1888 Barcelona Universal Exposition

Official opening poster Exposició Universal de Barcelona 1888

The ExposiciÃ Internacional de Barcelona of 1888 was a World's Fair, and took place between April 8 and 9 December 1888 in the Spanish city of Barcelona. 12,900 exhibitors participated in the exhibition, of which, 66 percent were from Spain. She received a total of 2 million visitors from around the world.

The official opening took place only on 20 May by the then two -year-old King Alfonso XIII. , Represented by his mother, María Cristina as regent of Spain.

Prehistory

In 1888, Barcelona had 530,000 inhabitants and was politically the second most important city in Spain; economically and industrially the most important. Spain lived through the Bourbon restoration, and it ruled Práxedes Mateo Sagasta under the regency of Maria Cristina, the late King Alfonso XII of 1885 widow. and mother of Alfonso XIII.

The implementation of the 1888 World's Fair reflected the good relationship between the restored after the September Revolution of 1868 the monarchy and the Catalan industrial bourgeoisie. It had support in anticipation of social peace and economic development, the return of the monarchy.

World Fairs had since the Great Exhibition in London in 1851 achieved great significance. They were considered the most important political, economic and social events in the world. Each country was able to show its technical progress and present his economic and industrial potential. A World's Fair was an opportunity for the economic development of the host city and gave a great international reputation.

The initiative for a World Exposition in Barcelona took the entrepreneur Eugenio Serrano. He proved to be unable to cope with this major event. Therefore, in April 1887 took the Mayor of Barcelona, Francesc Rius i Taulet the management of the project and surrounded himself with a group of other entrepreneurs in the city. With the mayor, they formed the "Committee of Eight". Among them was responsible for the construction management architect Elies Rogent. He has been a teacher of Lluís Domènech i Montaner and Antoni Gaudí.

Exhibition Grounds

The gateway to the 380 -acre showground formed the Arc de Triomf the architect Josep Vilaseca i Casanovas. The area stretched from the Parc de la Ciutadella, the modern Barcelona Zoo, a part of today's railway station Estacio de França to La Barceloneta, on the spot where now stands the Hospital del Mar Hospital.

In about a quarter of the area, the exhibition building, which had been designed by the most renowned architects of the time were. The most important building was the Palau de la Indústria with 70,000 square meters. It also has three buildings from the military era of the citadel were further used, which are still preserved: the Palau del Governador, the Arsenal and the chapel. The Arsenal is today after modifications in the years 1889, 1900 and 1932, the seat of the Parliament of Catalonia ( Parliament of Catalonia ).

As a result of the change in the project management time had become scarce to design the World's Fair, and the entire organization had to prove their performance. However, the lack of time was also the reason why some buildings were designed only for temporary use. It only the Arc de Triomf stand, the former Cafe- Restaurant of the exhibition Castell dels Tres Dragons (, Castle of Three Dragons ') by Lluis Domenech i Montaner, which today houses the Zoological Museum of the City, the greenhouse L' Umbracle, and the so-called Galeria de les Màquines (, machine shop '), now used as an operating room of the zoo.

Improvements in Barcelona

Although the focus of the World's Fair was within the fairgrounds, they also led to general improvements in all of Barcelona. She was an incentive to complete work that has been partially started many years ago and had remained unfinished. She also offered the opportunity to create new infrastructure and services that not only improved the lives of citizens, but the city was also a modern phenomenon.

Some of the implemented measures for the Exhibition in 1888 were:

The Parc de la Ciutadella was developed. After the Expo, he became the city's largest park.
The development of lake frontage has been completed. Between the Parc de la Ciutadella and the Rambla, the new street Passeig de Colom (, Columbus Promenade ' ) was applied.
On a dry-laid docks on Passeig de Colom, Gran Hotel Internacional was built for 2,000 guests. The building, designed by Lluis Domenech i Montaner four storey luxury hotel had a floor area of 5000 square meters and was built in a record time of 53 days. It was torn down after the exhibit.
It was the Palau de Belles Arts (, Palace of Fine Arts ') built, which today houses the Municipal Court has its seat. In this building, the official opening of the World Expo was held in presence of the royal family. The palace should present art exhibitions, concerts and cultural events. This feature filled the Palau de Belles Arts until 1942.
At the intersection of Passeig de Colom and the Rambla, the Columbus column was erected. It was inaugurated on June 1, 1888 during the World's Fair.
The neighboring residential district of La Ribera has been developed.
The market hall Mercat del Born, built in 1884-1886, were opened.
The still popular for harbor tours tourist boats Las Golondrinas were introduced.
In addition to the exhibition grounds, the first streets of Barcelona were electrically illuminated with the Ramblas, Passeig de Colom and the Plaça de Sant Jaume.

The Zoological Museum in the Castell dels Tres Dragons'

The fountain in Parc de la Ciutadella

Gran Hotel Internacional

Antoni Gaudí designed the pavilion for the shipping company Compañía Trasatlántica

Inauguration of the Columbus column on June 1, 1888

Resonance

Despite a deficit of six million pesetas, the World's Fair was considered a great success, both in terms of number of visitors, as well as the overall economic benefits for the city. In addition, the exhibition helped to develop large areas of the city. In a time of economic depression planned, they revived the construction industry, and the large number of visitors led to increased revenue in all major economic sectors of the city.

Economically, the exhibition of 1888 is regarded as the first major step of the Catalan economy towards Europeanization. In 1886, two years before the event was the Cambra Oficial de Comerç, founded Indústria i Navegació de Barcelona ( " Official Commerce, Industry and Navigation of Barcelona Chamber "). Their goal was to protect the interests of the Catalan companies and, especially with the European countries to promote economic exchange. At this time, the trade was limited largely to the Spanish market.

Despite all the criticism of the proletariat and the Republican and katalanistischen guide the organization, implementation and success of the World Expo confirmed the good relations between the Catalan bourgeoisie and the monarchy in Madrid.

The 1888 World's Fair, the first major event of its kind in Barcelona, went down in the history of the city as a development model. This example was an impetus for other major international events in Barcelona such as ExposiciÃ Internacional de Barcelona in 1929, the Summer Olympic Games in 1992 and the Forum of Cultures in 2004.

Social and political criticism of the exhibition

Although the exhibition expired regulated and was considered a success, it was not without criticism:

For the extensive work on the exhibition grounds and many other parts of the city thousands of additional construction workers had been brought to Barcelona in advance of the world exposition. They worked tirelessly during this time and sometimes under difficult conditions. They were aware that they would have to join forces to defend their interests and improve their working conditions. Significantly, founded in August 1888 during the World Exhibition in Barcelona, the UGT and shortly after the first Congress of its history led the Socialist Party PSOE by Barcelona. The exhibition caused an inflation of prices in Barcelona, which led to discontent among the citizens and to criticism in the press. Intellectuals and Republican politicians and katalanistische demonstrated publicly against the issue. For them, the pact between the Catalan bourgeoisie and the centralist monarchy was detrimental to the interests of Catalonia.

Other exhibitions of 1888

In the same year another major international exhibitions have been held, however, did not bear the name " World's Fair ". These were the Melbourne Centennial Exhibition in Melbourne, the International Exhibition of Science, Art and Industry in Glasgow and the Exposição Industrial Portuguesa in Lisbon.

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