Wien, 1. Bezirk (the art of decorating shop windows of Vienna), Kärntner Straße
Kärntner Straße
This article describes the Kärntner Strasse in Vienna. On the same country road see Kärntner Straße (Austria).
Kärntnerstraße with Opera (left) and St. Stephen's Cathedral (by clicking at the end of the site on the link you can see the pictures)
The northern part of the Carinthian road
Kärntner Straße is next to ditch (Graben) one of the most famous streets in Vienna's city center. It starts at Karlsplatz or the Friedrichstrasse and bypasses the Vienna State Opera, continues straight to the center of Vienna, Stephansplatz. Where the pedestrian zone is continued in a westerly direction from the ditch. In northeastern direction it is connecting after the Stephansplatz with the Red Tower road (Rotenturmstraße) that leads down to the Danube Canal.
History
Just between 1878-1909 existent: The Kärntnerhof-Passage instead of the hotel Astoria today (No. 32)
The Carinthian road already existed at the time of the Romans in Vienna. In the Middle Ages it was in 1257 first documented as &quot;Strata Carinthianorum&quot; and linking the city center with the Carinthian Gate of the city wall (near the present opera), its extension was at that time an important connection to the port cities such as Venice and Trieste. There are to be found various spellings, in 1563: &quot;Cärnerstrass&quot;, 1566: &quot;Khärnerstrass&quot; about 1567 &quot;Khärnnerstrassen&quot;, &quot;Kahrnerstrass&quot;, 1587: &quot;Kärnerstras&quot;, 1749 &quot;Karnerstrasse&quot;.
About 1968, still without pedestrian zone
In the period of promoterism (Gründerzeit) and the later 19th Century it was widened and heavily remodeled. The Carinthian Court, a representative Passagenbau (passage building) erected in 1878 by the architect Otto Thienemann was, for example, 1909/10 torn down and replaced by the Hotel Astoria. In 1945 the Carinthian road was severely affected, which subsequently led to numerous renovations and new buildings. Also due to the here traditionally high economic activity, however, there are permanently transformations.
In 1974, the Carinthian road between Opera and Stephansplatz was by the architects Wilhelm Holzbauer and Wolfgang Windbrechtinger transformed to a pedestrian zone (opening 6th August 1974), which is bordered by numerous stores with raised price levels, such as, for example, Glashaus J. &amp; L. Lobmeyer which was founded in 1823 and several cafes. The Carinthian road forms together with the Ditch (Graben) and the Carbon market (Kohlmarkt), the so-called &quot;Golden U&quot; on traditional downtown shopping streets disposing of a superior offer and designed as pedestrian zones. Below the road is the metro line U1 . Today the road is mainly frequented by tourists. 2009, the pedestrian zone was redesigned, which in the run-up of the activities led to controversy - especially over the originally planned, modern lighting fixtures.
A new focus was added in 2011 with a major department store, the flagship store (Weltstadthaus).
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