Kardinalschütt

The Kardinalschütt is a small rise on the eastern side of Kardinalplatz. It is worth walking along it and going up there… because, on the one hand, it offers a beautiful view over the city: you find yourself slightly elevated above Klagenfurt. But above all — and this is the point — you are walking on the remains of the old city walls’ foundations, built in the sixteenth century. And then, in 1809, when the French occupied Klagenfurt — peacefully, it should be said — those walls were blown up. The French did not want a fortress at their backs. What at the time seemed a small misfortune for the inhabitants turned out instead to be a great stroke of luck for the city. From that very moment, Klagenfurt was able to grow, to expand beyond the ring of walls. There was a real influx of people: affordable building land, directly connected to the city, without having to pass through the four city gates any longer — which no longer existed. They had become bottlenecks, so to speak. And with their disappearance, the city was set free. It opened up.