Kreuzbleiche
The name “Kreuzbleiche” (Cross Bleachery) reflects two key features of St.Gallen’s history: On the one hand, boths of linen were laid out around the city walls for bleaching. On the other, the city boundaries reached from Rosenberg to Freudenberg and from St.Fiden to the Kreuzbleiche and were marked with crosses.
History:
The oldest portrayal of St.Gallen from the 1540s shows the huge economic importance of the bleacheries and thus also of textile production for St.Gallen. In the foreground, it shows the area west of the historic centre, at the same height as St.Leaonhard (bordering on the Kreuzbleiche), where a large number of sheets are laid out for bleaching.
Architecture:
The 19th Century saw a flurry of construction. Commercial and residential buildings sprang up, as well as schools and churches, a city theatre, underground structures to cater to the new neighbourhoods etc. A further building drive provided the impetus for St.Gallen’s connection to the Swiss rail network in 1856. All this changed the city for good. The previous residential area – the historic centre and suburbs – eventually offered too little space, so that by the end of the 19th Century first the entire valley floor between Kreuzbleiche and St.Fiden, and then parts of the hillsides to the north and south of the city were built over.
Present-day use:
Thanks chiefly to its military use, the Kreuzbleiche survived the building boom and remained a large and undeveloped area, in the 1860s, the Brühl to the East of the city became too small for military exercises and the Kreuzbleiche took its place. As early as 1865there were plans for a barracks on the Kreuzbleiche. It was built in 1875/76 and in 1980 gave way to the motorway exit. Today, the Kreuzbleiche is a breathing space which offers sports clubs and all parts of society a green public space.
The oldest portrayal of St.Gallen from the 1540s shows the huge economic importance of the bleacheries and thus also of textile production for St.Gallen. In the foreground, it shows the area west of the historic centre, at the same height as St.Leaonhard (bordering on the Kreuzbleiche), where a large number of sheets are laid out for bleaching.
Architecture:
The 19th Century saw a flurry of construction. Commercial and residential buildings sprang up, as well as schools and churches, a city theatre, underground structures to cater to the new neighbourhoods etc. A further building drive provided the impetus for St.Gallen’s connection to the Swiss rail network in 1856. All this changed the city for good. The previous residential area – the historic centre and suburbs – eventually offered too little space, so that by the end of the 19th Century first the entire valley floor between Kreuzbleiche and St.Fiden, and then parts of the hillsides to the north and south of the city were built over.
Present-day use:
Thanks chiefly to its military use, the Kreuzbleiche survived the building boom and remained a large and undeveloped area, in the 1860s, the Brühl to the East of the city became too small for military exercises and the Kreuzbleiche took its place. As early as 1865there were plans for a barracks on the Kreuzbleiche. It was built in 1875/76 and in 1980 gave way to the motorway exit. Today, the Kreuzbleiche is a breathing space which offers sports clubs and all parts of society a green public space.