14 Hanna Grzeszczuk-Brendel
aspects of dealing with green-blue infrastructure, also in
the historical context, was discussed in Standardy utrzy-
mania terenów zieleni w miastach [Maintenance standards
of green spaces in cities] [7]. The aforementioned publica-
tions also provide an extensive bibliography on the subject.
Methods
The discussed examples, taken from in situ and archival
research as well as from the subject literature, concern var-
ious types of green spaces in Poznań from the turn of the
20
th
century and are based on the reforms of that time
2
. They
focused on improving the existing urban environment by
developing new relationships between green spaces and ar-
chitecture, creating an integral aesthetic, semantic and func-
tional whole. The growing importance of urban greenery is
a byproduct of social changes in the 19
th
century, mainly the
improvement of urban hygiene and the democratization of
society, which included broadened access to greenery.
Reform ideas were introduced in urban expansion proj-
ects of the city, but the most interesting of those ideas con-
cerned greenery in the immediate surroundings of the build-
ings, which in turn inuenced the building oor plans
3
.
Introducing new forms of urban green spaces
Reform activities were prompted mainly by the patho-
logies prevalent in 19
th
-century metropolises, which, as
a result of rapid urbanization, began to experience the
ne gative eects of excessive population growth and high
density housing, which, in turn, led to cyclical epidem-
ics and social unrest. Around the mid-19
th
century, when
modern water supply networks and sewage systems were
introduced, special attention was paid to green infrastruc-
ture and its role in improving living conditions in the me-
tropolis. For example, in Paris, large-scale work was un-
dertaken to reduce high-density housing and shape green
spaces in the city. The main idea behind Haussmann’s plan
from 1852 was to introduce broad boulevards lined with
rows of trees. They ensured ecient communication
4
, im-
proved ventilation, puried the air and beautied the city.
There was a signicant change in thinking about the role of
greenery – aesthetics was supplemented with a primarily
hygienic function, and consequently green areas became
increasingly important, as they regulated the urban eco-
system and improved the broadly understood well-being
of residents.
Changes in the character of urban greenery also reect
the democratization of 19
th
-century society. Until the 17
th
century, only the privileged upper classes were granted ac-
2
During the interwar period, reform ideas were continued in Poznań
by the wedge-ring system of greenery, which was used by Władysław
Czarnecki to tie together the topography of the terrain with the historical
ring system [5], [8], [9].
3
This is why proposals calling for a departure from the idea of
a metropolis, such as Ebenezer Howard’s garden cities, were never in-
cluded. See: [10].
4
This facilitated the movement of the army and the police in quell-
ing riots.
cess to greenery in cities: the gardens of aristocratic fam-
ilies were a symbol of prestige, an open-air living room
next to the palace. Although the rst public parks appeared
at the end of the 17
th
century, it was not until the turn of
the 19
th
century that they appeared in larger numbers, also
as a result of opening up private gardens to the public (see:
[11]–[13]). The democratization of “green luxury” is evi-
denced not only in the establishment of parks, such as the
Bois de Boulogne and the even more proletarian Bois de
Vincennes in Paris, but also in raising the prestige of grand
avenues, such as the Champs-Élysées
5
in Paris, Unter den
Linden in Berlin, and Wilhelmstrasse (currently Marcin-
kowskiego St.) in Poznań.
Integration of greenery and architecture:
reform activities in Poznań
at the turn of the 20
th
century
Home to a highly vocal community striving to improve
living conditions in the city, Poznań at the turn of the 20
th
century was considered an example of multilateral think-
ing about how green areas should be treated as an inte-
gral component of urban and housing reforms. New and
unconventional solutions were put forth to improve urban
hygiene, shape social interactions, and enrich the symbolic
meanings of urban space.
Surrounded by a ring of fortications
6
, 19
th
-century Poz -
nań was marked by high density of buildings and a paucity
of
green areas. Private gardens were disappearing, and de-
spite many eorts, due to lack of space and the high cost of
land, no public park, an integral element of the 19
th
-cen-
tury European city, was created in Poznań [17, p. 417]. As
a result, the only major green area in the city was to be
found on Wilhelmstrasse (currently Marcinkowskiego Ave-
nue), which runs alongside Wilhelmplatz (currently Wol-
ności Square). These were the most magnicent elements
of David Gilly’s plan to expand Poznań after the incorpora-
tion of Greater Poland into the Prussian partition
7
.
Broad avenues, streets and squares densely lined with
trees [18, p. 9] gave the new site, which was intended for
military marches and parades, a more civilian character of-
fering a place for strolls – the greenery softened Poznań’s
image as a Prussian garrison city (Fig. 1). Wilhelmplatz,
transformed in the 1870s into a square with a picturesque
composition of trees and bushes (see: [19]), took on the
role, along with Wilhelmstrasse, of the city’s living room.
This only free public space saw a specic accumulation of
functions: from strolls to state ceremonies related to, for
example, the unveiling of monuments asserting the pres-
ence of Prussia
8
(Fig. 2).
5
Cf. [14]. On the role of the Champs-Élysées and the use of green
spaces in 19
th
-century Paris see [15]. See also: [16].
6
Built in 1828–1869.
7
Research by Ostrowska-Kębłowska had attributed authourship of
this plan to David Gilly; this nding has been recently put in question by
Andreas Billert, who claims that the architect is Christian Friedrich Gün-
ther von Goeckingk and Otto Carl Friedrich baron von Voss [17], [18].
8
In 1870 a monument designed by Cäsar Stenzel was erected at
Wilhelmplatz, which commemorated the Battle of Nachod. In 1889
in Wilhelmstrasse a monument designed by Robert Baerwald of Wil-
