!!!Leopoldstadt
Leopoldstadt, 2%%sup nd/% district of Vienna, area
19.27 km%%sup 2/%, pop. 93,542 (1991), former floodplain on the
island between the Danube and the Danube canal, formed by the
settlement "Unterer Werd" (first documented mention 1337) on islands
of the unregulated river; since 1862 part of Vienna; the district was
given its present form when the Danube was regulated in 1870; until
1900 it also comprised Brigittenau (since then 20%%sup th/% district)
and until 1938 Kaisermuehlen (since then part of the 22%%sup nd/%
district).
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Leopoldstadt was originally part of the parishes of St. Stephan
and Leopoldau, and only became a separate parish in 1670/71. The
district was severely damaged by the Turks (1529, 1683) and during
World War II (1945). In 1625 Ferdinand II allowed the Jews
to settle on a treeless heath (ghetto) which formerly belonged to
Buergerspital hospital; after the Jews had been expelled in 1669 under
Leopold I, the city took possession of the area, which was later
called Leopoldstadt. In 1766 Joseph II gave the Praterand in
1775 the Augarten to the public, and Leopoldstadt became densely
populated. The Praterstrasse, built in 1570 as "Jaegerzeile" under
Maximilian I, was one of the most splendid streets of Vienna
during the Biedermeier period. Until 1918 high percentage of Czech
population (1890: 8.9 %), until 1938 high percentage of Jewish
population (1923: 38.5 %); according to census of 1991 third
highest percentage of non-Austrian citizens (19.6 %) after the
15%%sup th/% and the 5%%sup th/% districts.
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Churches: Leopoldskirche (1670-1671, replacing a synagogue, rebuilt in
1724); Johann-Nepomuk Kirche, 1846 (high altar painting by L.
Kupelwieser, mural depicting the Stations of the Cross by J.
Fuehrich); church (since 1622), monastery and hospital (started in
1614, repeatedly enlarged until 1838) and new hospital (1883-1885,
extended several times) of the Hospitallers (Barmherzige Brueder);
Carmelite church (built in 1624, enlarged between 1630-1639, monastery
buildings were pulled down 1904-1906) with altar-panel by M. J.
Schmidt (1771); St. Francis of Assisi church (1898-1913). -
Porzellanmanufaktur Augarten china factory; Tegetthoff monument (1886,
architecture by C. Hasenauer and sculpture by C. Kundmann) at the
Praterstern (important intersection of streets, subway and tram
lines), "Schuetzenhaus der Staustuf Kaiserbad", a lock-house
by Otto Wagner (1908); Prater recreation ground and amusement park:
premises of the Vienna trade fair at the Rotunde; Ernst-Happel
Stadium (1930, repeatedly enlarged) and Ferry-Dusika velodrome;
Stadionbad public baths; university atomic research reactor;
Association of Austrian Adult Education Institutes; racecourses and
sports grounds ( Freudenau race course and golf course, Krieau
trotting course etc.), freight railway stations at Praterstern and
Donauuferbahnhof; Vienna shipping centre; winter harbour; Holiday Inn
Crowne Plaza Vienna hotel, Donau Business Centre; headquarters of
pension insurance agency for employees; Albrecht and Wilhelm barracks;
council housing estates of the 1960s and 1980s (Vorgartenstrasse,
Engerthstrasse: E-Werksgruende, Siemensgruende, Elektraplatz). Office
buildings: Bundeslaender insurance agency; OPEC building;
Raiffeisenhaus; Dianazentrum (built in 1969-1974, renovation started
1998); IBM central headquarters (1992); Bank Austria administration
offices (1994). Power plant on the Danube at Wien-Freudenau (1992,
output 98.172 MW).
!Literature
100 Jahre Leopoldstadt, festschrift, 1962; R. Messner, Die
Leopoldstadt im Vormaerz, 1963; F. Czeike, Leopoldstadt, Wiener
Bezirkskulturfuehrer; 1980; idem, Historisches Lexikon Wien,
5 vols., 1992-1997; W. Hanak and M. Widrich (eds.), Wien II.
Leopoldsstadt, 1999.
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