Old Scales (Leipzig)
The Alte Waage is a partially reconstructed building based on a historical model on the north side of the Leipzig market square on the corner of Katharinenstrasse.
history
The building was built in 1555 under the direction of the builder and mayor Hieronymus Lotter (1497–1580) and the executive builder Paul Speck († 1557) in the Renaissance style as a council scale. Before, the so-called saffron scales stood at this place . Behind the four-step volute gable facing the market with a sundial in the upper part and a stair tower in front of it, the house had two upper and two floors above the basement and the ground floor.
The Ratswaage was the center of the Leipziger Messe , which at that time was operated as a goods fair with direct sales. All goods had to be weighed here, after which the duty was levied, which the city shared with the sovereign . The facilities and rooms required for this were located on the ground floor. The cellar housed the council bar and the first floor the gentleman's drink room. From 1558 to 1638 the escort who was responsible for the road safety in return for escort had his place here. From 1590, the building was also the seat of the Leipzig Council Post with the messenger room . From 1661 to 1712 the post office of Leipzig was housed here, which was then moved to the Leipzig office building at Thomaskirchhof .
In 1820 the weighing operations were relocated to the city center. In front of the Hallisches Tor in the north, a new weighing building and a customs office had been erected (both no longer preserved). That is why the building in the city center was given the name Alte Waage . It was now used as a commercial building. When the gable side was rebuilt, the stair tower was removed in 1861.
In 1917 the newly established Leipzig Trade Fair Office moved into the building and stayed there until 1943. In addition, the “ Mitteldeutsche Rundfunk AG - Society for Entertainment and Instruction (MIRAG)”, founded in 1924, temporarily took second place in some rooms of the Alte Waage on March 1, 1924 Broadcasters in Germany started broadcasting with the antenna on the New Johannishospital .
On December 4, 1943, an air raid completely destroyed the building. After the rubble had been cleared, the property remained undeveloped for a few years. Temporary buildings for the trade fair office and later for a travel agency made use of the central construction area. In 1963/1964 a new building was built based on a design by the Leipzig architect Wolfgang Müller (1932–1992). The entire structure including the facade on Katharinenstrasse is a modern new building. Only the south gable after the market was modeled on the historical Renaissance building, but as before without a stair tower.
From the beginning of 1965 the building was used by the GDR travel agency . In 1994 it was acquired by the Alte Leipziger insurance company , which has been using it as the headquarters of its regional headquarters since 1996. A fast food chain fast-food restaurant operates on the ground floor .
literature
- Horst Riedel: Stadtlexikon Leipzig from A to Z . PRO LEIPZIG, Leipzig 2005, ISBN 3-936508-03-8 , p. 14.
- Wolfgang Hocquél : Leipzig. Architecture from the Romanesque to the present. Passage-Verlag, Leipzig 2004, ISBN 3-932900-54-5 , p. 42.
Web links
- The old scales in the Leipzig Lexicon. Retrieved April 9, 2015 .
Individual evidence
- ^ Peter Schwarz: The millennial Leipzig. From the beginning to the end of the 18th century . 1st edition. tape 1 . Pro Leipzig, Leipzig 2014, ISBN 978-3-945027-04-2 , pp. 85 .
Coordinates: 51 ° 20 ′ 28.5 " N , 12 ° 22 ′ 29.8" E