Michelbeuern

Michelbeuern is a neighbourhood of the

Alsergrund Alsergrund (; Central Bavarian: ''Oisagrund'') is the ninth district of Vienna, Austria (german: 9. Bezirk, Alsergrund). It is located just north of the first, central district, Innere Stadt. Alsergrund was incorporated in 1862, with seven suburbs. ...

, the 9th district of Vienna. Today, the major part of its area is dedicated to the

Vienna General Hospital The Vienna General Hospital (german: Allgemeines Krankenhaus der Stadt Wien), usually abbreviated to AKH, is the general hospital of the city of Vienna, Austria. It is also the city's university hospital, and the site of the Medical Univer ...

. The name ''Michelbeuern'' can be traced back to the Benedictine monastery of Michelbeuren in

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian) is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the ...

. Its possessions in the Vienna area were mentioned in 1072 as ''Hof zu Waring''. They comprised vineyards, meadows and forests mainly located in the area of today's

Währing Währing () is the 18th district of Vienna and lies in northwestern Vienna on the edge of the Vienna Woods. It was formed in 1892 from the unification of the older suburbs of Währing, Weinhaus, Gersthof, Pötzleinsdorf, Neustift am Walde and Sa ...

. In 1704, the construction of the ''Linienwall'' (the city fortifications that preceded today's Gürtel ringroad), the current area of Michelbeuren was separated from the

and was integrated into

Alservorstadt Alservorstadt was an independent municipality until 1850 and is since then divided between Josefstadt and Alsergrund, the 8th and 9th districts of Vienna, respectively. Geography Alservorstadt spans the south of Alsergrund and the north-east o ...

. Apart from the Linienwall in the west, the area was confined by the river ''Als'' in the south and Währing river in the north. During ecclesial reforms under Joseph II., the monastic possessions were ceded to the city of Vienna for 10,000

guilder Guilder is the English translation of the Dutch and German ''gulden'', originally shortened from Middle High German ''guldin pfenninc'' "gold penny". This was the term that became current in the southern and western parts of the Holy Roman Empir ...

s. The area remained sparsely developed until the mid-19th century. The ''Brünnlbad'' baths and ''Brünnlmühle'' mill were located at the Als river (today's Lazarettgasse). The north housed a Vienna toll office (''Verzehrungssteuer-Linienamt'') while the center served mainly for brick production. In 1836, the steam engine producer ''k.k. privilegierte Dampfmaschinenfabrik AG'' was founded in Eisengasse (today's Wilhelm-Exner-Gasse). In 1848-1853, the elevated area of Michelbeuern saw the construction of the psychiatric institution ''Niederösterreichische Landesirrenanstalt'' by architect Ferdinand Fellner. The building continued to serve this purpose until it was demolished in 1974 in order to make space for the new buildings of

. {{Authority control Alsergrund Geography of Vienna