Cologne wholesale market

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cologne Wholesale Market - Front of the Wholesale Market Hall (September 2011)

The Cologne wholesale market is a wholesale market in Cologne-Raderberg , one of the largest in Germany.

History of origin

Its first forerunner came into being in 922 as "Kölner Markt" ( Latin "mercatus Coloniae" ) on today's Alter Markt . It enlarged in a southerly direction towards today's Heumarkt , where the long old market street can still be seen today. The medieval wholesale markets in Cologne sold food , wine and grain in particular .

Nearby on November 29, 1904, the new Cologne wholesale market was opened at Sassenhof (today: Hotel Maritim ), which initially had an area of ​​7500 m² and was used until July 12, 1940. His by architect Otto Mueller Jena designed with three naves with large glass windows served as a fruit and vegetable market and received a track connection to the railway and tram. The interior received supports made of steel girders, and the glazing below the arched roof domes created favorable lighting conditions. For the construction of the market hall, 70 houses in the Thurnmarkt had to give way. However, the unfavorable location of this wholesale market soon became apparent.

The new wholesale market

Judenbüchel - Tranchot card (1807/1808)
Wholesale Market Cologne - Market Management (April 2006)

The wholesale market at Sassenhof was the predecessor of today's Cologne wholesale market in Cologne-Raderberg, Marktstrasse 10, which leads to Bonner Strasse . Its construction was preceded by the amalgamation of several wholesale markets. In January 1936, the Reich Minister of Economics, Walther Funk, merged the Rhenish wholesale grain markets in Düsseldorf and Neuss to form the "Rhenish wholesale market for grain and animal feed in Cologne". During the Nazi era it did not bother that the planned market area was located on a former Jewish cemetery , the Judenbüchel . On the Tranchot map from 1807/1808 this cemetery was called “Tödten Iuden” ( kölsch : “zum dude Jüdd”).

On October 17, 1936, Lord Mayor Karl Georg Schmidt broke ground for the Cologne wholesale market hall on the site in Cologne-Raderberg at Bonntor, at that time the area covered 78,000 m². The official start of construction took place one day later. On May 21, 1939, the topping-out ceremony of the 132-meter-long parabolic vaulted building with a span of 57 meters and a crown height of 22 meters was celebrated. Arched cooling cellars are located under the entire hall. The move into the halls built by senior building officer Theodor Teichen (* October 3, 1896, † August 6, 1963) took place on November 1, 1940. There is a connection to the Cologne-Bonntor freight yard . Extensions led to a market area of ​​238,000 m² today, making the wholesale market hall one of the largest in Germany. In 1968 cold stores were built. The old vegetable auction hall, built in the Bauhaus style, is no longer part of the market hall complex and has been used for all kinds of events since 2007 .

The wholesale market hall has been protected as a monument since October 23, 1989 . The market statute of December 19, 1994 regulates the market organization and is intended to ensure the functionality of the market; it is monitored by a market office. The Cologne wholesale market gets its products from the surrounding production areas, from the Frankfurt area and at least 70% from abroad. At least 220 companies sell around 300,000 tons of goods a year to over 5000 customers.

Future construction planning

A resolution of the city ​​council of December 13, 2007 envisaged the relocation of the wholesale market by 2020 from Cologne-Raderberg to the Cologne-Marsdorf location (“Fresh Center Marsdorf”) in a 55-hectare planning area. To this end, it was decided in May 2015 to initiate changes to the zoning plan . According to the city administration, the move should be completed by December 31, 2019. After doubts about the traffic concept for the new location and examination of further areas within and outside the Cologne city limits, the original decision has been returned - but now (also due to other delays) with a clearly pushed back time axis. The store is currently (April 2018) only expected to move from 2023 onwards. The current market area is to be completely redeveloped as part of the "Parkstadt Süd" construction project.

Individual evidence

  1. Philipp von Zabern: Report of the Roman-Germanic Commission , Volumes 14-18, 1923, p. 149
  2. Alexander Kierdorf: Cologne - An Architecture Guide , 1999, p. 93
  3. Bernhard Mehrens: The market order of the Reichsnährstandes , 1938, p. 112
  4. ^ Kristin Becker: Public buildings of the 20th century in Cologne with the exception of school buildings , 1996, p. 151
  5. ^ Jürgen Wilhelm: The great Cologne Lexicon , 2008, p. 184 f.
  6. Parkstadt will be delayed , Kölnische Rundschau on April 24, 2018, accessed on April 26, 2018

Coordinates: 50 ° 54 ′ 42 "  N , 6 ° 57 ′ 32.8"  E