Wilhelmsplatz (Görlitz)

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Wilhelmsplatz
Coat of arms Görlitz he.png
Place in Görlitz
Wilhelmsplatz
View of Wilhelmsplatz in the direction of Jakobstrasse
Basic data
place Goerlitz
District Downtown
Created 1849
Newly designed 1939, 1956
Confluent streets Augustastrasse, Blumenstrasse, Gartenstrasse, Hospitalstrasse, Jakobstrasse, Konsulstrasse
Buildings Joliot Curie High School , Strasbourg Passage
use
User groups Pedestrian traffic , bicycle traffic , car traffic
Space design Monument to the victims of fascism
Technical specifications
Square area approx. 22,000 m²

The rectangular Wilhelmsplatz in the southern inner city is the largest Görlitz town square with an east-west extension of over 200 m and a north-south extension of around 100 m . The middle of the square is a large lawn framed by flower beds as plant bands. A row of hedges and a row of trees separates the green space from the busy Jakobstrasse in the west. Wilhelmsplatz is located between the city center and Görlitz train station .

history

The square was laid out in 1849 as part of the city expansion towards the south under the name "Neumarkt" for market purposes. It was leveled in 1860 and connected to Konsulstrasse. In 1871, the year of the unification of the empire , the name was renamed in honor of Kaiser Wilhelm I.

school

In the years 1872/73 the school building was erected on the square, later another floor was added. The trade school, which has existed since 1852, was the first educational facility to move into. When this was dissolved in 1878/81, a higher girls' school, the "Luisenschule", moved in. In the GDR era it was the only school at which Görlitz pupils, now also boys, could take the Abitur. Since the GDR era, it has been named Joliot-Curie-Gymnasium, named after the physicist and chemist Frédéric Joliot-Curie . Today the school is one of two general high schools.

Monuments

In 1895 the city erected a memorial for the Prussian Field Marshal Albrecht von Roon . In 1939, the equestrian statue of Kaiser Wilhelm I was moved from Obermarkt to Wilhelmsplatz in place of the Roondenkmal. However, it only stayed there for a short time, as it was melted down during World War II. After the war, a memorial was instead erected on the east side in 1948 to commemorate the victims of fascism. On the north side it bears the inscription "THE VICTIMS OF FASCHISM" and on the south side "THE DEAD ADMINISTRATION THE LIVING". Every year on May 8th, the official wreath-laying ceremony takes place at the memorial to commemorate the victims of National Socialism and the end of the Second World War. During the GDR era, the name reminiscent of Prussia was also changed. From now on the square was called Karl-Marx-Platz until 1990.

park

The city's horticultural director Henry Kraft carried out the last major redesign of the square in 1956. Kraft interrupted the long plant bands with seating niches and benches. Until 1990, the illuminated raised beds on the wide path on Jakobstrasse were a popular meeting place. Since the 2010s, the Görlitz “jewelry places” have been planted with colorful flower beds.

Noise development

The adjacent shopping street Jakobstrasse received a new sewer system in 2011/12, and the cobblestone pavement noise source was replaced by asphalt on the roadway.

According to the local press, Wilhelmsplatz "is well received as a place of communication and relaxation, especially when the weather is nice and especially in the summer months." In 2019, the use of the lawn and nocturnal disturbances increased so much that the city administration decided to take several measures Reduce lawn damage and night noise.

gallery

  • Wilhelmsplatz with planting strips in August 2010

  • Former high school for girls, now Joliot-Curie-Gymnasium

  • Monument to the victims of fascism

  • Light sculpture & during the exhibition Görlitzer ART 2016/17

literature

  • Peter Fibich: The Wilhelmsplatz in Görlitz: past and future of a garden monument. (= Stadtgrün in Görlitz . Volume 2). Verlag Gunter Oettel, Görlitz-Zittau 2011, ISBN 978-3-938583-77-7 .
  • Peter Fibich: Green city squares in the 1930s. Two examples from Görlitz. In: The garden art . Volume 24, 2012, No. 1, pp. 103-114.

Web links

Commons : Wilhelmsplatz (Görlitz)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Wilhelmsplatz. ( Memento of November 9, 2011 in the Internet Archive ). In: City of Görlitz , 2011.
  2. ^ Richard Jecht : History of the city of Görlitz . Volume 1, half volume 2. 1st edition. Verlag des Magistrates der Stadt Görlitz, 1934, p. 704 .
  3. ↑ Blossom magic on Görlitzer squares. In: City of Görlitz , July 27, 2017.
  4. ↑ Old Görlitzer business street gets new lanes and sidewalks. In: Görlitzer Anzeiger , August 15, 2011.
  5. ↑ The end of the rumbling on Jakobstrasse in sight. In: Görlitzer Anzeiger , August 5, 2011.
  6. ↑ Thomas Beier: For good togetherness on the Görlitzer Wilhelmsplatz. In: Görlitzer Anzeiger , August 16, 2019.
  7. ^ "The Wilhelmsplatz in Görlitz" in the book trade. In: Görlitzer Anzeiger , December 21, 2011.

Coordinates: 51 ° 8 ′ 58.1 ″  N , 14 ° 59 ′ 10.3 ″  E