!!!Mariahilf, Bezirk von Wien

Mariahilf, 6%%sup th/%  district of Vienna, area 
1.48 km%%sup 2/%, pop. 30,298 (1991), situated on territory 
sloping sharply towards the River Wien (in former times made up of 
vineyards and clay pits); the lower stretch of the river was vaulted 
in 1895 and flows through a subterranean canal on which the  
Naschmarkt (one of Vienna´s most famous and biggest markets 
situated on the border to the 5%%sup th/%  district) is located. From 
the Mariahilfer Stasse (street marking the border to the 7%%sup th/%  
district,  Neubau), flights of steps lead down to the River Wien. The 
name of the former village of Mariahilf, which began to develop around 
the Barnabite cemetery in 1660, was derived from a miraculous 
representation of the Virgin (1660, a replica of a painting by L. 
Cranach the Elder at Passau), which today is housed by the church of 
Mariahilf In 1862 the suburbs of Laimgrube, Windmuehlgrund, 
Magdalenengrund (also called "Ratzenstadl") and  Gumpendorf (first 
documented mention in the 12%%sup th/%  century) were united with the 
territory of Mariahilf; some time afterwards the name of the latter 
was used for the whole district. Situated on the road to Schoenbrunn 
and the former post road to Linz, Mariahilf quickly began to flourish. 
It developed into a district of the lower middle classes, where many 
artisans and merchants (trading mostly in clothes, steel furniture, 
gratings, curtains, lace, knitwear, textiles and shoes) set up 
business. Due to the building of a big railway station, the 
Westbahnhof (Vienna Western Railway Station) in 1857 and the extension 
of the tram network to the 6%%sup th/%  district in 1869, the 
Mariahilfer Strasse became increasingly vital for the development of 
the town. Towards the end of the 19%%sup th/%  century numerous 
department stores had already opened up business in this street, which 
by then had became the most important shopping street for those living 
in the suburbs. Today Mariahilfer Strasse is one of Vienna´s 
main shopping streets with numerous department stores (Gerngross, 
Herzmansky and others). It is characterized by buildings dating from 
the Age of Promotorism, the period of the Vienna Secession Movement 
(famous artist´s association active at the beginning of the 
20%%sup th/%  century) and from recent times (e.g. the Generali 
shopping mall, C & A, the Peek & Cloppenburg 
clothing company). In 1993 the U3 underground line was extended as far 
as the Westbahnhof railway station, and Mariahilfer Strasse was 
redesigned (pavements were broadened etc.) - Parish church of 
Mariahilf, built by S. Carlone (1686-1689), redesigned by F. Jaenggl 
(1711-1715), ceiling paintings (1759-1760) by J. Hauzinger and 
F. X. Strattmann, altar by J. G. Dorfmeister. Near the 
church is a monument to Haydn (1887), a Salvatorian monastery (former 
Barnabite monastery, built between 1768 and 1777). Parish church of 
Gumpendorf (1765-1770; paintings by M. J. Schmidt); parish church 
of Laimgrube (1906/07, Baroque interior taken over from a church which 
had previously been built on this site); Protestant Gustav-Adolf 
Church (built to plans by L. Foerster und T. Hansen between 1846 and 
1849). Monumental buildings:  Theater an der Wien (1798-1801),  
Raimundtheater (1893), Semperdepot (stage decoration repository, first 
of the Imperial Theatre, then of the Austrian Association of Federal 
Theatres, 1877, built according to designs by G. Semper and C. 
Hasenauer, renovated in 1994-1996 and now used by the Academy of Fine 
Arts in Vienna); Apollo Centre (variety theatre in 1904; converted 
into Vienna´s first big sound-film cinema in 1929, turned into a 
cinema complex with numerous projection rooms and Austria´s 
biggest screen (34 x 18 m) in 1993); chemical labs and 
mechanical engineering workshops of the Vienna University of 
Technology, former Imperial Military Academy (completed in 1865, 
enlarged in 1873), multistorey building (1970) housing the departments 
of the Vienna University of Technology; vocational training centre 
(1911) and "Jubilaeumswerkstaettenhof" (provides apartments and office 
rooms and workshops for commercial enterprises, built by O. Richter 
and L. Ramsauer in 1909; erected on the occasion of Emperor Franz 
Joseph´s diamond jubilee as Emperor of Austria); hospital of the 
Sisters of Mercy. The flak tower (1942-1944) in the Esterházy 
Park, which served to detect enemy aircraft during World War II, 
was turned into a highly popular museum of marine fauna and reptiles 
(Haus des Meeres) in 1966.- Suburban buildings and outstanding housing 
estates dating from the periods of Historicism and Art Nouveau (e.g. 
house in which the famous composer J. Haydn lived and died, Haydn 
Museum, Bernhard-Ludwig Building, 1889,housing estates designed by O. 
Wagner, 1899). Naschmarkt, including a big flea market set up above 
the subterranean canal of the River Wien (parts of the market belong 
to the 5%%sup th/%  district); Arik-Brauer Building (1994, situated at 
134-136, Gumpendorfer Strasse).

!Literature
F. Czeike, Mariahilf, Wiener Bezirkskulturfuehrer, 1981; 
H. Kretschmer, Mariahilf, 1992; F. Czeike, Historisches Lexikon Wien, 
5 vols., 1992-1997.


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