Hauptwache (Frankfurt am Main)
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The Hauptwache is a central point of Frankfurt am Main and is one of the most famous plazas in the city. The original name Schillerplatz is not used much anymore and does not appear on official maps.
[edit] Hauptwache Building
The baroque building which gives the square its name was built in 1730. It was the seat of the Stadtwehr defense authorities and also contained a prison. In the 18th century Frankfurt still had city walls and its own army. In 1833 during the Frankfurter Wachensturm, the Hauptwache was stormed in failed effort by a small revolutionary force. When Prussia annexed the city in 1866 and took over military activities, the Hauptwache lost this role.
The prison remained and the Hauptwache also became a police station. In 1904, the building was used as a café and this function continues today. Heavily burned in World War II bombing, it was reopened in a provisional form with an altered rood in 1954. In 1967 with the building of the U-Bahn, it was dismantled so it could be moved and rebuilt over the U-Bahn.
[edit] The Plaza
The plaza has been reformed several times. Its current appearance is marked by the large opening in the ground, which most Frankfurters call "the Hole" or das Loch. Through the opening one can enter the B-Ebene, an underground area where one can access the subway and walk toward outside streets. It also has a shopping area with direct access to the grocery story department of the large Kaufhof mall-like store.
The plaza contains a number of different architectural styles. Apart from the baroque Hauptwache itself, the surrounding buildings are mostly new architecture because of the damage from the war.
[edit] Connecting streets
- Shopping district streets
- Straßenzug Biebergasse/Fressgass
- Schillerstraße
- Steinweg
- Liebfrauenstraße
- Zeil
- Thoroughfare Streets
- Straßenzug Roßmarkt/Kaiserstraße
- Große Eschenheimer Straße
