Neckarhalde, Tübingen


The Neckarhalde is an road in Tübingen, Germany, on the southern slope below Hohentübingen Castle.

Location

The Neckarhalde is an east–west road parallel to the Neckar river and Tübingen's city wall, starting in the old town of Tübingen. The Wienergässle links the road with the market place, where the town hall is located. Starting at the "Lazy Corner" above the Tübinger Stift, an old Protestant seminary, the road heads west down to the river and ends by meeting the Biesinger and Hirschauer roads. Apart from the more distant Mühlstraße, it is the only road leaving the old town to the south. Approximately halfway through the length of the road, it crosses a pedestrian and bicycle tunnel, which continues to the Avenue Bridge.

History

For many years, the buildings in Neckarhalde did not have a sewage system. Building number 7, in particular, became known for its hard-to-clean privy. As described in the "Caterpillar hymn", it was necessary as the winegrowers carried the smelly solids up the mountain to use it as fertilizer on strawberries and grapevines. All Tübingen wine growers are colloquially called "Caterpillars", even if they do not live in Lower Tübingen, while the expression "Gôgen" usually describes inhabitants of the lower city.

Notable buildings

The following is a list of house numbers and the notable buildings or persons associated with them.
; 1
; 2
; 6
; 8
; 10
; 11
; 12
; 14
; 19
; 24
; 26a
; 27
; 30b
; 31
; 36
; 37
; 38

; 40
; 41
; 43
; 46
; 47


; 50
; 52
; 55
; 56
; 64
; 70

Junctions

The Neckarhalde branches at its upper, northeastern end, the so-called Faules Eck, into the Burgsteige, Wienergässle, Kronenstraße, Münzgasse and Klosterberg. The origin of this colloquial name is uncertain. It may come from the smell of damp wood due to the Neckar timber rafting that was transported up the Neckarhalde and for a time was temporarily stored or by the fact that there the woodworking timber traders there scolded the alleged lazy students who watched them and sometimes mocked them. Today, however, it is considered to be most likely that long ago the narrowness, especially for larger transports from the marketplace to the castle, made it less walkable and passable, so in this sense it was a "Bad corner".
At the lower, southwestern end, the Neckarhalde splits into the Biesinger and Hirschauer roads.
In the lower third branch off the avenue bridge, there is a pedestrian tunnel and footpath.

Tunnel

The Neckarhalde is next to the three tunnels through Schlossberg.

Tunnel of the Ammer Valley Railway

The tunnel of the Ammertalbahn is a single-track railway tunnel through the Schlossberg, which passes under the Neckarhalde. It is 288 m long and was opened on 1 May 1910. Like the entire Ammertalbahn line, the tunnel is not electrified, but it should be electrified by 2022.

Pedestrian tunnel

The pedestrian tunnel ends in the lower third of Neckarhalde. Since the mid-1970s it bypasses Alleenbrücke to the Haagtorplatz in the Schlossberg. Until the completion of Bundesstraße 28 in 1979, the tunnel was used for five years as single-lane motor vehicle traffic. Today it is for pedestrians, cyclists and the fire brigade only. Since 2007 mopeds and scooters are prohibited from using the tunnel.

B 296 tunnel

The B 296 tunnel passes under Neckarhalde. It is usually called the Schlossbergtunnel. It is a three-tube, 290-m long tunnel. Two outer two-lane tubes each serve the main road, and a smaller middle tube is dedicated for service and rescue.