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St. Poelten - Culture |
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On 22nd September 1995 a "Co-operation Network of
European medium-sized Towns" was founded in St. Pölten, as a network over which medium-sized towns in Europe were invited to exchange
views and opinions. President of the Co-operation Network: Burgomaster Willi Gruber (St. Pölten). Member towns: Alba Iulia Bratianu (Rumania),
Bolzano (Italy), Brno (Czech Republic), Ceske Budejovice (Czech Republic), Clichy (France), Heidenheim (Germany), Hodonin (Czech Republic),
Innsbruck (Austria), Jena (Germany), Leoben (Austria), Maribor (Slovenia), Martin (Slovakia), Nagykanizsa (Hungary), Passau (Germany), Prostejov
(Czech Republic), St. Pölten (Austria), Székesfehérvár (Hungary), Trencin (Slovakia), Trnava (Slovakia), Velenje (Slovakia), Wels (Austria),
Zadar (Croatia). On 21st March 1996, the network determined an own organisational structure and passed resolutions concerning youth and cultural
exchange visits. A provisional timetable for working discussions was also approved. Rathausplatz impresses the visitor with its baroque
patrician houses, the Town Hall and the Town Theatre. Not only secular building, but also church architecture reached a zenith during the
baroque period. The facade design of the Franciscan Church on the north side of the square, shows hints of the rococo style, whilst the superior
quality of the interior decoration is evidenced by the immense columns supporting the high altar. The Trinity Column in the middle of
Rathausplatz, commemorates plague, fire, earthquakes, and wars.
From 1787 onwards the building served as a barracks. The church was used as livery depot and armoury. In 1934 it was restored under Rudolph Wondracek and re-consecrated. Wondracek was also responsible for the Hesser Monument, unveiled on the northern exterior wall of the church in 1936, with figures of the academic painters Leopold Schmidt and Herbert Dimmel. Today the former cloister building houses the Education and Cultural Administration, together with the Town Museum and the Lower Austrian Documentation Centre for Modern Art. Also under the same roof are the offices of other municipal departments and the Town Archives . Domplatz, occupies what was once the centre of the
ancient town Cetium, and next to Rathausplatz is the biggest square in today's town. The northern part of the square, once the site of the
gothic parish church demolished in 1893, was also used as the main burial ground until 1799. The charnel house, which once stood on a site to
the south of the church, was demolished in 1786. The most self-contained square in the town from an artistic point of view, Herrenplatz has been the venue of the "everyday market" since the Middle Ages. The square took its name from the neighbouring Mansion House (German: "Herrenhaus"), which formerly stood at Wiener Straße 12, but is now no longer in existence. The appearance of the square is largely characterized by numerous baroque houses, and in particular by the house at Herrenplatz 2, as well as by the Holy Virgin Column sited in the middle of the square. |
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For
some years, the provincial capital St. Pölten has been maintaining a lively exchange of views and visits with its respective partner towns,
namely Kurashiki in Japan, since 1957, Heidenheim in Germany, since 1967, Clichy in France, since 1968, and Brno in the Czech Republic, since
1990.
The
former Carmelite cloister with church was donated by Princess Maria Antonia Montecuccoli in the year 1707. It was built by Jacob Prandtauer
on the basis of a plan by a cloister architect. The facade and the church interior date back
to a retouching of the original design by the Viennese architect and theatre engineer, Matthias Steinl. Like many other cloisters in the town,
this one was also closed down under the reign of Joseph II.
the
square. 