Heiligenstadt, Vienna - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Heiligenstadt
Coat of arms	Map

Location: 48°15′18"N 16°21′30"E

Heiligenstadt (in German: Wien Heiligenstadt) was an independent municipality

Municipality

A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...

until 1892 and is today a part of Döbling

Döbling

Döbling is the 19th District in the city of Vienna, Austria . It is located on the north end from the central districts, north of the districts Alsergrund and Währing...

, the 19th district of Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

.
Heiligenstadt is one of the 10 municipalities in the Döbling

Döbling

Döbling is the 19th District in the city of Vienna, Austria . It is located on the north end from the central districts, north of the districts Alsergrund and Währing...

District.

Geography

Heiligenstadt lies on flat land abutting the Danube canal

Donaukanal

The Donaukanal is a former arm of the river Danube, now regulated as a water channel , within the city of Vienna, Austria...

and forms a thin strip that stretches to the north-west as far as Leopoldsberg

Leopoldsberg

The Leopoldsberg is perhaps Vienna’s most famous overlook, towering over the Danube and the city. Leopoldberg’s most prominent landmark is the church which stands at the top, and which is clearly visible from Vienna below...

. The municipality covers an area of 219.46 hectares, bordering in the north on Nußdorf

Nußdorf, Vienna

Nußdorf was a separate municipality until 1892 and is today a suburb of Vienna in the 19th district of Döbling.- Location :Nußdorf lies on both banks of the Nußbach , where the brook meets the Danube Canal...

and Josefsdorf

Josefsdorf

Josefsdorf was an independent municipality until 1892 and is today a part of Döbling, the 19th district of Vienna. It is also one of the 89 Katastralgemeinden.- Geography :...

, in the west on Grinzing

Grinzing

Grinzing was an independent municipality until 1892 and is today a part of Döbling, the 19th district of Vienna.- Geography :- Location :...

, and in the south on Unterdöbling

Unterdöbling

Unterdöbling was an independent municipality until 1892 and is today a part of Döbling, the 19th district of Vienna. It is also one of the 89 Katastralgemeinden.- Geography :...

and Oberdöbling

Oberdöbling

Oberdöbling was an independent municipality until 1892 and is today a part of Döbling, the 19th district of Vienna. It is also one of the 89 Katastralgemeinden.- Geography :...

. The Probusgasse was once the main street of the village of Heiligenstadt and today marks the centre of the municipality.

The origin of the name Heiligenstadt

The name Heiligenstadt (Holy city) suggests that there was already a holy site in this area before the arrival of Christianity

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

. The first record of a settlement dates to 1120 and refers to it as St. Michael. The Archangel Michael

Michael (archangel)

Michael , Micha'el or Mîkhā'ēl; , Mikhaḗl; or Míchaël; , Mīkhā'īl) is an archangel in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic teachings. Roman Catholics, Anglicans, and Lutherans refer to him as Saint Michael the Archangel and also simply as Saint Michael...

is also depicted in Heiligenstadt’s coat of arms. The term Sanctum Locum (Heiligenstadt) first appears in documents at the end of the 12th century, although it is unclear which holy site is being referred to. The theory that Saint Severinus of Noricum once lived here has been disproved.

Heiligenstadt from pre-history to the end of the Middle Ages

Heiligenstadt was first settled more than 5000 years ago. Traces of Roman

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

settlement have also been found. In 1872, remains of a wall were found in Heiligenstadt that prove that a Roman tower, part of the Limes

Limes

A limes was a border defense or delimiting system of Ancient Rome. It marked the boundaries of the Roman Empire.The Latin noun limes had a number of different meanings: a path or balk delimiting fields, a boundary line or marker, any road or path, any channel, such as a stream channel, or any...

once stood in this area. A Roman cemetery has also been found near the Jakobskirche (St. James’ Church), as has an Avar

Eurasian Avars

The Eurasian Avars or Ancient Avars were a highly organized nomadic confederacy of mixed origins. They were ruled by a khagan, who was surrounded by a tight-knit entourage of nomad warriors, an organization characteristic of Turko-Mongol groups...

tomb from the 6th century. The Franks

Franks

The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...

followed, settling in Heiligenstadt for the first time around 900. Originally, settlement centred on the area around the modern-day Pfarrplatz and included the first church in the area. The inhabitants were farmers who were largely reliant on their own produce. They also caught crabs and fish in the western arm of the Danube

Danube

The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....

(where today the Heiligenstädter Straße is located). Wine

Wine

Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...

was produced for sale; wine cellars can to this day be found in the side of the hill beside the Heiligenstädter Straße. The Klosterneuburg Monastery owned vineyards in Heiligenstadt as early as 1250. In 1304, bishop Weinhardt von Passau gave the monastery the right to take over the parish Heiligenstadt after the death of the parish priest. In the Middle Ages

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

, Heiligenstadt was one of the richer settlements in the area. A school is documented in 1318; it was probably the only one in the area. Like many other towns on the outskirts of Vienna, Heiligenstadt suffered greatly in the turmoils of the 15th and 16th centuries. Matthias Corvinus

Matthias Corvinus of Hungary

Matthias Corvinus , also called the Just in folk tales, was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1458, at the age of 14 until his death...

laid waste to Heiligenstadt in 1484, while Turkish

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

plundering during the first siege of Vienna

Siege of Vienna

The Siege of Vienna in 1529 was the first attempt by the Ottoman Empire, led by Suleiman the Magnificent, to capture the city of Vienna, Austria. The siege signalled the pinnacle of the Ottoman Empire's power, the maximum extent of Ottoman expansion in central Europe, and was the result of a...

in 1529 greatly damaged the Jakobskirche and the Michaelskirche (St. Michael’s Church). It was however possible to restore the latter in 1534 thanks to donations made by the inhabitants of Döbling

Döbling

Döbling is the 19th District in the city of Vienna, Austria . It is located on the north end from the central districts, north of the districts Alsergrund and Währing...

, Grinzing

Grinzing

Grinzing was an independent municipality until 1892 and is today a part of Döbling, the 19th district of Vienna.- Geography :- Location :...

, Nußdorf

Nußdorf, Vienna

and Heiligenstadt (all of which belonged to this parish).

Heiligenstadt since the Middle Ages

The Reformation

Protestant Reformation

The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...

left Heiligenstadt largely untouched, but in 1683 the settlement fell victim to the second siege of Vienna

Battle of Vienna

The Battle of Vienna took place on 11 and 12 September 1683 after Vienna had been besieged by the Ottoman Empire for two months...

. Many of the inhabitants of Heiligenstadt were massacred; the name of the Blutgasse (Blood Street) still recalls this event. The devastation was so complete that the settlement resembled a wasteland. Heiligenstadt’s economy did not recover until the 18th century, when local cattle and fruit became popular at markets in Vienna. Heiligenstadt’s recovery was helped at the end of the 18th century by the construction of a public bath that made use of a hot water spring. As many as 300 people visited the bath and adjoining restaurant every day, but the spring dried up in the second half of the 19th century. A park was opened where the bath once stood. In the 19th century, Heiligenstadt however also gained a reputation as a destination with favourable summer weather and many rich members of Vienna’s bourgeoisie settled here. In the summer months, Heiligenstadt was a tourist hot spot. Ludwig van Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...

lived for a time in Heiligenstadt and wrote his Heiligenstadt Testament

Heiligenstadt Testament

The Heiligenstadt Testament is a letter written by Ludwig van Beethoven to his brothers Carl and Johann at Heiligenstadt on 6 October 1802....

here.

In 1851, the Zentralanstalt für Meteorologie und Geodynamik (Central Bureau for Meteorology and Geodynamics), Austria’s state meteorological and geophysical service, was established at the Hohe Warte

Hohe Warte, Vienna

The Hohe Warte is a hill in the 19th district of the city of Vienna, Döbling between Heiligenstadt and Unterdöbling. There is also a street with the same name. In the 19th century, a number of villas were built on the Hohe Warte because it offered good views of the surrounding areas...

.

The Heiligenstadt cemetery was founded in 1873.

Heiligenstadt’s growth was rapid in the 18th and 19th centuries. In 1795, there were 60 houses with 470 inhabitants who lived in three streets near where the Grinzinger Straße, Probusgasse, Hohe Warte and Armbrustergasse are now to be found. By 1832, there were 677 inhabitants in 94 houses, and by 1870 the figures had already risen to 3393 inhabitants in 244 houses. Around 1890, several factories were opened in Heiligenstadt, and the number of inhabitants rose to 5579. In the space of 60 years, the number of houses had more than tripled. The 6000 m² Heiligenstadt pond, in which the residents used to bathe, fell victim to this construction boom. It became a problem as a result of pollution and was filled in in the 1920s.

Heiligenstadt following its integration into the city of Vienna

In 1892, Heiligenstadt was officially integrated into the city of Vienna

Vienna

together with the surrounding suburbs Sievering

Sievering

Sievering is a suburb of Vienna and part of Döbling, the 19th district of Vienna. Sievering was created in 1892 out of the two erstwhile independent suburbs Untersievering and Obersievering. These still exist as Katastralgemeinden.- Geography :...

, Grinzing

Grinzing

Grinzing was an independent municipality until 1892 and is today a part of Döbling, the 19th district of Vienna.- Geography :- Location :...

, Oberdöbling

Oberdöbling

Oberdöbling was an independent municipality until 1892 and is today a part of Döbling, the 19th district of Vienna. It is also one of the 89 Katastralgemeinden.- Geography :...

, Unterdöbling

Unterdöbling

Unterdöbling was an independent municipality until 1892 and is today a part of Döbling, the 19th district of Vienna. It is also one of the 89 Katastralgemeinden.- Geography :...

, Nußdorf

Nußdorf, Vienna

and Kahlenbergerdorf

Kahlenbergerdorf

Kahlenbergerdorf was an independent municipality until 1892 and is today a part of Döbling, the 19th district of Vienna. It is also one of the 89 Katastralgemeinden.- Location :...

.

In 1898, the Heiligenstadt train station, designed by Otto Wagner

Otto Wagner

Otto Koloman Wagner was an Austrian architect and urban planner, known for his lasting impact on the appearance of his home town Vienna, to which he contributed many landmarks.-Life:...

, was opened as a transfer point between the Emperor Franz Joseph Railway, which had entered service in 1870, the Wiener Stadtbahn

Wiener Stadtbahn

The Wiener Stadtbahn was a public transportation system operated under this name from 1898 to 1989. Today, the Vienna U-Bahn lines U4 and U6 and the Vienna S-Bahn run on its former lines....

, and the Vorortelinie. Today, the station is also an important bus station for busses within Vienna and towards Klosterneuburg

Klosterneuburg

Klosterneuburg is an attractive small town in Lower Austria, Austria with a population of 24,442.It is located on the Danube, immediately north of Vienna, from which it is separated by the Kahlenberg and Leopoldsberg hills...

.

Following World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, the social democrat

Social democracy

Social democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...

municipal government pursued a policy of building affordable accommodation in order to improve the miserable living conditions of the working classes. To this end, the enormous Karl-Marx-Hof

Karl-Marx-Hof

Karl Marx-Hof is one of the best-known Gemeindebauten in Vienna, situated in Heiligenstadt, a neighbourhood of the 19th district of Vienna, Döbling.-Development:...

was constructed in Heiligenstadt on land where until the 12th century there had been an arm of the Danube that was deep enough for ships to use and where fruit and vegetable gardens had later stood. The complex, which includes 1382 apartments, was constructed by Karl Ehn

Karl Ehn

Karl Ehn was a Viennese architect and city planner.Among other structures, Ehn designed the colossal Karl-Marx-Hof, the largest and best example of innovative public housing built during the Red Vienna movement. Ehn worked as technical director for the City of Vienna and was a student of Otto...

, one of Otto Wagner’s students and technical director for the City of Vienna. The Karl-Marx-Hof later became famous for its role in the 1934 February Uprising

Austrian Civil War

The Austrian Civil War , also known as the February Uprising , is a term sometimes used for a few days of skirmishes between socialist and conservative-fascist forces between 12 February and 16 February 1934, in Austria...

when rebellious workers took shelter in the building.

Economy

Viticulture

Viticulture is the science, production and study of grapes which deals with the series of events that occur in the vineyard. When the grapes are used for winemaking, it is also known as viniculture...

was still playing an important role in the local economy at the start of the 19th century. 30% of available land were used for vineyards, a further 25% for agriculture. Pasture made up another 20% and around 8% were used to grow fruit. At the end of the 18th century however, the first factories were opened in Heiligenstadt. At number 135 in the Heiligenstädter Straße, a sulphuric acid factory was opened that only closed again in 1939. Other notable companies included Barawitzka (known later as Engel), which produced parquet here between 1838 and 1932, the machine factory Heinrich (1840 to 1964) and the Just-Leitern-AG, which was founded in 1885 and still operates in Lower Austria

Lower Austria

Lower Austria is the northeasternmost state of the nine states in Austria. The capital of Lower Austria since 1986 is Sankt Pölten, the most recently designated capital town in Austria. The capital of Lower Austria had formerly been Vienna, even though Vienna is not officially part of Lower Austria...

. Its factory was at number 125 in the Heiligenstädter Straße. Heiligenstadt’s industrial prominence was recognised following the creation of the Döbling district, when the area from the Heiligenstädter Straße to the Danube canal was declared an industrial zone. There were however also important companies in the centre of Heiligenstadt. From 1889, the Pokornygasse 7 was home to a factory where coffee was roasted, a producer of coffee substitute

Coffee substitute

Coffee substitutes are non-coffee products, usually without caffeine, that are used to imitate coffee. Coffee substitutes can be used for medical, economic and religious reasons, or simply because coffee is not readily available. Roasted grain beverages are common substitutes for coffee.In World...

s and a wine cellar all belonging to the Kunz brothers. From 1919, praline

Praline

Praline is a family of confections made from nuts and sugar syrup.-Europe:As originally inspired in France at the Château of Vaux-le-Vicomte by the cook of the 17th-century sugar industrialist Marshal du Plessis-Praslin , early pralines were whole almonds individually coated in caramelized sugar,...

s were also being produced in the Gatterburggasse. The production was sold to the Julius Meinl AG in 1935.

External links

"Vienna - Beethoven house at Heiligenstadt", 2008, webpage: Aeiou-Beethovenhaus.
wien-vienna.at - Heiligenstadt

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.