Red Baron lives in a place called
Wiehre. The
Wiehre was first
mentioned in a document dating 1008: King
Heinrich II
gave the hunting grounds in the area to his loyal vassal Archbishop
Aldabero II
of Basel as a fief. Initially located on the banks of the Dreisam River, the
Wiehre - meaning
Wehr (dam, weir) - is older than
Freiburg, founded in 1220.
Today, the Wiehre, Freiburg's largest district, is located solely on the
left-hand side of the river. The city administration distinguishes four parts:
the
Oberwiehre, i.e., upstream of the Dreisam, the
Mittelwiehre,
the
Unterwiehre, and further downstream in the south-west the
Heldenviertel (heroes' district), where the streets are named after
"heroes" of the First World War, e.g.,
Manfred von Richthofen
aka the
flying Red Baron.
Last Saturday, the
blogging Red Baron participated in a guided tour of
the
Mittelwiehre, a suburb where my apartment is located. Although I
know my neighborhood well, one is never too old to learn something
new.
I had tried to reserve a ticket, but the people at the
Volkshochschule (adult education center) informed me that the tour was
fully booked. Nevertheless, I went to the meeting point and argued with guide
Carola, who said, "
I cannot take more than twenty people." To make a long
story short, In the end, five registered persons did not show up, which made
everybody happy.
We started at the corner of
Günterstal-/Urachstraße where, before the
First World War, there stood a hotel named
Hohenzollern, its name paying
tribute to the ruling imperial house. Now, the building houses lawyers' offices
and doctors' clinics.
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Note the original streetcars (©Carola Schark)
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Here is what is left of Hotel Hohenzollern
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Built 1898 by C.Hoßmann - F. Weber, restored 1997
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Nearby on
Urachstraße, the Freiburg transport company (
VAG) built
its main streetcar depot in 1901. It was used until 1994 when the
VAG moved to modern premises in Freiburg's industrial zone in the west.
Now, the local fire brigade occupies half of the vast halls while the
Freunde der Freiburger Straßenbahn (Friends of Freiburg
Streetcars) restore historical rolling stock in the other half.
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Streetcar parade in front of the depot
in the years before the First World War (©Carola Schark)
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On October 14, 1901, two electrical streetcar lines started operating in
Freiburg:
Rennweg-Lorettostraße and
Rennweg-Günterstal, both
passing the intersection
Günterstal-/Urachstraße. We were just one
day late for the 115th anniversary of the city's electrical streetcar system.
Here is Streetcar 38, one of those in the parade above. In service until 1971,
it is now in poor condition but will be restored.
Streetcar number 2 was in service until 1954 and has already been rebuilt. Its
electrical equipment by
Siemens dates to 1901 and is still operational.
The short wagons with serial numbers 1 to 71 made screeching noises when going
around tight curves, and therefore, Freiburgers affectionately called
them
Hobl (literally, Alemannic for a wood plane).
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The conservator proudly presents his baby.
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Carola, waving her folder, is calling the group to order
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We passed the former Anglican church built in 1894, now used by the Seventh-Day
Adventists, for whom Saturday and not Sunday is the day of rest.
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The Saturday afternoon service had just finished.
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Red Baron had to bow his head.
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The Christuskirche from 1890, the first Lutheran church in the Wiehre, is under reconstruction for next year's celebration of 500 years of
Reformation.
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Modeling the outside
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The oldest school building in historicized style, initially exclusively for girls, is located at the corner of
Turnsee-/Talstraße:
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Municipal primary school
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Turnsee-Schule.
Von der Stadt Freiburg als Mädchenschule erbaut 1899-1902
(Built by the City of Freiburg as a school for girls 1899-1902).
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On our way to the rebuilt
St. Marienhaus, now a retirement home, we
passed Freiburg's
Jugendzentrum (youth center), newly built in the 1950s.
We just arrived when the Saturday
offener Familienbereich (open family
sector) from 1400 to 1600 hours had finished. Kids and even babies animated
the entrance area.
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Freiburg's Youth Center
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In the years before 1960, the municipal sawmill occupied the site.
Firewood from municipal forests was cut up and donated to the poor.
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Water-driven sawmill (©Carola Schark)
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The former creek is a miserable rivulet barely visible through the leaves.
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A modern entrance to St. Marienhaus
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St. Marienhaus on
Talstraße used to be a home for Catholic
girls who came to Freiburg as housemaids, protecting them from the vices of the
"big" city. A vintage enamel sign serves as a reminder.
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Catholic Protection of Girls, Freiburg'Br.
Catholic girls and saleswomen find advice, shelter & job
placement,
the former at Marienhaus Talstr. No 31,
the latter at St. Annastift Holzmarktplatz No. 12.
Nowadays, the building of the Saint Anna Foundation is a retirement home, too.
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Another reminder of the old premises is the steeple of the former chapel. It was
preserved and serves as a decoration of the courtyard of the retirement home.
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A cozy courtyard |
On our way back through
Hildastraße, we discovered two somewhat hidden
landmarks. More than 70 years after the war, the front wall of house number 28
still shows a luminescent arrow pointing to the nearest air-raid shelter in the
Hof (courtyard).
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Never again |
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A painted-over landmark
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In the corner of the front wall of house number 47, a fastening hook for the
catenary of Freiburg's streetcar is preserved. The line running
through
Hildastraße connecting
the
Hauptbahnhof (central station) with the
old
Wiehrebahnhof (Wiehre station) already stopped in 1916
during the First World War.
Our walk in the
Mittelwiehre ended at the
Kita,
i.e.,
Kindertagesstätte (daycare center) opposite the old
Wiehrebahnhof. In the years after the war, wooden shanties at the site
served various charitable organizations (Swiss Donation, Quaker, CARE)
supporting hungry Freiburg citizens. Thank you.
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