Riding stairs

Equestrian stairs in Prague Castle

In an equestrian staircase (also riding stairs or rider staircase ) there is a staircase that of riders on horses can be used. The particularly deep, flat steps often have a slightly inclined step surface. Its origins can be seen in the donkey stairs on steep terrain in the open landscape. A spiral riding staircase is called a riding snail .

features

The construction principle found its way from road construction into the building architecture . Here riding stairs denote a spiral, winding or multiple broken staircase in buildings, which has a low gradient and a non-slip floor. Often these steps are also stepless (riding ramp) or more often divided into larger distances by flat transverse ridges. This type of staircase occurs in church, castle , fortification and castle towers as well as in all fortress , villa and palace architecture .

distribution

From the 15th century on, representative riding stairs can be found in manorial complexes. These riding stairs made it possible to get to the upper floors on horseback. The riding staircase or staircase in Prague Castle in Bohemia , which was built by Benedikt Ried around 1500, is one of the oldest known riding stairs. Their correspondence can be found in the vault construction, circular segments bent around their longitudinal axis, which lead over and below one another or penetrate one another, which was the model for Konrad Wachsmann's project "Grape Vine", 1953.

Stepless stairways that were not designed as stairs were also used for riding up. Examples of such riding ramps are available in Venice ( Campanile ), Geneva (City Hall), Copenhagen ( Round Tower ) and Amboise (Cavalier towers of the castle Amboise ).

Further examples of riding stairs and riding ramps can be found or were found:

• in the old castle in Bayreuth
• in the Berlin City Palace (broken off in 1950)
• in the Ehrenburg in Brodenbach on the Moselle
• in the stable yard in Dresden
• in Hartenfels Castle in Torgau
• in Riedegg Castle in Gallneukirchen
• in the Landshut city residence
• in the citadel in Spandau
• in the old castle in Stuttgart
• in the New Castle in Neustadt an der Aisch
• in the ducal palace in Straubing
• in Klippenstein Castle in Radeberg (built on the sword side, since 1546)

• Examples
• 

  Fürsten riding stairs in the lower courtyard of Klippenstein Castle Radeberg, (1546)

• 

  Fürsten riding stairs in the lower courtyard of Schloss Klippenstein Radeberg, approx. 35 meters long, (1546)

• 

  Stepless staircase in the Round Tower in Copenhagen (1642)

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  Equestrian staircase as an element in the Großsedlitz baroque garden

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  Equestrian staircase in the Old Castle in Stuttgart

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  Riding ramp in Riedegg Castle

• 

  Riding ramp in the Minimes tower of Amboise Castle

See also

• Horse stairs

literature

• Friedrich Mielke: Collectaneen Part 3 (= Scalalogia. Volume 6). Vögel, Stamsried 1992, ISBN 3-929332-30-2 .
• Friedrich Mielke: Stairs of the Gothic and Renaissance (= Scalalogia. Volume 9). German Center for Crafts and Monument Preservation, Fulda 1999, ISBN 3-931991-22-9 , pp. 42–43.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Rudolf Huber (Ed.): Stairs. Systematic specialist dictionary (= Glossarium artis - Volume 5). De Gruyter, Munich 1985, ISBN 9783110977912 , p. 69 ( digitized version ).
2. ↑ Roswitha Beyer: Donkey stairs. In: Real Lexicon on German Art History . Volume 6. 1968, Col. 21-22 ( online ).
3. ↑ Chronicle of the Klippenstein Castle. Retrieved September 5, 2018 .