Petersstrasse

Last updated
Petersstrasse
Leipzig Petersstrasse.jpg
View of Petersstrasse in 2009
Length347 m (1,138 ft)
Widthbetween 11 m (36.1 ft) and 19 m (62.3 ft)
Location Leipzig-Mitte, Leipzig, Germany
Postal code04109
Nearest metro station Leipzig Markt station and Leipzig Wilhelm-Leuschner-Platz station of S-Bahn Mitteldeutschland
North end Markt
South endSchillerstrasse
Construction
Completioncreated before the city was founded in 1165, newly designed 2014

Petersstrasse is one of the oldest streets in Leipzig's district of Mitte (neighborhood Zentrum). For centuries it was a main and commercial street for the Leipzig trade fair with exhibition houses, inns and shops. In the second half of the 19th century, many of the old buildings on the street fell victim to the modernization of the city center. [1] Today it is a heavily frequented pedestrian zone in a prime location with shopping centers, department stores, shops, restaurants and cinemas. [2]

Contents

Location and history

Petersstraße is 347 m (1,138.5 ft) long and connects Leipzig's market square in a north–south direction with Wilhelm-Leuschner-Platz. At its southern end were until 1860 the Peterstor (gate St. Peter) and until 1886 the eponymous [3] Peterskirche (old church St. Peter). To the south, at the former gate St. Peter, it continues beyond the Inner City Ring Road as Peterssteinweg. It was part of the Via Imperii [4] and the central street of the surrounding Petersviertel (quarter St. Peter). [5]

There were numerous courtyards on Petersstrasse, some of which had passageways into the neighboring streets (on the western side of Petersstrasse to Thomaskirchhof [6] or Burgstrasse, on the eastern side of Petersstrasse to Neumarkt, which was called Neuer Neumarkt until 1839). [7]

Since the middle of the 19th century, the street has been characterized by a large number of trading houses and trade fair exhibition palaces. Petersstrasse was particularly busy during trade fairs in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Petersstrasse during the Leipzig Trade Fair in the 1890s Die Gartenlaube (1897) b 441.jpg
Petersstrasse during the Leipzig Trade Fair in the 1890s

The street space experienced a change in scale. Narrow alley structures made the delivery situation for the exhibition palaces too difficult. After the Second World War, Petersstrasse was initially widened in its northern part from 11 m (36.1 ft) to 19 m (62.3 ft). [8]

Today, the entire length of Petersstrasse is designated as a pedestrian zone and is primarily a shopping and business street. With the construction of the house used by Peek and Cloppenburg, the road widening at this point was reversed. In 2019 the Karstadt department store was closed. A new opening as a shopping, office and restaurant building is announced for the end of 2023. [9]

Small crossing streets are Sporergässchen, Preußergässchen, Peterskirchhof and Schlossgasse.

In 2007 and 2008, two tunnel tubes of the Leipzig City Tunnel of the railway were drilled under Petersstrasse. [10] The City Tunnel was opened in 2013 and opens up Petersstraße from the north through the Leipzig Markt station and from the south through the Leipzig Wilhelm-Leuschner-Platz station.

In 2017, the first public drinking fountain was put into operation by the Leipziger Wasserwerke (Leipzig waterworks) in Petersstrasse, which has since been followed by others in Leipzig. [11]

Petersstrasse is part of the annual Leipzig Christmas Market. [12]

Development on the east side

Odd house numbers starting from the market

Petersstrasse 1 to 13, Messehaus am Markt

The corner of Petersstrasse and Markt has been the location of various coffee houses since the end of the 17th century. There has been an exhibition center here since 1913, and the Messehaus am Markt since 1963, where the Leipzig Book Fair took place from 1993 until the move to the new exhibition center. The building was converted into a commercial building in 2004/2005 according to plans by the architects Weis & Volkmann, which has a connection to the arcade system in the south.

Petersstrasse 15, Messehof

The most important previous building on the site was the baroque city palace Hohmanns Hof, which was destroyed by the Bombing of Leipzig in World War II, before the Messehof was built here between 1949 and 1950 as the first new municipal exhibition center building after the war. Today it is a commercial building with a shopping arcade, the Messehofpassage, with a connection to the Mädler Arcade Gallery (in German: Mädlerpassage).

Petersstrasse 17 / 23, Peek & Cloppenburg

This is where the Haus zur Flora was located, which burned down completely in the devastating bomber attack on Leipzig on 4 December 1943, without being hit by bombs. In 1991, Peek & Cloppenburg acquired the area that had previously been used for fruit and vegetable markets and opened a five-story clothing store in 1994. The design comes from the architect Charles Moore and his partners. [13]

Petersstrasse 25 / 31, Karstadt department store (until 2019)

The store, which was run as Karstadt Leipzig from 1990 to 2019, was opened in 1914 as the Althoff department store and has since operated as a Freies Kaufhaus and as a Centrum Warenhaus Leipzig. Before 1914 there were the Hôtel de Bavière (first called that in 1768, Hotel Central from 1887) at Petersstrasse 25 and the Gasthof Drei Rosen at Petersstrasse 27. [14]

Petersstrasse 39 / 41, Stentzlers Hof

In 1914, the Leipzig architect Leopold Stentzler had the houses he owned at Petersstrasse 39 and 41 demolished in order to build the Stentzlers Hof exhibition center, in which primarily paper goods were exhibited. The house was extensively renovated by the builder's heirs from 1994 to 1996. This created something like a covered passage from Petersstrasse to Peterskirchhof.

Petersstrasse 43, Former Reichsbank Building

The former Reichsbank building at Petersstrasse 43 was built in the Neo-Renaissance style for the Leipzig branch of the Central Bank of the German Empire. After being used by other financial institutions, the house has been the home of the Leipzig “Johann Sebastian Bach” music school since 1999.

Development on the west side

Straight house numbers starting from the market

Without a number, Curry Cult and the green space called Thomaswiese

Before the destruction of the World War II, the west side of Petersstrasse was built up to the market, as can still be seen on the east side today. The Steckner department store with the Steckner Arcade Gallery was located on the property with house number 2. In 1973 the area was initially converted into a green space on an interim basis. In 1997/1998 the open space was landscaped and the Curry Cult snack bar was created.

Petersstrasse 12 / 14, House Marquette

Also in 1997/98, a 5-story residential and commercial building, Haus Marquette, was built on the edge of the vacant area (main tenant: Hugendubel).

Petersstrasse 20, Petershof

The Petershof extends between Petersstrasse, Sporergäßchen, Burgstrasse and Thomaskirchhof (at the St. Thomas Church). It was built from 1927 to 1929 as a trade fair building according to plans by the Leipzig architect Alfred Liebig (1878–1952). It also housed the Capitol cinema until 2003 and was converted into a residential and commercial building in 2004/05.

Petersstrasse 24, Zum Grönländer

The commercial building called “ Zum Grönländer ” (The Greenlander) dates back to the 18th century. After its construction it was called Haugk's House. A member of the von Haugk family became distressed at sea in Greenland, but was guided to a safe bay by an Eskimo approaching in a kayak. In 1885 a relief was attached to the house to commemorate this. When it became an exhibition center in 1908, it officially received its new name. It was carefully renovated between 1992 and 1994 and has been used as a commercial building ever since.

Petersstrasse 26, Concentra House

The Concentra House, which now houses a clothing store, was built in 1920 as a trade fair center. The previous building came into the possession of the merchant Adolf Heinrich Schletter (1793–1853) in 1836 and was called the “Schletterhaus”. Schletter, one of the founders of the Museum of Fine Arts, bequeathed it to the city in 1853, which sold it in 1863 for the benefit of the Schletter Foundation.

Petersstrasse 32 / 34, Drei Könige (The Three Kings)

In 1680 there was an inn called “Zu den drei Königen”. The name has been preserved over the centuries, even when two houses next to each other were demolished in 1915 to make room for an exhibition center. This was the center of the shoe fair for over 70 years. After 1990, the exhibition center was converted into an office building.

Petersstrasse 36, Petersbogen

From 1999 to 2001, the new Petersbogen building complex was built with a curved arcade gallery between Petersstrasse and Schloßgasse. The property has a varied history, it belonged to the Leipzig University in the 15th century, was confiscated by the sovereign, then belonged to the university again and was converted into a trade fair palace in 1919, which was destroyed in the bombing raid on 4 December 1943. Part of the current building complex is used by the university as a juridicum. There are also shops, the Cinestar multiplex cinema and a casino here.

Petersstraße 48, Klinger House

The soap and perfumery manufacturer Heinrich Louis Klinger (1816–1896), father of the painter Max Klinger, acquired several buildings here in the 19th century, which he demolished in 1887 and replaced with plans by the Leipzig architect Arwed Roßbach (1844–1902) by a representative new building built in the Neo-Renaissance style. The building has borne the name of the owner family since 1905. [15]

Markgrafenstraße 2, Merkur House

The Merkur House, which marks the entrance to Petersstrasse, has as its address Markgrafenstrasse, which meets Schillerstrasse and Petersstrasse here. The name of the house, built in 1936–1937, refers to the previous building, which had a statue of Mercurius. The previous building was Jewish-owned and was forcibly aryanized by the Nazis.

After being used by trade fairs and scientific institutions, the building has been a commercial building again since 1991.

See also

Literature

Footnotes

  1. Sebastian Ringel: Wie Leipzigs Innenstadt verschwunden ist. 150 verlorene Bauten aus 150 Jahren, edition überland, Leipzig 2019, ISBN 978-3-948049-00-3
  2. City report of the Immobilien-Zeitung undated (in German)
  3. "Verzeichnis Leipziger Straßennamen mit Erläuterungen" (PDF). Website der Stadt Leipzig (in German). 2018. Retrieved 2023-08-07., including Petersstrasse on p. 2087
  4. Ringel, Sebastian (2015). Leipzig! One Thousand Years of History. Leipzig: Author and Edition Leipzig in the Seemann Henschel GmbH & Co. KG. p. 11. ISBN   978-3-361-00710-9.
  5. Friedrich Gottlob Leonhardi, Leipzig um 1800, kommentierte und mit einem Register versehene Neuausgabe der Geschichte und Beschreibung der Kreis- und Handelsstadt Leipzig (1799), hrsg. von Klaus Sohl, Lehmstedt Verlag, Leipzig 2010, ISBN 978-3-942473-03-3, S. 14–18, in German
  6. Church yard of St. Thomas Church
  7. Keyword "Petersstraße", on webpage www.leipzig-lexikon.de (in German)
  8. "Petersstraße, in: Leipzig-Innenstadt. Städtebaulicher Denkmalschutz 1994-2017" (PDF). leipzig.de. Beiträge zur Stadtentwicklung (Blaue Reihe), Issue 61 (in German). Stadt Leipzig, Dezernat Stadtentwicklung und Bau. pp. 52–53. Retrieved 2023-10-01.
  9. Webpage of the developer (in German)
  10. "Riesenbohrmaschine Leonie schafft erste Röhre unter Leipzigs City", Leipziger Volkszeitung (in German), p. 1, 2008-03-11
  11. Erster öffentlicher Trinkwasserbrunnen sprudelt in der Petersstraße, on the webpage of the city of Leipzig, date: 13. July 2017, retrieved 7. August 2023
  12. "Überblick Weihnachtsmarkt". leipzig.de (in German). Retrieved 2023-10-14.
  13. "Peek & Cloppenberg Department Store | Moore Ruble Yudell Architects & Planners" . Retrieved 2022-03-11.
  14. Ernst Müller: Die Häusernamen von Alt-Leipzig. Vom 15. - 20. Jahrhundert mit Quellenbelegen und geschichtlichen Erläuterungen (= Schriften des Vereins für die Geschichte Leipzigs 15), Verein für die Geschichte Leipzigs, Leipzig 1931, p. 57.
  15. Ernst Müller: Die Häusernamen von Alt-Leipzig. (Schriften des Vereins für die Geschichte Leipzigs, 15. Band). Leipzig 1931, Reprint Ferdinand Hirt 1990, ISBN 3-7470-0001-0, p. 61

51°20′18″N12°22′29″E / 51.338391°N 12.374639°E / 51.338391; 12.374639

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shopping center</span> Commercial trading complex

A shopping center, shopping centre, also called a shopping complex, shopping arcade, shopping plaza or galleria, is a group of shops built together, sometimes under one roof.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leipzig Trade Fair</span> Major trade fair in Germany

The Leipzig Trade Fair is a major trade fair, which traces its roots back for nearly a millennium. After the Second World War, Leipzig fell within the territory of East Germany, whereupon the Leipzig Trade Fair became one of the most important trade fairs of Comecon and was traditionally a meeting place for businessmen and politicians from both sides of the Iron Curtain. Since 1996, the fair has taken place on the Leipzig fairgrounds, located about 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) north of the city centre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Georg Wertheim</span> German businessman

Georg Wertheim was a German merchant and founder of the popular Wertheim chain of department stores.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karstadt</span> German department store chain

Karstadt Warenhaus GmbH was a German department store chain whose headquarters were in Essen. Until 30 September 2010 the company was a subsidiary of Arcandor AG and was responsible within the group for the business segment of over-the-counter retail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wertheim (department store)</span>

Wertheim was a large department store chain in pre-World War II Germany. It was founded by Georg Wertheim and operated various stores in Berlin, one in Rostock, one in Stralsund, and one in Breslau. Its Jewish owners were forced out after 1933 by the new Nazi government. After the war, owner Karstadt operated various store branches across Germany under the Wertheim name, all of which either closed or were rebranded Karstadt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Museum der bildenden Künste</span> Art museum in Leipzig, Germany

The Museum der bildenden Künste is a museum in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany. It covers artworks from the Late Middle Ages to Modernity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leipzig Book Fair</span> Second largest book fair in Germany

The Leipzig Book Fair is the second largest book fair in Germany after the Frankfurt Book Fair. The fair takes place annually over four days at the Leipzig Trade Fairground in the northern part of Leipzig, Saxony. It is the first large trade meeting of the year and as such it plays an important role in the market and is often where new publications are first presented.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brühl (Leipzig)</span> Street in Leipzig

The Brühl is a street in the centre of Leipzig, Germany, just within the former city wall. Until the 1930s, it was the international centre of fur trade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peek & Cloppenburg</span> German fashion store chain

Peek & Cloppenburg is an international chain of fashion / clothing stores from Germany. The chain is operated by two separate and independent companies, Peek & Cloppenburg KG Düsseldorf and Peek & Cloppenburg KG Hamburg.

Walter Brune was a German architect, urban planner, and real estate entrepreneur.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kontorhaus am Markt</span> Building in Bremen, Germany

The Kontorhaus am Markt in Bremen is a historical building in the city centre of Bremen. Today, it is used as a shopping mall. It is situated at the Bremer Marktplatz between three streets: Langenstrasse 2/8, Stintbruecke 1 and Bredenstrasse 13.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Horst-Schulze</span> German painter and graphic artist

Paul Horst-Schulze was a German painter, graphic artist and artisan. His stage name Horst-Schulze came about by combining his middle name with his original family name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alte Messe Leipzig</span> Old fair site in Leipzig (Germany)

Alte Messe Leipzig is the circa 50 hectares site in the southeastern part of Leipzig's district Mitte, where from 1920 until 1991 the technical exhibitions of the Leipzig Trade Fair took place, as well as the buildings that stand on it – but not the trade fair itself, which found a new home at a new site in the northern part of Leipzig. Since 1996 there has been no trade fair activity on the old site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leipzig-Mitte</span> Borough of Leipzig in Saxony, Germany

Leipzig-Mitte is one of ten boroughs (Stadtbezirke) of Leipzig, located in the center of the city. It includes numerous architectural monuments. Most of them are located in the subdivision "Zentrum", which is sited inside the Inner City Ring Road and the Promenadenring:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Markt (Leipzig)</span> Square in Leipzig, Germany

The Markt is a square of about 1 ha in Leipzig's district of Mitte, Germany. It is considered the center of the city. The Old Town Hall stands on it, which demonstrates its particular historical importance. The square was named Platz des Friedens from 1950 to 1954. Its paving is a listed heritage monument.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barthels Hof</span> Trade court building in Leipzig, Germany

Barthels Hof is a former trade court building complex in Leipzig in Germany, located in the borough Mitte. It is the last “through courtyard” that was preserved almost in its original condition. That means, the carts drove in, the goods were unloaded, and the carts drove out - without turning around. The horses were stabled in the suburbs. Later, from 1893 on, only samples of the goods were shown in the trade fairs and made to order. The Barthels Hof stretches from the market square to Kleine Fleischergasse and is now one of the city's most important sights. Today, it is used for a restaurant and some small shops.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mädler Arcade Gallery</span> Shopping mall in Leipzig

The Mädler Arcade Gallery is the last completely preserved historic shopping arcade covered by an end-to-end glass roof in the city center of Leipzig. It is a facility of upmarket retail, restaurants, offices and cultural establishments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grimmaische Strasse</span> Street in Leipzig, Germany

Grimmaische Strasse is a street in Leipzig, borough Leipzig-Mitte, and connects the marketplace with Augustusplatz. It was named in 1839 after the Grimmaischer Tor, the gateway to Grimma, which was first mentioned in 1421. Before that it was called Grimmaische Gasse and was the main street of the Grimma quarter. Today it is a heavily frequented pedestrian zone in a prime location with department stores, shops, restaurants, hotels, a museum and the university as residents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alte Waage (Leipzig)</span> Public Weigh House in Leipzig, Germany

The Alte Waage, in English: Old Weigh House, is a building that stands on the north side of the Markt of the German city of Leipzig, on the corner with Katharinenstrasse. Originally, it was built in 1555 under the direction of the mayor and builder Hieronymus Lotter (1497–1580) and the executive master builder Paul Speck. It is an example of the Saxon Renaissance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barfußgäßchen</span> Street in Leipzig, Germany

The Barfußgäßchen is a 160 m (524.9 ft) long residential street in the city center of Leipzig. It connects the market with the Dittrichring and is one of the city's party miles.