Freiburg in the Spring of 1980

The other Saturday, Red Baron took part in a guided tour, essentially based on a booklet written by a man named Löhl and published in 1890.

Löhl imagined traveling into the future and called his writing an excerpt from a travel description at the end of the 20th century. The proceeds were intended for the Münsterbauverein.

 
The booklet was forgotten, but in 1980 the architect Josef Diel published a new edition and provided it with drawings matching the text.

I knew Josef Diehl as chairman of the board of trustees for the redesign of Freiburg's Schlossberg area and often saw him at Kieser Training.

My favorite guide Joachim Scheck led the tour he had named Historical Utopias in Freiburg - a guided tour in the footsteps of adventurous masterminds. He showed us a couple of Diel's "fantastic" book illustrations. So I acquired the book and will offer a few of them.

In his account of a utopian visit to Freiburg, Löhl writes: We had taken the newly built, electric ship, "Zukunft (Future)" from Strasbourg to Breisach and there turned onto the Rhine Canal to Freiburg's harbor, which is bordered by the suburbs of "Hochdorf" and "Hugstetten."

Click to enlarge

Here is a map of Freiburg on which Diel superimposed Löhl's "futuristic "additions.

The most striking feature is the shipping canal, a vital transport link from Breisach am Rhein to the port of the city of Freiburg im Breisgau.

In Diel's interpretation, Lake Loretto's waterfront looks like
Geneva with the Minster Church instead of St. Pierre.

Its water is diverted from the Rhine at Neuenburg and flows in a canal to Lake Loretto in Freiburg. The lake is located at Günterseck between the city and Günterstal, south of the railway line London-Paris-Freiburg-Konstantinopel* 

*Initially, the Orient Express was planned to cross the Black Forest, passing through Freiburg. What is left of this idea is the one-track Höllentalbahn.

Diel's nightmare. Note that in his other illustrations,
the Minster Church is shown with one steeple only.

And Löhl continues his story: A fresh morning wind came to meet us from the heights of the Black Forest mountains, the air was clear, and from a distance greeted us the majestic three towers of the Freiburg Cathedral, To the new construction in huge dimensions almost all of Germany had contributed.*

*Probably an allusion to the recently completed cathedrals in Cologne and Berlin.

At Volksfürstenstraße (Ethnarch Street)*, once called Kaiser-Joseph-Straße, the electric streetcars now run at intervals of 5 minutes. The streetcar line visible in the picture connects the central station Zähringen with Günterseck.
* In Löhl's utopia, rulers are no longer born into hereditary dynasties but elected by the people.

In the forefront, the Günterstal village

Out there at Günterseck stands the sanatorium built of modern building materials, iron, steel, and glass. It was erected at the request and on the advice of the first teachers of the famous local university.

The crematorium at Eichhalde houses the urns of the dead in its halls. It is a place dedicated to the memory of the deceased. Cemeteries no longer exist.

Back to Löhl's account of the utopian visit to Freiburg in 1980: In the late afternoon, we are on the ascent of the Schlossberg, which at this point stretches its foot into the city.

Up there on Schlossberg, the Victory Monument has now found its final place.*

*In the 20th century, the Siegesdenkmal changed its location three times, causing controversies among Freiburg citizens

Wide roads and dozens of footpaths, interrupted by flat places with benches, lead up the mountain. We, however, climb the cable car, which also ascends to lofty heights on this side of the hill.

Slowly our car rises. We are already on the same level with the roofs of the nearest houses. The Kaiserstuhl becomes visible. The evening air shimmers golden through the three filigree towers of the cathedral. Now the Vosges Mountains have also emerged, shrouded in a bluish evening fragrance. Like a white snake, the Rhine Canal moves toward the mountains.

After the descent, we are again at the foot of the Schlossberg but at the same time in the middle of the city. The streetcars ring past us. Dressed-up people fill the streets or, after the day's work, head for the wide-open refreshment and dining establishments, one of which we visit.

Our guided group went to the foot of the Schlossberg too. On our way, Joachim showed us some northern remains of Freiburg's old city wall, of which I knew remnants so far only in the south at the Schneckenvorstadt.

At Gerberau near Augustinerplatz.
Medieval city wall riddled with toilets and an underground parking lot.

Löhl was right with his refreshment and dining establishments. In the 20th century, four beer gardens were located at the western flank of the Schlossberg. The innkeepers had caves dug into the mountain to keep their beer cool with ice harvested in winter at the Waldsee.

The beer gardens were dug out during the construction of the four-lane road bypassing the old town, and Schlossberg's foot had to be stabilized with a retaining wall.

Just one building of the old glory remained, which today houses offices. Only the barely visible archways at both ends of the building let guess the house entries through which horse-drawn carts loaded with beer or ice drove into the cellars on the left and out on the right discharged.

*