Hauptplatz means “Main Square” (Haupt is “a head” in German, and Platz is “a place”, or “a square”). Makes sense that Sackstrasse would lead right to here from the city gates. The square, as is usually the case for Europe, originally was an intersection of big roads, on which all sorts of tradesmen and salesmen would settle to make their living fixing travelers’ wheels, feeding them dinners, and whatnot. Eventually, such busy crossroads would transform into a marketplace. This is exactly what happened in Graz around 1160, when the then Margrave (the local governor) Otakar III decided that his growing capital is big enough now to have a proper market square. The square was extended significantly somewhere in 1500s and it became even bigger than now – the current Rathaus (City Hall) occupies almost half of the total area of the square.
Back then, Hauptplatz was not only the centre for commerce and political power. It was a place for entertainment too. A pillory and a thing called Narrenkotter (a cage for minor criminals) was set in the middle of the square for the amusement of the distinguished audience. It’s all gone now, obviously. The name of the square was not chiseled in stone right from the get-go either. First, it was just auf dem Platz (“on the square”, since it was the only square in the city). Then it was Hauptwachplatz (“the place of the main city watch station”, literally), then Adolf-Hitler-Platz (during the Anschluss years, when Nazi Germany united with Austria). And only after the WWII it became Hauptplatz.
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Hauptplatz as seen from Schlossberg. In this picture, it is very evident that the market square occupies a triangular space at the confluence of three major streets - Sackstrasse on the right of the picture (we just came that way), and Herrengasse and Schmiedgasse on both sides of the massive Rathaus (City Hall). We will visit them later.As you can see, Rathaus really takes up a half of the total space of the square. Those shiny smooth roofs on both side of the cupola, forming a rectangular shape - it′s all City Hall, occupying a whole block. A few red roofs you see within that perimeter are the houses of stubborn Bürger (German for "townsfolk"), who refused to sell their homes just because some mayor decided to expand his office. So the City Hall had to be built around them.The first Rathaus on this spot was built in 1550, and it was nothing like what we see today. It was a quite plain, squatty building, more suited to house a prison and the town guard station (i.e., the police), along with the mayor′s office, as it did.Yet that previous Rathaus was already not the first one for the city. The very first City Hall was built exactly 100 years earlier on the street called Judengasse ("Jewish street"). That street doesn′t exist anymore, after the Jewish ghetto was destroyed in order to lay out Herrengasse. This specific building we see today was built in 1805/07, and then significantly rebuilt in 1888/93 in the Neo-Renaissance style. Same style as Reichstag in Berlin. And this is when it was expanded to the whole city block. In 1966 there was a referendum on the subject of modernization of the facade, as in - making it more plain and uninteresting. The Grazers said "Get lost!"However, even without the modernization, this current look is not exactly what it originally was. In 1922, the City Hall underwent a "facelift", when facade was significantly remodeled. For example, most of the decorations on the roof were removed, and the masonry of the top two floors was "smoothed". Before it looked like the bottom two floors. Also, the statues in the niches on the top floor (of Habsburg Emperors and such) were gone. No wonder. Note the date - 1922. That′s the time of the so-called "1st Austrian Republic", after the Habsburg empire perished in WWI. No one wanted to see those proverbial "Habsburg jaws" anywhere anymore. In their revolutionary zealotry, "the modernizers" also removed these four statues adorning the risalit (the protruding central part of the facade), even though these figures had nothing to do with the Empire and the Habsburgs! They are allegories of (from right to left) "Industry", "Art", "Science" and "Commerce". Why would anybody have issues with that? But hey, when people dismantle the "old order", they are usually very thorough. Good thing, these statues were restored in their original places in 2001.Let′s take a peek around the corner, at the western facade of the City Hall, the one facing Schmiedgasse. Especially at these sandstone figures of Landsknechts, infantrymen in the German armies of the late Middle Ages (around when the first City Hall on this spot was built). These statues are among the very few that survived "the cleansing" of the revolutionary times. Since Rathaus is huge, occupying the whole block, there are numerous entrances and inner courtyards. The entrances are decorated with such intricate grill gates, which are real objets d’art, pardon my French.The arcades between the courtyard are elaborate enough too, ... ⇨ ⇨ ... and they have fancy chandeliers.Now, let′s step away from the Rathaus (literally and figuratively), and look around Main Square. [These two pictures were taken on approximately the same spot in 1995 and 2022. By the way, look at the left half of the collage. No white statues on the risalit! Because it was before 2001. Another example of the historicity of these grainy 1995 images.]The female figure from the previous image is part of the monument-fountain of Archduke Johann of Austria (or, as he is pompously known in his homeland, Erzherzog Johann Baptist Joseph Fabian Sebastian von Österreich). We′ve already encountered him in the name of the Palace-Hotel on Sackstrasse and of one of the bridges across the Mur. He is such a significant person in these parts that he is called "The Prince of Styria". Son of Emperor Leopold II and brother of the next Emperor Franz I, Johann had a fascinating life. He started as a military commander, raising to the rank of a field marshal, then spent many years in Graz as a private citizen, which didn′t prevent him from introducing numerous reforms and establishing many important institutions, some of which still exist today, like the city archives and one of Graz′s universities. BTW, you′re not gonna believe it - this city of 300,000 has 6 (six) universities!The revolutionary 1848, which led to the crumbling of many European governments, was a pivotal year for Johann′s career. He became the provisional head of not one, but two countries (simultaneously at a time)! - the Viceroy of the Austrian Empire, and the Imperial Regent of the German Empire. After the German Empire was dissolved a year later, Johann′s life took another sharp turn - he was elected mayor of a small town of Stainz in Styria. Imagine having a Habsburg, with a formal title "Archduke of Austria" no less, as the mayor of your Podunk town...Johann died soon after he resigned as the mayor of Stainz. In recognition of his importance to Styria, Archduke was commemorated with this monument-fountain in the main square of the main city of the province. The four female figures at the corners of the basin symbolize the four main rivers of Styria at the time: Mur, Enns, Drau and Sann. This one is the Mur, the river flowing through Graz. Two of the rivers allegorized in the fountain - Drau and Sann - are not in Styria anymore, due to the changes of borders. And they are now called Drava and Sava.Now we are facing the opposite, eastern side of Hauptplatz, looking at the back of Archduke Johann. Personally for me, this scene, with this specific row of houses and the Uhrturm above them, is as "Graz" as it gets. Isn′t it pretty? Especially, with the addition of a maypole, since it′s Pentecost (Whit Sunday) season in this particular picture, taken in May 2017.The plaque on the maypole says, it was a present to the city from Trachtenverband Graz (Graz Historical Costume Association). I bet, those guys had a very cheerful and vivacious dance around that maypole on the actual Whit Sunday that year (June 4).Look at the elaborate Baroque stuccowork of the houses! This is what makes Graz one of most beautiful cities I′ve seen. The beige house in the middle is called Luegg House. Technically speaking, the ochre-coloured house next to it is also Luegg House, although it′s a completely separate building with a separate address.They call them the first Luegg House and the second Luegg House. You might think, they both were owned by the same person named Luegg? Nope. The word comes from lugen, which means "peek" or "peep" (as in, around the corner).That would be understandable for this house, which is right on the corner of Sporgasse and Hauptplatz, but the other one, tucked between two other buildings and facing a big open square? Where are you peeking at from there? Doesn′t really make sense.Anywhoo, who really cares, right? Look at this beauty! Look at these intricate ornaments in the best of the Baroque traditions! The Baroque decorations are a later addition. The house was first mentioned in 1489 (we don′t even know when it was actually built, so old it is). But Baroque in architecture started in late 1500s, and this specific stuccowork was done in late 1600s. The leaves in the decor are supposed to be Acanthus plant. Don′t ask. No idea.That second half of Luegg House is also quite singular. Its brother steals most of the thunder, but if you take a second to really look at those geometric figures and, especially, the oak leaves under the windows, you will see that it′s quite on par. [The best way to see the leaves is to click on ⓘ, select "View the original", and then click on it to enlarge it].Yet another example of rich Baroque decorations, a few doors down from the Luegg House. This building is sometimes called Lambrechterhof, but this is not correct. It sits on the spot of a farm that belonged to someone named Lambrecht (hof is "court" or "yard" in German), but the house itself doesn′t have a name.Nevertheless, the Baroque ornaments are pretty here too. And look - Madonna and the child again! Remember, I told you, we were gonna see a lot of them in Graz?Press ESC to exit
