Old Market (Cologne)

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Old Market (2013)

Alter Markt ( Kölsch Alder Maat ) is the name of a historic square in Cologne 's Altstadt-Nord district .

Old market and hay market

Originally, the Alter Markt and Heumarkt were a single marketplace under the name Alter Markt. Their separation took place through the incorporation of the Unterlan district. Below the Marstor (“porta Martis”, kölsch “Marsporz”; demolished by a council resolution in 1545) it was regularly called “Hühnermarkt” or “Unterlan”. A special form of the gaddem is the so-called “La”, a box-shaped container, which is also eponymous for the “Unterlan” district. Buttermarkt, Salzgasse, Unter Kasten, the northeast of the Heumarkt and the northwest part of Marsplatz belonged to the Unterlan district. The southern part of the old market was called “forum feni” (lat. Fenum = hay; hay market) from around 1250, but the name “vetus forum” (virne market; old market) was often referred to this southern part until around 1400.

history

The Alter Markt is Cologne's most traditional square. Compared to Neumarkt it is called Alter Markt because it was mentioned about 150 years earlier.

Roman times

Arnold Mercator - Town Hall Square and Old Market (1570)

In the area of ​​the Alter Markt and Heumarkt , the floor of an arm of the Rhine was about 13 meters below the current surface of the square during Roman times , so that the area to the east was on an approximately 1000 meter long Rhine island. A find during the construction of the north-south light rail in December 2007 brought a transport ship ( Prahm ) from the Roman era between 50 and 100 AD from a depth of 12 meters . It transported stones that were needed to build the city. During the Roman era, the Roman port was roughly at the height of today's town hall. At the corner of Mühlengasse and Alter Markt, two large Roman basalt weights were found that were used to weigh the shipments. The larger of the two weights weighed 40.93 kg and was the equivalent of 125 Roman pounds, or 1½ Attic talents . By widening the arm of the Rhine to the east, the Romans succeeded in securing the stretch of water sufficiently as a port and in using a water surface of around 60,000 m² as a landing stage for 200 ships. The expanded port extended roughly from today's Holzmarkt to Breslauer Platz, where the arm of the Rhine reunited with the main river. The east wall of the Roman city wall ran west of Heumarkt and Alter Markt at the foot of the hill, which can still be seen today, on which the Praetorium was located and which is now the town hall . During Roman times, the old market was outside the Rhine wall, because at the end of the 1st century AD the city wall, a mighty structure up to three meters thick and eight meters high, was built here. The city wall on the Rhine side delimited the arm of the Rhine towards the mainland. In the 3rd century a sandbank in the Rhine had spread to the city wall, so that the port was abandoned. The two squares were created after this arm of the Rhine silted up and the soil proved to be too flexible for building.

Middle Ages and early modern times

Johann Toussyn / Abraham Aubry: Cölnischer Alden Marckt (watercolor, 1648)
Old Market (around 1900)

The old market is documented for the first time since 922 as “mercatus coloniae” (Cologne market). Around 950, Cologne was expanded to include the Rhine suburb on the area of ​​the former Rhine arm island. From 988 it is registered as a "forum" (market), only in 1076 does the Neumarkt appear in a document. Until the late Middle Ages, the Alter Markt can be identified as a preferred residential area of ​​the urban ruling class, also because of its location as the topographical center of the city.

Buildings

Archbishop Pilgrim of Cologne built the archbishop's mint south of the Unterlan district in the middle of the Alter Markt after 1024 (between Heumarkt and Alter Markt; Unter Käster, in the Middle Ages "Under Leydersnederen"). In its portico hung a bell symbolizing the original mark weight; this original Cologne mark has disappeared since the French era. Since Pilgrim there has been the archbishop's right to mint coins in Cologne, because the coin shelf begins around 1027 as a further episcopal authority. The “Kölner Pfennig” minted here developed into one of the leading currencies of the empire. The St. Brigida Hospital was built next to Mühlengasse in 1142 and changed name several times, sometimes it was also called "St. Martin Hospital". A bread hall had stood on the Alter Markt since 1197 and was used to sell baked goods until 1230. The city acquired the two-story property in 1289, had it demolished and sold the parceled land. The houses built there were destroyed by a city fire in 1503.

Old market - east side
Alter Markt 20 - Brauhaus Gaffel
Alter Markt 36–42 - residential and commercial buildings
Old market - stone pump

The oldest house on the "Aldenmarte" was built in 1213 in (today's) no. 20-22. Since apples were traded in front of the house at that time, it was called "zur Britzele am Apfelmarkt" (or "zur Bretzel") because house numbers did not yet exist. The house "zur Brezel" initially functioned as a baker's guild house. Today's double house (with the house "zum Dorn") built by the master stonemason Benedikt von Schwelm in 1580 in the late Renaissance style has two volute gables and is the only original structure on the square. Around 1230 the house "zur Ehrenpforte" was built in No. 46-48, the area had been in the possession of Theoderich (Dietrich) de Erenporcen since 1197. In 1248 it passed to Gottfried de Erenporcen, was divided in 1297 and in 1333, as a semi-detached house, came into the possession of the Groß St. Martin Abbey . The three-storey semi-detached house with stepped gables and arched windows is no longer preserved, because its southern part was demolished in 1841 and the rest was destroyed in the Second World War on June 29, 1943. One of the most handsome houses was the house "zum Granen" (No. 64), built around 1360, with a stepped gable and a front with a pointed arch and figural decorations. It had belonged to Franco Birklin vom Horne from Cologne since 1245 and was owned by Bruno Scherfgin around 1360 (destroyed on June 29, 1943). His "Haus Scherfgin" (No. 50–52) is mentioned in the shrine books for the first time in 1363, but his ancestor Henrich Scherfgin is mentioned as the owner as early as 1220. In no. 29–31 in the shrine books the house "zum Blasbalg" appears for the first time in 1269 with a Renaissance facade and pillar structure, which has a rear building facing the Rathausplatz, separated by a wall from the front building on Alter Markt in 1305 and acquired by the city in 1407; the town hall tower was built in its place shortly afterwards. The "Haus Birklin" or "zum Horn" (No. 35) with a three-part gable was the ancestral home of the patrician family Birklin / vom Horn, which was used for gatherings of merchants. The "Haus Hirtz" had stood in No. 19-21 since 1301, a semi-detached house belonging to another Cologne patrician family who used this house as a linen and yarn store. In 1355 the city council bought the "Haus Hirtz" in order to set up a department store for luxury and consumer goods. A court office was set up in this building, which was called the court in the halls . The court intervened as soon as "eynigh gast of coufman, de beclagede van eyncher scholt of friche in the coufhuyse ..." a judicial decision was required. Under the otherwise usual step gables there were also houses with crenellated wreaths around the steep roofs, as in the “red house” (“rode house”) in no. 48. It arose from the division of the house “zur Ehrenpforte” (46-48 ) in 1297. Because of the high land prices, very narrow, multi-storey houses were built, especially in the Rhine and market districts.

A trough installed in 1374 indicates that there was also a cattle market on the Alter Markt. On February 5, 1498, the Koelhoffsche Chronik reported , as "Blinden sloigen ein verken up dem Aldemarkt" (How blind people killed a piglet in the old market). The dressmakers sold their goods in the “Foreign Hall” on the Alter Markt. At the Heumarkt and Alter Markt, the people of Cologne supplied themselves with what they did not produce themselves. In economic terms, the Neumarkt is not nearly as important as Heumarkt or Alter Markt. To the north of the “zum Hirtz” house were three houses that were owned by the city for a while and rented out by the city. Since 1409 this has included the houses "zum Regenbogen", "zur Duven" and "zum Kreuz". In the Cologne cityscape from 1570 , Arnold Mercator called the old market “Alde Marckt”, and he visualized the hay market as “Hewmarckt”.

The mayor's court at Kornmarkt dealt with disputes that arose from the purchase or sale of grains. It was located on the old market in front of the St. Brigida Hospital and from 1492 in front of the "Rainbow" house. After the scaffold at Melaten, the Alter Markt was the most sought-after venue for the public execution of court sentences. At least since 1284 there was an urban pillory on the square, when a certain Tile Kolup in Cologne posed as - the long deceased - Staufer Emperor Friedrich II , was pilloried for it and was crowned with dirty vegetables. The watercolor by Johann Toussyn from 1648 shows a pillory (a wooden post with a curved round roof) on the lively old market to the left of the guard house built in 1645 (with the imperial eagle on the roof) and the market bell and to the left of it the "Käx" (or " Kax ”), a kind of cage with barred openings, in which market violators were put on public display. On July 7, 1568, a certain Sophie von Daelen had to go to the “Käx” as a thief in the morning to “stand ashamed” there. The dilapidated "Käx", which had existed since 1424, was replaced in 1666 by a stone column that remained in use until it was demolished on April 7, 1798. The pillory was replaced on March 20, 1799 by a freedom tree. Another pillory stood at Am Hof, and a second Käx in the cathedral courtyard.

Tournament ground

On the old market ("antiquum forum") tournaments with horses took place, usually organized by the patricians. Such tournaments have been documented since 1179, when among others 9 princes, 50 counts and 28 barons took part. In 1241, the knight Gerhard Scherfgin is the "hero of tournaments and battles". It was considered exceptional if these tournaments did not take place on the Alter Markt. The City Council of Cologne banned the erection of stand scaffolding and the parking of wagons on the Alter Markt during the tournament. Spectators could rent windows in the houses during the tournament. In 1374 there is talk of a rent of 24 marks for a house. In March 1470, Junker von Reifferscheid and Heinrich von Bottenbruch organized a play-off game on the Alter Markt, in which the Cologne patrician Eberhard vom Hirtze stood out. The most famous tournament in honor of King Maximilian I and his father Friedrich III. took place in October 1486; the tournament ground was upholstered as usual with dung into which the young king fell. The city council recommended "to behave appropriately so that the order of the knighthood of the four countries is not broken".

Marketplace

Food was offered on boxes and tables, at stalls and booths. The fruit stalls and the apple market as well as cheese, spices and legumes were on the east side of the old market, nearby were the vegetable stalls with cabbage and beets from the foothills; in the north there were onions, salt and coal to buy. The stands for spices, drugs, seeds, haberdashery and leather goods, household appliances, clay, pewter and woodturned goods were numerous; the pharmacies were on the west side. The so-called Kotzbank offered everything that was left of the animals in slaughterhouses, namely hearts and kidneys, intestines, brains and bones.

19th century

  • Georg Balthasar Probst: Old Market (1748)

  • Old market: Gaddemen (around 1790)

  • Alter Markt 46–48: Jan von Werth Pharmacy by Thomas Brittain Vacher (watercolor around 1838)

  • Old market with town hall and town hall tower, in the background the still unfinished Cologne Cathedral (steel engraving around 1850)

  • Alter Markt 20–22: Haus zum Bretzel and zum Dorn (drawing dated August 4, 1860)

During the French occupation , from January 1, 1813, all streets in Cologne were only allowed to bear the French name of "Itinéraire de Cologne"; the old market was henceforth called “Le grand marché à Cologne” (the big market of Cologne). The guillotine installed by the French administration in October 1798 was actually in the cathedral courtyard ( Domplatte ), but it was moved to the Alter Markt for the robber Mathias Weber , known as "Fetzer" , who had committed over 180 burglaries and two murders; after his execution on February 19, 1803, the criminal court and the guillotine were moved to Aachen. On September 28, 1816, a Prussian edict ensured that the French street names were abolished, giving the Alter Markt its previous name. Over the centuries the square has often been enthusiastically measured against other famous squares, for example Sibylle Mertens-Schaaffhausen compared it with the Piazza Navona in Rome ; In 1802 the “Observer of the Rhine Department” called the old market “Cölnischer Markusplatz ”. For Cologne, however, he was Et jolde Böddemche ("the golden ground", "a gold mine").

The first Cologne Christmas market took place on December 5, 1820 as the "Nicolai Market" on the Alter Markt. He was quickly able to assert himself with the Cologne residents, who named him "de Hött" (the hut) after the stalls that were set up. But a council decision of February 19, 1885 banned the event because of the increasing volume. On November 16, 1822, a ship bridge went into operation between Alter Markt (near Holzmarkt) and Cologne-Deutz. The forerunner of the Deutz Bridge consisted of wooden planks, which lay on 42 boats. It had to be drawn in during floods or drift ice.

The Cologne Beautification Association donated 20,000 Mark the Jan von Werth - Well , the 1884 mayor on July 14 Hermann Becker inaugurated in the square. Architect Wilhelm Albermann started with the foundation in early April 1884, with the construction of the 5 ton fountain and its row of figures in June. According to legend, Jan von Werth was a farm boy from the Kümpchenshof. Because he was not good enough for the maid Griet and she therefore scorned him, he went to the Thirty Years' War , from which he returned to his hometown as a victorious cavalry general. Here Griet was sitting as a flower seller at the city gate and now had to regret not having married him. The figures on the north and south sides of the fountain symbolize the defensive strength and purity of the city, the Cologne farmer and the virgin. The legend of Jan and Griet is depicted on the sides and shows the sad Jan, who was spurned by Griet, and the greeting Griet on Jan's return. Unlike the buildings surrounding it, the memorial survived the war almost unscathed.

20th century

Entrance to “Heinzel's Winter Tale” 2018

Attempts to revive a Christmas market were not made until 1923 on the Neumarkt and 1930 on the neighboring Heumarkt. An initiative by the Mayor of Cologne Theo Burauen brought about regular Christmas markets again in December 1970 on Neumarkt and in November 1977 on Alter Markt; the latter goes over to the Christmas market on the Heumarkt today. The Christmas market on the Alter Markt / Heumarkt deals with the theme of the Heinzelmännchen ("home of the Heinzel"), who populate wooden stalls with many small figures, but also the air space above the market. In 2018 the Christmas market was called "Heinzels Wintermärchen".

Alter Markt 48 - Jan-von-Werth Pharmacy
Fountain with a monument to Jan von Werth

During the Second World War , two air raids in particular destroyed most of the historic gabled houses, namely the attacks of May 31, 1942 and June 29, 1943. The fronts of the houses "zum Bretzel" and "zum Dorn" (No. 20 and 22 ) were preserved, but some of their crowns fell off. The attack in May 1942 completely destroyed rows 28–42 and 50–52, the attack in June 1943 destroyed the "Roden-Haus" with the Jan van Werth pharmacy (No. 48). This house is steeped in history in the square. After the French era, it was sold to the pharmacist Chrysant Hamecher for 4,600 reichstaler in 1815, who owned it until 1862. Johann Peter Weyer rebuilt it in 1817, in 1871 PJ Loosen acquired the pharmacy, which he held until 1883; Between 1883 and 1888, pharmacist Gustav Becker ran the business here. In June 1951 the pharmacy was able to move into the restored building. The historically valuable "Jan von Werth-Apotheke" (founded in 1584) had to close in January 2012 due to insufficient profitability. Today the Jan von Werth Chocolaterie maintains its representative business premises in the house.

On July 8, 1950, the "1900 anniversary celebration" of the city of Cologne took place on the Alter Markt, which was still destroyed by the war, from which the dialect amateur theater group "Altermarktspielkreis" was recruited. The Alter Markt plays a central role in Cologne's carnival because it is here on November 11th at 11.11 a.m. every year since 1953 the new carnival season opens with live concerts and the street carnival on Weiberfastnacht . The Cologne street carnival begins every year on Weiberfastnacht with the history game "Jan and Griet". This move has started every year since 1954 at Severinstorburg on Chlodwigplatz . The funnies move from there through Severinstrasse to the Jan von Werth monument on the Alter Markt, where the train ends. There is dancing at the fountain in honor of Jan and Griet. The inclusion of the old market in the carnival had already existed since 1832. The vegetable women presented the custom of “Mötzebestot” on Weiberfastnacht by tearing their hats off themselves or the men with this reputation and tossing it to each other. The old market finally emerged as the beginning and end of the carnival parade. “Gradually, a kind of solid circular route developed, from the Alter Markt via the Heumarkt, Malzbüchel and Malzmühle, Mühlenbach, Hohe Pforte and Hohe Strasse, and from the intersection of Hohe Strasse and Brückenstrasse / Obenmarspforten and Marsplatz called 'An den Vier Winden' led back to the old market ”.

Today's appearance

Callendresser sculpture at house number 24

The “zum Bretzel” house, which was considered to be in danger of collapsing until 1911, leased the Gaffel private brewery in 1987 , which carried out extensive redesigns until September 1995 in what has since been known as the Gaffel House . The building, which was destroyed in the war, was rebuilt in 1955. The “Red House” (31–33) belonging to the city was demolished in December 2005 due to the construction of the subway, and the building site was sold in March 2013. The "Red House" is to be rebuilt by 2021. The square underwent frequent renovation works, the last time until April 2012. The Rathaus underground station was put into operation in December 2012. Today, numerous catering establishments use the large open space of the Alter Markt for outdoor dining , while the strolling function of the square has faded into the background.

The west side of the square is dominated by the old town hall , which contains elements of the neo-Renaissance and was completely destroyed in the Second World War. The house "zum Granen", which was considered to be one of the most beautiful Gothic houses in Germany, was demolished in 1853. Some historical details of the old square were redesigned by the Düsseldorf art professor Ewald Mataré , such as the bizarre sculpture of the Kallendresser (High German: someone who relieves himself in the gutter), about the origin of which there are several legends. One reported that there had been a dispute between two residents of a house on Alter Markt, one of whom was always blowing his tuba loudly and with the window open - whereupon the other, living in the apartment, one day no longer knew how to defend himself than to "purposefully" clog the neighbors' tuba with excrement from above. Another legend says that the politicians in the town hall, which is directly opposite, were given a crude understanding of their criticism. The new Kallendresser graced the house "zum Hanen" (No. 40) since May 1964. This sculpture was a flat relief, about 70 cm² in size; Today it is attached to the inconspicuous house No. 24 on the east side near the roof.

location

The 265 meter long Alter Markt is located in the north of Cologne's old town and, with an area of ​​5,460 m², is Cologne's largest old town square next to the Heumarkt. It begins in the south on Lintgasse and ends in the north on Mühlengasse. This section is closed to traffic. Only Brigittengässchen leads to the Alter Markt. It can be reached with the Cologne tram through the Rathaus underground station.

Linguistic and miscellaneous

The Alter Markt, just like the Hohe Strasse , is not inflected contrary to the common language . The street name is pronounced with an emphasis on "age".

A carnival song by Gerhard Jussenhoven and Jupp Schlösser , Die Hüsjer bunt om Aldermaat (1938; "The colorful houses on the old market"), aptly describes the medieval-looking scenery of this Cologne square that is still preserved today.

literature

  • Ingeborg Proenen: 400 years Jan-von-Werth-Apotheke Cologne. 1584-1984. 1984

Web links

Commons : Alter Markt (Cologne)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Friedrich Lintz: West German magazine for history and art. Volume 20, 1901, p. 26
  2. ^ Hermann Keussen : Topography of the City of Cologne in the Middle Ages. Volume I, 1910, p. 114
  3. ↑ Wilhelm Janssen, Margret Wensky: Central European Cities in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Times. 1999, p. 74
  4. ^ Römisch-Germanisches Museum (Hrsg.): Kölner Römer-Illustrierte. Volume 1 and 2, 1974, p. 33
  5. ^ Matthias Riedel: Cologne - a Roman economic center. 1982, p. 110
  6. ^ Walter Hävernick: The Cologne Pfennig in the 12th and 13th centuries. 1930, p. 58
  7. ^ Carl Dietmar, Gérald Chaix: Chronicle of Cologne. 1997, p. 57
  8. ^ Paul Fuchs (Ed.): Chronicle of the history of the city of Cologne. Volume 1, p. 154 f.
  9. ^ Anton Fahne von Roland: History of the Cologne, Jülischen and Bergischen families. 1848, p. 385
  10. ^ Paul Fuchs (Ed.): Chronicle of the history of the city of Cologne. Volume 1, p. 157
  11. ^ Hermann M. Wollschläger: Hanseatic City of Cologne: The history of a European trading metropolis. 1988, p. 68
  12. ↑ Hans Vogts: The Cologne house up to the beginning of the 19th century. 1914, p. 69
  13. ^ Carl Dietmar: The medieval Cologne. 2006, p. 67
  14. ↑ Wolfgang Herborn: The history of the Cologne Carnival from the beginnings to 1600. 2009, p. 53
  15. ↑ Yvonne Leiverkus: Cologne: pictures of a late medieval city. 2005, p. 111
  16. ↑ Yvonne Leiverkus: Cologne: pictures of a late medieval city. 2005, p. 115
  17. ↑ Irene Franken: Women in Cologne. 2008, p. 142
  18. ↑ Dieter Breuers: Colonia in the Middle Ages: About life in the city. 2011, p. 92
  19. ↑ Fried. Ev. von Mering, Ludwig Reischert: On the history of the city of Cologne on the Rhine. Volume 4, 1840, p. 262
  20. ^ Franz Bender: Illustrated history of the city of Cologne. 1912, p. 95
  21. ^ Franz Bender: Illustrated history of the city of Cologne. 1912, p. 95
  22. ↑ Cologne History Association (ed.): Yearbook, volumes 64-65. 1993, p. 43
  23. ↑ Wolfgang Herborn: The history of the Cologne Carnival from the beginnings to 1600. 2009, p. 28
  24. ^ Leonard Ennen: History of the city of Cologne. Volume 3, 1869, p. 931
  25. ^ Leonard Ennen: History of the city of Cologne. Volume 3, 1869, p. 932
  26. ^ Elisabeth Mick: Cologne in the Middle Ages. 1990, p. 95
  27. ^ Elisabeth Mick: Cologne in the Middle Ages. 1990, p. 93
  28. ^ Gerhard Curdes, Markus Ulrich: The development of the Cologne urban area. 1997, p. 352
  29. ↑ The Internet portal of the Deutsche Apotheker Zeitung from January 17, 2012, pharmacy closure in Cologne
  30. ^ Jürgen Wilhelm: The great Cologne Lexicon. 2005, p. 17
  31. ↑ "Mötz" is a hat, "bestot" means "bestaden", so "bring it under the hood"
  32. ^ Helene Klauser: Cologne carnival between uniform and way of life. 2007, p. 239
  33. ↑ Joseph Klersch: The Cologne Carnival from its beginnings to the present. 1961, p. 55
  34. ^ Matthias Hendorf: Approval granted. After 16 years: Red House on Alter Markt should be ready in 2021. Kölnische Rundschau, March 6, 2019, accessed on November 29, 2019 .
  35. ↑ Werner Schäfke : Dä Kallendresser vum Aldermaat. - In: Le Musée sentimental de Cologne. Draft for a lexicon of relics and relics from two millennia KÖLN INCOGNITO. Catalog for the exhibition at the Kölnischer Kunstverein March 18 - April 29, 1979. Cologne: Kölnischer Kunstverein 1979, p. 100.

Coordinates: 50 ° 56 '18.9 "  N , 6 ° 57' 36.1"  E