page_title: Graben, Vienna
section_title: Baroque Era
hierarchical_section_title: Graben, Vienna / History / Baroque Era
context_page_description: The Graben is one of the most famous streets in Vienna's first district, the city centre. It begins at Stock-im-Eisen-Platz next to the Palais Equitable and ends at the junction of Kohlmarkt and Tuchlauben. Another street in the first district is called Tiefer Graben. It is crossed by Wipplinger Straße by means of the Hohe Brücke, a bridge about ten metres above street level.
context_section_description: Although the form of the Graben remained more or less the same, its character began to change. It was marked above all by the construction of the Arkadenhof, a striking Renaissance building, which in 1873 was replaced by the present-day Grabenhof. The Graben became the site of various festivities, including public displays of homage to the ruling house. This prompted the residents to rebuild their houses and to deck out their facades. In 1701 the old Peterskirche was torn down, and the new structure was completed in 1708.
  In the course of the 18th century the use of the Graben as a market was suppressed. In 1753 the produce-sellers were removed, and in 1772 the Christmas market was relocated. The Graben became the most fashionable promenade, the chief arena for the self-display of the urban elite. This was not limited to the nobility, but included the entrepreneurial class as well, who were most visibly represented by the construction of the Trattnerhof by the printer Thomas von Trattner. Prostitutes were also in evidence — the famous Grabennymphen.
caption: View of the Graben before 1609 by Jacob Hoefnagel
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