Richard-Wagner-Platz (Leipzig)

Richard-Wagner-Platz is a square in Leipzig in the northwest of Leipzig city centre within Leipzig's "ring road" on the northwest corner. The square is named after the composer Richard Wagner, whose house of birth was nearby.

New design since 2013

From April 2012 to May 2013, the large Richard-Wagner-Platz, which was then used as a parking lot, was redesigned after a design competition at a cost of 2.6 million euros. It was presented to the public on the eve of Wagner's 200th birthday. On the same occasion, the Leipzig Richard Wagner Memorial was unveiled about southwest of Richard-Wagner-Platz in the green area at Goerdelerring.

Since that redesigning, the Richard-Wagner-Platz is covered by small granite paving. There are 59 young winter linden trees in a square grid wide, with a fountain in the middle. Some of the linden trees are surrounded by ring-shaped benches. There is a small skatepark southeast of the linden trees. The three art fountains designed by Harry Müller were set up in the open area of the square. They stood on the former ''Sachsenplatz'' until 1999 and are called “dandelions” by the people of Leipzig.

History

On the site of today's Richard-Wagner-Platz, the first Slavic market (later called ''Eselsmarkt'', which means donkey market) and the Slavic settlement of Lipsk, from which the city of Leipzig later developed, were probably formed in the 7th century. This market place is older than today's Leipzig's market square. In the 10th century, the place lay at the crossing of the Via Regia coming from Merseburg and leading further to Meissen to the Via Imperii, an imperial road, later Hainstrasse. At the southern end of the eastern side of the square begins the Brühl, an old street which later became the world center for fur trade practised by mostly Jewish merchants. The ''Hainstraße'' ends at the corner of ''Brühl''. South of it begins the ''Große Fleischergasse'', which is why the square was formerly called ''Fleischerplatz''.

At the western end of the southwest side the ''Töpferstraße'' began. Until 1822 the square was bordered to the north and west by the ''Ranstädt Gate''. It was one of the four city gates of Leipzig and formed the city exit to the west. With the demolition of the city wall, the square visually enlarged to the west. In the north, the square remained limited by the Altes Theater, also the ''Komödienhaus'', built in 1766 on the foundations of the ''Ranstädter Bastei''. After 1839 the square was called ''Theaterplatz''.

The Lindenau tram line (first a horse-drawn railway, later a tram) crossed the square diagonally from 22 July 1882, crossing the tracks of the Ring tram line coming from the Brühl and turning into the ''Ranstädter Steinweg''. The line was closed on 20 July 1964.

On 22 May 1913, the 100th birthday of composer and conductor Richard Wagner, born in Brühl 1, ''Theaterplatz'' was renamed ''Richard-Wagner-Platz''. Wagner's birthplace was on the corner of Brühl/Theaterplatz. It was demolished in 1886 and the Brühl department store was later built on this site. (Today: Höfe am Brühl shopping mall)

During the Second World War, on the night of December 3-4, 1943, a British air raid destroyed many surrounding buildings, including the Altes Theater. As a result, the square visually expanded to become the Ring-Messehaus.

On 24 August 1973, a pedestrian overpass over the square to the ''Ring-Messehaus'' was opened. The 360-ton bridge had a total length of and connected the ''Dr.-Kurt-Fischer-Straße'' (since then ''Pfaffendorfer Straße'') with the ''Brühl''. At peak times, the overpass had to accommodate over 6,000 people per hour. The bridge was demolished in 2004.

The square is separated in its irregular form from the ''Goerdelerring'' and the ''Tröndlinring'' in the northwest by a narrow green area. Inside is the Hahneman Monument. The neo-classical building ''Großer Blumenberg'' borders the square to the south. The ''Brühl'', the ''Hainstraße'' and the Große ''Fleischergasse'' border the square in the southeast.

Present age

Due to the fact that the square was regularly the venue for meetings of the Leipzig Pegida subsidiary Legida, a petition was initiated by opposing interest groups at the end of 2015 to rename the square again as "Refugees Welcome-Platz". However, this initiative has not been implemented.

Gallery

Leipzig - Richard-Wagner-Platz 05 ies.jpg,
Richard-Wagner-Platz - panoramio.jpg,
Bb046549.jpg,
Leipzig - Richard-Wagner-Platz + Großer Blumberg 02 ies.jpg,
Höfe am Brühl, Leipzig - Blechbüchse (Mai 2013).JPG,

References

External links

{{coord, 51.3437, 12.3720, format=dms, type:landmark_region:DE, display=title

Squares in Leipzig
Pedestrian streets in Germany
Richard Wagner