Laimgrube

What secrets lie buried beneath the lively streets of Laimgrube? This almost forgotten neighborhood whispers tales of Vienna’s past. Laimgrube, once a separate suburb, merged with Vienna in 1850. Today it straddles two districts: Mariahilf and Neubau. Laimgrube’s history stretches back to the 11th century. Its first documented mention appears in 1291. This makes it one of Vienna’s oldest suburbs. The heart of Laimgrube, known as the “Obere Laimgrube,” pulsed where Windmühlgasse and Mariahilfer Straße now intersect. The slopes down to the Wien River formed the “Untere Laimgrube,” also called “Im Saugraben” or “An der Wien.” Clay pits, or “Lamgrueben” in the Bavarian dialect, dotted the riverbanks. These pits, active since the 14th century, provided the clay for Vienna’s bricks and gave Laimgrube its name. The area also bustled with mills. Street names like Hofmühlgasse and Schleifmühlgasse still echo this history. Between the upper and lower sections, vineyards and orchards flourished. The wine from Laimgrube was prized, contributing to the area’s prosperity along with brickmaking. In the mid-14th century, Duke Albrecht II and his wife built a chapel here. It honored Saint Theobald and Saint Catherine. They also founded a hospital, later converted into a convent for the Poor Clares in 1354. Emperor Friedrich III transferred both the chapel and the convent to the Franciscan Order in 1451. By 1500, the area now known as Gumpendorfer Straße, once called Kothgasse, housed several brothels. While fortifications were built, they crumbled during the first Turkish siege of 1529. The convent, chapel, and most of the suburb lay in ruins. Reconstruction took decades. A windmill and several houses rose on the convent’s ruins in the 1560s. This marked the beginning of the small village of Windmühle. Another chapel and convent followed in the 17th century, only to be destroyed in the second Turkish siege of 1683. The convent was rebuilt again in the 1690s. The new church honored Saint Joseph, patron saint of Archduke and later Emperor Joseph I. The Carmelite monastery eventually dissolved in 1797. Laimgrube, once reaching only to Mariahilfer Straße, expanded deep into what is now Neubau in the 17th and 18th centuries. It even encompassed part of Spittelberg. Laimgrube’s spirit echoes in Vienna’s urban fabric, a reminder of a rich and layered past.