Willy-Brandt-Platz (Frankfurt am Main)
| Willy-Brandt-Platz | |
|---|---|
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 View from the main tower |
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| Basic data | |
| city | Frankfurt am Main |
| district | Downtown |
| Created | 1810 |
| Newly designed | 1902, 1978, 2005 |
| Hist. Names | Gallustor, Theaterplatz |
| Confluent streets | Friedensstrasse, Weißfrauenstrasse, Neue Mainzer Strasse, Gallusanlage , Münchener Strasse , Gutleutstrasse |
| Buildings | Municipal theaters Frankfurt , Eurotower |
| use | |
| User groups | Pedestrians, tram Frankfurt am Main |
| Space design | Fairy tale fountain , euro sculpture |
The Willy-Brandt-Platz (until 1992 Theater Square ) is a place in the southwestern city of Frankfurt am Main . It is located in the Frankfurt Anlagenring between Untermainanlage and Gallusanlage and belongs to the so-called banking district . The development is characterized by the municipal opera and theater and the Eurotower . The Willy-Brandt-Platz underground station and the theater tunnel are located under the square . The name is given to the former Federal Chancellor Willy Brandt (1913-1992, Chancellor 1969-1974).
history
Until the demolition of the Frankfurt city fortifications in 1809 there were west of the city two city gates : That in the extension of the Great Winchester Street location Old or interior Galgentor from the 14th century, since the 18th century also Gallustor or Gallentor called, resulted from the City over the inner city moat to the bastion of the gallows bulwark in front of the gate . About 100 meters south of the Old Galgentor, at today's Willy-Brandt-Platz between Galgenbollwerk and Mainz Bollwerk , the New or Outer Galgentor was built between 1661 and 1662 with a drawbridge over the outer city moat. There was no direct access to the city from here.
After the demolition of the fortification city gardeners put Sebastian Rinz the ramparts of a by Wallservitut protected from encroachment green belt that runs around the center of Frankfurt today. In 1810 Johann Friedrich Christian Hess built two classicist gateways to protect the passages through the ramparts. Their wrought iron bars were locked every evening until 1864.
With the southern Outer Gallustor , an extension of Münzgasse created direct access from the west to the old town for the first time . The northern gate on Grosse Gallusgasse was still known as Inneres Gallenthor . After the Taunusbahnhof went into operation in 1839, the Taunusstraße , named after it, was created , the name of which was subsequently transferred to the gate. Since then it has been called the Taunustor , the Äußere Gallenthor historically incorrect Gallustor .
Derived from this name, the section of the ramparts beginning here was given the name Gallusanlage , which is called the Taunusanlage after the Taunus Gate .
From 1839 to 1888, the Gallusanlage was the location of the three Frankfurt West Train Stations, which were replaced by the Central Station in 1888 . The Gallustor was therefore an important link between the historic city center and the train stations.
After the construction of the new theater , the square was renamed Theaterplatz in 1902 . It has been called Willy-Brandt-Platz since 1992 .
layout
Willy-Brandt-Platz is a combined space for pedestrians, individual road traffic , trams and the subway . For a long time, the design was geared towards the needs of car traffic , which led to problems for other road users. After the theater tunnel was built , most of this traffic could be moved underground. The entrances to the Willy-Brandt-Platz underground station are on the south-eastern edge of the square . This is where the U1, U2, U3 and U8 lines, running in north-south direction, intersect with the U4 and U5 lines running under the square in an east-west direction .
The square was rebuilt in 2005 to be barrier-free , so that visitors with reduced mobility can get to the opera and drama steplessly across the square and onto the tram. A new lighting concept should create a pleasant atmosphere.
One of two copies of the Euro sculpture by Ottmar Hörl is located north of the square in the Gallusanlage in front of the Eurotower . On the southern edge next to the opera at the entrance to the Untermainanlage is the Märchenbrunnen , a work by Friedrich Christoph Hausmann .
Road traffic
Seven streets touch Willy-Brandt-Platz: from the east, Friedensstraße leads to Kaiserplatz and Weißfrauenstraße leads to the old town . Three streets are part of the Frankfurt system ring around the city center, which follow the course of the former Frankfurt city fortifications . The Neue Mainzer Strasse , the main street of the financial district, limits the eastern edge of the square and the Untermainanlage and Gallusanlage the western edge. Gutleutstrasse and Münchener Strasse (formerly Kronprinzenstrasse ) run to the west through the Bahnhofsviertel towards the main station ;
Theater tunnel
The square is only passable for pedestrians and cyclists. Motorized road traffic has been relocated to the theater tunnel running under the square since 1974 , the mouths of which are in Gutleutstrasse and Weißfrauenstrasse. It is used by around 14,000 vehicles every day.
building
Eurotower
The Eurotower towers over the square with its height of almost 150 meters. It was built in 1977 for the Bank für Gemeinwirtschaft (BfG). From 1998 until moving into the new building in 2014, it served as the headquarters of the European Central Bank ( ECB). The Eurotower has been the seat of the Single Banking Supervision Mechanism (SSM) of the ECB since the end of 2014 .
Urban stages
From 1899 to 1902 the theater of the municipal theaters was built according to plans by Heinrich Seeling and was badly damaged by aerial bombs in the air raids on Frankfurt am Main in 1944 . Initially repaired as a makeshift, it served as a venue for the Frankfurt Opera from 1951 . 1959 to 1963 the theater was completely rebuilt according to plans by architect Otto Apel (Apel + Beckert, Becker), the facade was demolished. After a long search for alternative locations, a new building for the Frankfurt theater and another stage, the so-called Kammerspiel, was built on the neighboring property to the east . For the first time, the stage, rehearsal and workshop rooms were brought together in one place. In 1963 both buildings were connected with a common foyer building behind a modern 120 meter long glass facade. In 1959 Marc Chagall created the painting Commedia dell'Arte for the foyer on behalf of the city . The plastic Gold Clouds by the Hungarian artist Zoltán Kemény hangs under the ceiling of the foyer - across the entire width of the building .
Subway station
The Willy-Brandt-Platz station is a junction in the Frankfurt subway network . This is where the A route (lines U1, U2, U3 and U8) and the B route (lines U4 and U5) intersect .
Oddities
After the former Chancellor and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Willy Brandt died in 1992, SPD Mayor Andreas von Schoeler initiated the renaming of the square. However, the signs had to be replaced quickly when an Italian journalist noticed that the spelling was incorrectly "Willi-Brandt-Platz".
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Paul Kuhnert: Frankfurt am Main and its theater . Ed .: Heinrich Heym on behalf of the Städtische Bühnen Frankfurt am Main. Waldemar Kramer, Frankfurt am Main 1963, p. 254-263 .
- ↑ Frankfurter Rundschau of June 19, 2009 : “A mishap remains unsurpassed, which almost knocked the former Lord Mayor Andreas von Schoeler out of the sand: when he unveiled the sign for the 'Willy-Brandt-Platz', renamed in memory of the late Chancellor, in 1993 The monstrous revealed itself. The sign read 'Willi'. "
Coordinates: 50 ° 6 ′ 33 ″ N , 8 ° 40 ′ 26 ″ E