Ottensheim, back to the future!

Ottensheim, the oldest market town in the Mühlviertel region, was granted market rights in 1228. In 2028, Ottensheim will celebrate 800 years as a market town. On the Danube (Bavarian Forest/Black Sea) and a branch of the ‘Amber Road’ (Venice/Ore Mountains), a market and trading centre arose on the eastern side of a hill, in a rather inhospitable floodplain landscape.
The confirmation of market rights meant peace, a protected space for exchange/trade, communication, and the development of a diverse society and culture.

In WS 25|26, we will consider which spatial conditions may have been decisive for the emergence and further development of this market and this community. What spatial qualities, what plans and decisions led to the emergence of ‘market spaces’ and promote them? What does market/market town mean in terms of mobility in the broader sense? What significance does a market have beyond the exchange of goods? What forms of society are necessary to promote the development of market towns and such communities? What is the significance of supra-regional connections, the network of (trade) routes?

Based on this research, the second step will be to develop scenarios for the further development of the Ottensheim market over the next 8, 80, and 800 years. How must mobility be further developed or rethought, not only in terms of transport? What function and form will a ‘marketplace’ have in 8, 80, 800 years? How can and should living and working in municipalities of this size and geographical location develop? In which supra-regional network can municipalities find their place in the future and become a connecting hub?

After research and planning from a wide variety of perspectives in design programmes at the Landscape Department of the Vienna University of Technology Ottensheim since 2015, the market aspect, quasi the ‘DNA’ of the community, will now be examined and future scenarios designed in WS 25|26.