse .

history

There has been evidence of a staircase at this point since the 18th century. The border between what was then the suburb of Laimgrube and the glacis of the Vienna city wall ran along today's Rahlgasse, which is why only the west side of the street was built. After the suburbs had been incorporated , the razing of the city walls began in 1857, and the old staircase also disappeared. In the course of the city expansion, houses were now also being built on the east side of Rahlgasse, which is why it was decided to build a representative outside staircase . The Rahlstiege was completed in 1870 and the name was given analogously to Rahlgasse, which was named after the painter Carl Rahl as early as 1866 .

In 1886, at the top of the stairs, the goose girl fountain designed by Anton Paul Wagner was set up, which was originally located on Gänsemarkt on the Brandstätte from 1866 and then in front of the Mariahilfer Church , where it had to make way for the Haydn monument created by Heinrich Natter in 1887 . In 1933 the substructure of the stairs was converted to use as a storage room. From 1985 to 1986 the staircase was renovated.

In August 2007, the Gerngross column designed by Franz West was unveiled at the foot of the Rahlstiege , which was named after the architect Heidulf Gerngross (and not after the nearby Gerngross department store ).

The Rahlstiege overcomes a difference in level of around 6.5 meters and, like the goose girl fountain, is now a listed building.