The Gürtel () is a substantial

beltway A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist in reducin ...

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. Running parallel to the famous

Vienna Ring Road The Ringstrasse or Ringstraße (pronounced �ɪŋˌʃtʁaːsə ⓘ, lit. ''ring road'') is a 5.3 km (3.3 mi) circular grand boulevard that serves as a ring road around the historic city centre, the Innere Stadt, of Vienna, Austria. The road is bu ...

, it encompasses the

inner city The term inner city (also called the hood) has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Soc ...

districts (''Innenbezirke'') and follows the route of the former '' Linienwall'' outer fortification. The city's

red-light district A red-light district or pleasure district is a part of an urban area where a concentration of prostitution and sex industry, sex-oriented businesses, such as sex shops, strip clubs, and adult theaters, are found. In most cases, red-light district ...

is situated around the Gürtel.

History

The Gürtel was laid out from 1873 at the site of the former '' Linienwall'' fortification, built under Emperor Leopold I at the beginning of the 18th century to protect his residence from

kuruc Kuruc (, plural ''kurucok''), also spelled kurutz, refers to a group of armed anti- Habsburg insurgents in the Kingdom of Hungary between 1671 and 1711. Over time, the term kuruc has come to designate Hungarians who advocate strict national inde ...

invasions in the course of Rákóczi's War for Independence. After

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the road became the construction site for several

public housing Public housing, also known as social housing, refers to Subsidized housing, subsidized or affordable housing provided in buildings that are usually owned and managed by local government, central government, nonprofit organizations or a ...

estates ('' Gemeindebauten'') in the era of

Red Vienna Red Vienna (German language, German: ''Rotes Wien'') was the colloquial name for the Vienna, capital of Austria between 1918 and 1934, during which the Social Democratic Party of Austria, Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (SDAP) mainta ...

. As in most parts of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

, vehicles formerly moved on the left, like in Britain, until after the

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, ), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into Nazi Germany on 12 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a "German Question, Greater Germany") arose after t ...

in 1938. According to German regulations, traffic in Vienna was redirected to pass on the right as elsewhere on the Continent. Plans developed in the 1960s and 70s to rebuild the Gürtel as a city motorway have never been carried out. The road, like the adjacent residential areas, is however strongly affected by the high traffic volume.

Layout

The Gürtel is not to be confused with B 221 Wiener Gürtel Straße, which includes other streets like Schlachthausgasse, starts at the

Donaukanal The Donaukanal (, ''Danube Canal'') is a former arm of the river Danube, now regulated as a water channel (since 1598), within the city of Vienna, Austria. It is long and, unlike the Danube itself, it borders Vienna's city centre, Innere St ...

and ends at the ''Gürtelbrücke'', again at the Donaukanal. In the south it starts in the Landstraße district, at the junction with A23 Südosttangente and runs westward toward the

Central Station Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...

, where the Vienna Pre-metro has been built under surface. There the ''Wiedner Gürtel'' and ''Margaretengürtel'' mark the border of Wieden and

Margareten Margareten (; ) is the fifth district of Vienna (). It is near the old town of Vienna and was established as a district in 1850, but borders changed later.Favoriten suburb. The Gürtel then turns north, running along the eastern rim of the Meidling suburb, crossing the Wienfluss and the Wienzeile road, separating the inner city districts of

Mariahilf Mariahilf (; ; "Mary's help") is the 6th municipal district of Vienna, Austria (). It is near the center of Vienna and was established as a district in 1850. Mariahilf is a heavily populated urban area with many residential buildings. Wien.gv.a ...

and

Neubau Neubau (; ; "New Build") is the seventh district of Vienna (). It is located near the center of Vienna and was established as a district in 1850, but borders changed later. Neubau is a heavily populated urban area, with a major shopping area and ...

in the east from Rudolfsheim-Fünfhaus with the Westbahnhof. The road continues as the border of

Josefstadt Josefstadt (; ; "Joseph-Town") is the eighth district of Vienna (). It is near the center of Vienna and was established as a district in 1850, but borders changed later. Josefstadt is a heavily populated urban area with many workers and resi ...

and

Alsergrund Alsergrund (; ) is the ninth district of Vienna, Austria (). It is located just north of the first, central district, Innere Stadt. Alsergrund was incorporated in 1862, with seven suburbs. As a central district, the area is densely populated. Accor ...

with the outer Hernals and

Währing Währing () is the 18th Districts of Vienna, 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, Neus ...

districts, passing the

General Hospital ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera created by Frank and Doris Hursley which has been broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC since April 1, 1963. Originally a half-hour seria ...

(''Allgemeines Krankenhaus, AKH'') and the Volksoper. It ends relatively unspectecular in

Döbling Döbling () is the 19th Districts of Vienna, district in the city of Vienna, Austria (). It is located in the north of Vienna, north of the districts Alsergrund and Währing. Döbling has some heavily populated urban areas with many residential bui ...

district at a Gemeindebau from the 1920s called ''Professor-Jodl-Hof'' From the Wienzeile to the northern end, the dual carriageway is accompanied by the historic

Stadtbahn (; German for 'city railway'; plural ) is a German word referring to various types of urban rail transport. One type of transport originated in the 19th century, firstly in Berlin and followed by Vienna, where rail routes were created that co ...

viaduct designed by Otto Wagner, today operated by the U6

U-Bahn Rapid transit in Germany consists of four systems and 14 systems. The , commonly understood to stand for ('underground railway'), are conventional rapid transit systems that run mostly underground, while the or ('city rapid railway') are c ...

line.

References

External links

{{commons category-inline Streets in Vienna Ring roads Landstraße Buildings and structures in Wieden Margareten Mariahilf Neubau Josefstadt Alsergrund Meidling Rudolfsheim-Fünfhaus Ottakring Hernals Buildings and structures in Währing Döbling Red-light districts in Austria

History

Layout

Further reading

References

External links