Braunschweig. 15 years of Schlossplatz: Urban planning professor Walter Ackers remembers how a new part of the city was created.
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How time flies. It’s been 15 years since the palace was reconstructed and the palace arcades opened – and at the same time Braunschweig received one new place: the Palace Square. prof Walter Ackers was at that time significantly involved in the major renovations on the outskirts of the pedestrian zone.
Of course, the place is not perfect, says Ackers. To this day he is burdened with the mortgage of car-friendly city. Ackers was already there as a young architect in 1974, when the first major renovation and installation of the Schlossparks took place. “In the end we didn’t take part in the competition. It was foreseeable that not only huge traffic areas arise, but this development will hardly be reversed.”
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Plan at that time: It was not only completely new Georg-Eckert-Strasse. It was also envisaged that a four-lane extension over Museumstraße and chestnut avenue up to the ring. Bohlweg meant: six lanes plus tram line. In the middle a tall trellis. 40 meters wide traffic areas. Four meters for pedestrians.
In 2003, Ackers had that Urban planning appraisals was written, which contained the framework conditions, the palace park was to disappear and the palace reconstruction including the palace arcades were to take its place. This brought in a lot of criticism for the city planner. Today, Ackers says: “For me, the main thing is that Braunschweig really metropolitan square received.”
How wide do lanes have to be?
He remembers a tough struggle: “The Schlossplatz was not a matter of course. There were also voices that demanded: The ways into the pedestrian zone must be as short as possible. So no palace square. Instead, the castle and castle arcades should move as close as possible to the Bohlweg.” The car-friendly city still had an impact back then: “Braunschweig’s civil engineers absolutely wanted all lanes to be 3.5 meters wide. Every centimeter less road width was fought for.”
According to Ackers, the Bohlweg was the inner-city “zone boundary” at the time. “She protected him Handel the pedestrian zone. With the castle arcades, a new one was created shopping mall outside the pedestrian zone. A solution had to be found to reduce the separating effect of the Bohlwegs cancel.”
Whereby the owner of the Tram route reported on the Bohlweg to speak. The Braunschweiger Verkehrs-AG, predecessor of the BSVG, have pointed out: “The tram route is not a public space that can simply be replanned. Some will still remember the signs from that time that prohibited entering the route.”
No coincidence: the Schlossplatz lacks a cycle path
Contradictions, of which Ackers says: “Places should have a social function and that Commonality support financially. If you take a closer look at Schlossplatz today, you will see that there is not the usual segmentation there. A Bike path is missing. Pedestrians, skaters and cyclists share the space. thoughtfulness ensures that there are no significant problems.”
In addition, the Schlossplatz breathes and sometimes surpasses itself: “Where else in Braunschweig would there be space for large demonstrations, promotion celebrations or public viewing that ensure that the Bohlweg is included?” Cyclists are now pushing for more space there. Ackers says: “If Auto-Poser from the entire region let it rip on the Bohlweg, no one can claim that the Bohlweg was too narrow.”
