Bellevueplatz

Bellevueplatz
Bellevue

Bellevue tram stop
Other name(s) Das Bellevue
Namesake former Grandhotel Bellevue
Type square
Owner City of Zürich
Addresses Bellevueplatz, Zürich
Location Zürich, Switzerland
Postal code 8001
Coordinates 47°22′01″N 8°32′42″E / 47.367°N 8.545°E / 47.367; 8.545
Limmatquai and other Quaianlagen in Zürich: Bellevueplatz and Bürkliplatz, Quaibrücke. Also: Münsterbrücke and Münsterhof, and Rathausbrücke–Weinplatz (aerial photography by Eduard Spelterini in the probably mid-1890s)

Bellevueplatz ("Bellevue Square", Bellevue is French for "beautiful sight") is a town square in Zürich, Switzerland built in 1856. Named after the former Grandhotel Bellevue on its north side, it is one of the nodal points of road and public transportation in Zurich, and is an extension of the quaysides in Zürich that were built between 1881 and 1887.[1]

Geography

Belleuve is situated at the historical Sechseläutenwiese area, now the Sechseläutenplatz square, in between the Quay Bridge (Quaibrücke) to the east on the Lake Zurich lake shore, just next to the effluence of the lake into the Limmat, and the Limmatquai to its north. It is bound by Theaterstrasse and Utoquai on its east and west side, respectively, and Rämistrasse in its north and the Schoeckstrasse to its south. The square is about 200 metres (660 ft) north-west of the Stadelhofen railway station.

Transportation

The square is one of the nodal points of the Zürich tram lines 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 11 and 15, as well the regional bus lines 912 and 916, as being the border between Rathaus and Hochschulen quarters. The square was not be used in the classical sense as a public square for recreation until the adjointed Sechseläutenplatz was rebuilt in 2013 for public use.

Points of interests

In addition to the Sechseläutenplatz and quaysides, there is also Café Odeon, where writers and the Zürich Bohème would meet, the Kronenhalle and Vorderer Sternen restaurants, and the Limmatquai and other attractions downstream the Limmat.

There are also two snack bars and a kiosk in the historical tram stop building, a public toilet ZüriWC,[2] and the ticket store of the ZVV Zürcher Verkehrsverbund public transportation company.

History

Located on the then swamp land between Limmat and Lake Zurich around Sechseläutzenplatz on small islands and peninsulas in Zürich, Prehistoric pile dwellings around Lake Zurich were set on piles to protect against occasional flooding by the Linth and Jona. Zürich–Enge Alpenquai is located on Lake Zurich lakeshore in Enge, a locality of the municipality of Zürich. It was neighbored by the settlements at Kleiner Hafner and Grosser Hafner on a then peninsula in the effluence of the lake, within an area of about 0.2 km2 (0.077 sq mi) within the city of Zürich. As well as being part of the 56 Swiss sites of the UNESCO Worl Heritage Site Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps,[3][4] the settlements are also listed in the Swiss inventory of cultural property of national and regional significance as a Class object.[5]

copperplate print by Johann Heinrich Vogel, showing the area in 1705
Kohlepörtli gate at the present Sechseläutenplatz, Franz Hegi and Matthias Pfenninger, around 1795

From 1558 to 1562 the round Auf Dorf bastion with battlements was built at the site of the present Bellevueplatz at the junction of Limmatquai and Rämistrasse. Structurally, it was connected to the Langenöhrlisturm of the city fortification, and originally surrounded almost entirely by the water of Lake Zurich respecitvely Limmat. The bulwark comprised casemates with loopholes and a platform for the artillery to defend against attackers on the lake, and to complete the opposite Bauschänzli bastion respectively the medieval Grendeltor. In the period around 1700, after the construction of embankments, the bulwark thus lost its original function. Equipped with a solid roof, the area served as a salt house. Up to 1795 the construction of a new seawall was carried out, and at the Kohlepörtli goods were transhipped between lake and Limmat. The remains that were broken around 1830, were discovered on occasion of road works in March 2015.[6]

First mentioned in 1863, the square was named after the hotel Bellevue, which was built at Limmatquai 1 in 1856 hotel. Mid-October 1937 three workers pulled the extremely heavy iron structure for the canopy of the new station with pulleys. City architect Hermann Herter had designed the cylindrical building with triangular, bold curves and cantilevered roof for the so far Bellevue-Rondell, which replaced the old concourse with the kiosk. When the new roof has reached three meters in height, it crashed suddenly onto the square. A worker also fell to the ground, but miraculously no one got hurt. Soon it turns out that the chain hoist broke and all fuses were missing.[7]

Despite the official name Bellevueplatz, it is dubbed by the locals usually as ″das″ Bellevue, and is now one of the most important transport hubs in the city, for the public transport as well as to road traffic transportation.[8] As well as the Bürkliplatz square on the other side of the Quaibrücke, it is also used for Sechseläuten and other public festivals, so the whole traffic operations several times a year have to be stopped.[9]

Renewal

Bellevueplatz was renovated between March and 25 October 2015 respectively minor corrections to November 2015,[10] and the tram lines were redirected between June and mid-August 2015. The edges of the tram tracks are designed unobstructed, and the tracks at Rämistrasse between Café Odeon and Quaibrücke were rearranged and cycle lanes separated. As part of the road renewal works, the two pedestrian crossings from Bellevue to Utoquai and from Sechseläutenplatz to Utoquai are each provided with a protective island that is tactilely detectable for visually impaired people.[11]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Ernst Tschannen (May 2006). "Vom Bürkliplatz zur Sukkulenten-Sammlung" (PDF) (in German). Grün Stadt Zürich. Retrieved 2015-01-05.
  2. ↑ "Öffentliche Toiletten – züriWC" (in German). Gesundheits- und Umweltdepartement Stadt Zürich. Retrieved 2015-01-04.
  3. ↑ "Prehistoric Pile Dwellings in Switzerland". Swiss Coordination Group UNESCO Palafittes. Retrieved 2014-12-10.
  4. ↑ "World Heritage". Swiss Coordination Group UNESCO Palafittes. Retrieved 2014-12-10.
  5. ↑ "A-Objekte KGS-Inventar" (in German). Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft, Amt für Bevölkerungsschutz. 2009. Retrieved 2014-12-10.
  6. ↑ "Bellevueplatz 2015" (in German). Stadt Zürich, Archäologie & Denkmalpflege. Retrieved 2015-09-09.
  7. ↑ "Bruchlandung des Bellevue-Rondells" (in German). Tages-Anzeiger. 2015-09-08. Retrieved 2015-09-09.
  8. ↑ Gebrüder Dürst. "Der Bellevueplatz" (in German). alt-zueri.ch. Retrieved 2015-01-05.
  9. ↑ "Bellevue" (in German). Tiefbau- und Entsorgungsdepartement Stadt Zürich. Retrieved 2014-01-05.
  10. ↑ Daniel Diriwächter (2015-10-23). "Aufschnaufen am Bellevue: Ab Montag verläuft der Verkehr wieder normal" (in German). Limmattaler Zeitung. Retrieved 2015-10-26.
  11. ↑ "Bellevue: Sanierung des Bellevues, Sanierung der Quaibrücke" (in German). stadt-zuerich.ch. Retrieved 2015-08-18.

External links

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