Csepely-Knorr Luca: Barren Places to Public Spaces. A History of Publick Park Design in Budapest 1867-1914 (Budapest, 2016)
Public Parks and Public Park design in the Second Half of the 19th Century
Maria-Theresien Park, Votivpark) were extremely important examples for the Hungarian capital. However, it has to be mentioned that the new green spaces along the Ringstrasse were intended more for ornamental purposes, and social and hygienic considerations, and modern functions such as sports-grounds did not play a crucial role in Vienna at the time.'39 As Péter Hanák stated, the Ring belonged to the baroque city centre and, according to the principles of the baroque, the Ring was created along the lines of the conservative promenade idea. It was part of the representative city centre, and separated it from the outskirts rather than linking them together.140 In Vienna the first municipal park was the Stadtpark, therefore its significance is more important. A nine hectare plot on the site of the former ‘Wasserglacis’, between the Ringstrasse and the river, was given to the city of Vienna by the Kaiser to create a freely-accessible public park for the people, at their own expense. In 1861 the city of Vienna called for competition entries to create a public park, but no winner was announced. The design was created by the landscape painter Joseph Selleny with alterations by the Head Gardener, Rudolf Siebeck.141 The park was officially opened in 1862.142 From a comparison of the two plans one can draw lessons about the changing style of public parks. In Selleny’s more complex layout, the widths of the paths shows the hierarchy between them: there were main promenades and narrower paths for seclusion. The character and arrangement of the plants and shrubbery mirrored the layouts of private gardens. In contrast, the ex-head gardener of Leipzig, Siebeck’s plan was a lot simple. The system of paths was less complex and more formal. The layout of the spaces next to the ‘Kursalon’, with its geometric flower beds and the arrangement of trees in a perpendicular system, shows the influence of German public parks. The main idea was to create a garden for recreation in the town centre, built in the context of a landscape garden, therefore a coffee house and a bandstand were built as well.143 The growing number of monuments made the Stadtpark the richest in terms of statues in Vienna by the end of the 19th century. During the establishment of the Stadtpark in 1861, the city decided to use the other bank of the River Wien as a public park too, and the Kinderpark was built there and opened in 1863, according to Siebeck’s plans. This is especially important from a socio-political point of view, as it is a very early example of a public park built especially for children. The main goal of the Stadtpark was to create a space for walking, while in the Kinderpark the creation of a space for free play was the primary intention. The layout, which was peculiar to Siebeck, was described by Loidl-Reisch as pear and bean-shaped lawn areas, and was a simplified version of the path system of the English landscape gardens. The central space, with diagonal chestnut tree-lines, is a characteristic feature, which became a much-copied element in the formal gardens of the beginning of the 20th century. Although visitors were not particularly keen on this park, the idea of creating a space dedicated to children foreshadowed the parks of the 20th century.144 By the end of the 19th century the theory of public park design had a strong heritage, and was exceptionally complex. This period coincided with the period of the Austro-Hungarian Compromise and the city unification in Hungary, when the design of public parks and open green spaces had got under way. The Stadtpark and the Kinderpark, Vienna / August Czullik, Wiener Gärten im Jahre 1890, Vienna, 1890 / Kew Gardens Library 43
