Sternstrasse (Bonn)
The Star Road is one of the main shopping streets in Bonn city center. It is part of the pedestrian zone and leads from the market to Friedensplatz . Originally the street was called Pisternenstraße ( lat. "Pistrina" - bakery). The initial syllable was lost over time and this is how the name Sternstrasse came about.
At the end of Sternstrasse, shortly before Friedensplatz, Kasernenstrasse on the right and Vivatsgasse on the left mark the course of the second city wall from the 13th century , which marked the border of the city until the 19th century. This is where the Sterntor , built around 1244 as part of the city fortifications, was located , which was the last medieval city gate to be demolished in 1898.
The narrow medieval property boundaries and the small-scale development can still be seen on the buildings on Sternstrasse. Name tags with medieval names are attached to many buildings. The house numbers that are common today were only introduced by the French who occupied Bonn from 1794 to 1814.
Coordinates: 50 ° 44 ′ 8.5 " N , 7 ° 5 ′ 56.6" E
Little can be said about the original development and parceling of the land (on Sternstrasse), as the first views of the city, which allow conclusions to be drawn about the development, date from the end of the 16th century. From this it can be concluded that the buildings at that time consisted of narrow one to two-storey buildings with gable ends. While the houses on the southern row had at most a small courtyard, the properties on the northern side of the street with large garden areas extend to today's Friedrichstrasse. If the descriptions are to be believed, the rising buildings were destroyed in the turmoil of the wars of succession during the second siege in 1689. In the course of the reconstruction, which was carried out while maintaining the structure of the parcel, those narrow, gable-side buildings were created that are still characteristic of Sternstrasse today.
As a rule, the first floor zone of these houses was changed in the first half of the 19th century. Instead of a perforated facade with windows and an entrance door, the buildings were given a ground floor front in late Classicist style with symmetrically arranged large shop windows and a designed entrance. As part of this redesign, some of the buildings were also raised and / or given a rectangular glazed gable.
Another phase of redesign took place towards the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. The ground floor facade was changed again while retaining the building fabric. The facades were given a stucco decor that corresponded to the historical taste of the time.
In contrast to the larger squares (e.g. Markt, Remigiusplatz and Martinsplatz) in the city center, only a few buildings from the 18th century were demolished and completely rebuilt while retaining the old parcels. These buildings set a new urban development accent both in terms of design and height, which today has a decisive influence on the street. As evidence of the architectural and artistic development, which is based, among other things, on the change in economic conditions, this is important for the history of the people and for the history of the city of Bonn.
