Street names in Linz: A new manual illuminates its story

Street names in Linz: A new manual illuminates its story

linz. The Linz City Archives has published a comprehensive manual that deals with the 1210 street names of the city and its origins. Particular attention is paid to the fact that four streets were renamed last year after a historian commission classified its namesake as problematic.

The affected streets are the Porscheweg, Gföllnerstraße, Pfitznerstraße and Reslweg. The Linz municipal council had already decided in 2019 to subject all traffic areas of a critical review. It turned out that the personalities behind these streets were either radical anti-Semites, Nazi propagandists or active supporters of forced labor. Ferdinand Porsche is particularly mentioned because he used prisoners of war and concentration camp prisoners for forced labor.

comprehensive manual on Linz streets

in the manual, which was published together with a detailed report by the Commission, not only the current street names, but also an alphabetical directory of all places and historical roads in Linz. The publication contains maps and clear representations of streets that illustrate the development of the city.

Educational and women's city councilor Eva Schobesberger welcomes the initiative to increasingly honor women through street names. Historically, women were disadvantaged for a long time when naming streets, since they were largely excluded in public life. However, awareness of the achievements of women has grown in the course of the 20th century, which ultimately led to an increase in road racing after women. The city of Linz has therefore set itself the goal of increasingly using women's names for future names.

The manual entitled "Streets and squares in Linz. Name, development, history" is comprehensive and contains numerous illustrations. It is available for 29 euros in bookstores and via the email address archiv@mag.linz.at . This work not only illustrates the historical dimension of the street names, but also the endeavor of the city to promote cultural diversity through fairer names.