Galerie im Park, Viersen

Galerie im Park, Viersen, originally uploaded by viersener1.

The "Städtische Galerie im Park" is based in a villa built in central Viersen in 1868 which is currently being renovated. The Modern Sculpture in the park is accessible all through the year.

Viersen, Lambersartstrasse

Viersen, Lambersartstrasse, originally uploaded by viersener1.

Viersen, Wilhelmstrasse

Viersen, Wilhelmstrasse, originally uploaded by viersener1.

Jugendstil House, Viersen (Goeterstrasse)

Jugendstil House, Viersen (Goeterstrasse), originally uploaded by viersener1.

Heierstrasse, Viersen. 1942.

Heierstrasse, Viersen. 1942., originally uploaded by viersener1.

Two small boys going to school (presumably the Kornerschule) passing a handsome but damaged parade of houses in the Heierstrasse in old Viersen.

One of the houses has been totally demolished in a recent bombing raid. The others are still standing but have suffered varying amounts of blast damage.

The house on the far left of the picture was demolished after the war, unfortunately, by the city council, to make way for a misguided and quite unnecessary extension of the Remigiusstrasse.

Source: Stadtarchiv Viersen.

Heierstrasse, Viersen, circa 1900. Haus Riquier (demolished 1913), with the northside of the Heierstrasse behind.

Heierstrasse, Viersen, circa 1900. Haus Riquier (demolished 1913), with the northside of the Heierstrasse behind., originally uploaded by viersener1.

Taken from the south in about 1900. Haus Riquier was demolished on 29th October 1913, according to a note on the back of the photograph in the Stadtarchiv Viersen, although another note says it was taken down after WW I.

Most of the lads playing in the muddy street are wearing wooden shoes. The houses behind in the middle distance are for the most part still extant. The house seen to the right of Haus Riquier is now number 41 Heierstrasse. The house to the left was demolished after WW II to make way for a southerly extension of the Remigiusstrasse.

Source: Stadtarchiv Viersen.

Heierstrasse, Viersen - row of Victorian houses (1)

Heierstrasse, Viersen - row of Victorian houses (1), originally uploaded by viersener1.

The Heierstrasse is one of Viersen's most ancient streets, going back at least to Roman times. It led from the Roman villa - a "villa rustica" few hundred metres up the hill to the west - down to the meadows below, running alongside a stream which is now underground.

There were numerous Roman villas in what is now Viersen city, and they comprised the basis of a Carolingian Imperial estate. According to an ancient tradition, the Empress Helena (mother of Emperor Constantine) donated her estate here to St Gereon's in Cologne in the middle of the third century. Whether or not this donation is historically accurate, it is certainly probable that Viersen formed an Imperial estate in Carolingian times (see K. Mackes' publications for more detail on this).

In the early 15th century, a convent, St Paul's, was founded on two farming estates which lay on the south side of the Heierstrasse.

The row of Victorian houses pictured here was built on the site adjoining an estate first recorded in the thirteenth century (tho Ryth Hof). This, in turn, compirsed part of the "Kirchland" - land transferred from the castle holdings to the church and the convent probably during the 12th century. The castle holdings, in turn, derived from the imperial estate of Carolingian times. Imperial estates of Franksih times often derived from Roman villas.

Viersen - Art Nouveau house - Remigiusstrasse

Viersen - Art Nouveau house - Remigiusstrasse, originally uploaded by viersener1.

Viersen - Art Nouveau house - Löhweg

Viersen - Art Nouveau house - Löhweg, originally uploaded by viersener1.

Viersen - City Cemetery

Viersen - City Cemetery, originally uploaded by viersener1.

Viersen - City Cemetery

Viersen - City Cemetery, originally uploaded by viersener1.

Viersen - City Cemetery - Schroeteler Monument

Viersen - City Cemetery - Schroeteler Monument, originally uploaded by viersener1.

This monument commemorates Franz Josef Schroeteler, who was "Ober-Pfarrer und Schul-Inspektor in Viersen" and who published a history of Viersen in 1861 ("Die Herrlichkeit und Stadt Viersen").

Viersen - City Cemetery

Viersen - City Cemetery, originally uploaded by viersener1.

Interdenominational cemetery founded in the mid 19th century. In addition to Jewish, Protestant and Roman Catholic graves there are extensive monuments to fallen soldiers of the first and second world wars.

Remigiusstrasse Viersen - art nouveau/art deco house

Remigiusstrasse Viersen - art nouveau/art deco house, originally uploaded by viersener1.

Typical Art Nouveau floral/arboreal decorative pattern on this facade in the Remigiusstrasse in central Viersen.

Portiunkulaweg Viersen

Portiunkulaweg Viersen, originally uploaded by viersener1.

The Portiunkulaweg is a medieval road which leads from St Remigius Church to St Paul's Convent in Rintgen, Viersen. Today this road has been largely superseded by the Remigiusstrasse and others constructed in the 19th century.

Viersen - "Fußfall" on Portiunkulaweg (2)

Viersen - "Fußfall" on Portiunkulaweg (2), originally uploaded by viersener1.

A second of the (originally seven) 18th century "Fussfallen" in Viersen.

Viersen - "Fußfall" on Portiunkulaweg (1)

Viersen - "Fußfall" on Portiunkulaweg (1), originally uploaded by viersener1.

18th century "Fussfall" (station where one stops to pray along a specified route, as in the Seven Stations of the Cross) along the medieval Portiunkulaweg which led from St Remigius parish church to St Paul's Convent in Rintgen, Viersen.

The practice of stopping at each of the seven "Fussfallen" - especially when family members were ill or dying - was widespread in the Rhineland and is still to an extent practised today.

Remigiusstrasse Viersen - sunburst though rainclouds

Remigiusstrasse Viersen - sunburst though rainclouds, originally uploaded by viersener1.

The Remigiusstrasse was constructed as part of an urban expansion scheme of the mid-nineteenth century, when vigorous growth in the Viersen textile industry saw the city burst out of its medieval and agrarian bounds. As such, the Remigiusstrasse isn't one of Viersen's oldest roads. It runs parallel to the Portiunkulaweg, which is a medieval (or even older) road, and fetches up, at its southern end, at the Festhalleplatz and the Heimbachstrasse, which are also products of the Victorian age. Just beyond lies the Heierstrasse, which is another of Viersen's oldest roads, with roots going back probably to Roman times.

Viersen - Am Klosterweiher - Victorian house

Viersen - Am Klosterweiher - Victorian house, originally uploaded by viersener1.

This handsome house has been divided into apartments and is situated on a pleasant square, on the site of the old St Paul's Convent, at the end of the Heierstrasse in central Viersen.

Remigiusstrasse Viersen - Victorian house (2)

Remigiusstrasse Viersen - Victorian house (2), originally uploaded by viersener1.

Splendid ornate external mouldings/decorations on the facade add flamboyance to this solid Victorian house in the centre of Viersen.

Remigiusstrasse Viersen - Victorian house (1)

Remigiusstrasse Viersen - Victorian house (1), originally uploaded by viersener1.

The top two stories of the facade of this Victorian house still has visible external damage from WW II bombing. A large proportion of Viersen's buildings was damaged or destroyed during the war - many have been sympathetically restored, many were replaced with modern structures. A few, like this one, remained essentially untouched. Only the facade on the ground floor has been minimally retouched.