Discover history: Market
Development of the market
First trade in the 12th century
The location of the first trading centre on the Chemnitz, mentioned in 1143, is still unknown. After 1180, the current town structure gradually emerged.
In the centre was the market, first mentioned in 1264, which in later centuries was referred to as the "Großer Markt" or "Hauptmarkt".
Development of the market from the 15th-18th century
Its most important function was the handling of goods. In addition to the traditional annual market on St James' Day (25 July), a second market was added in 1412 in the week after All Saints' Day (1 November). From the 15th century, a number of town houses with open, vaulted "arcades" on the ground floor were used for trading.
The market also functioned as an important place of urban communication and representation, as well as a place of jurisdiction. The central town fountain was located here, as was the pillory.
The square and the neighbouring streets were lined with the most important buildings of administrative and intellectual/cultural life: the town hall, town church, Gewandhaus, Latin school, office building, pharmacy and several inns. The Gothic St James' Church (1370-1412), the town hall complex and the baroque façade of the Siegert House (1737-41) have been preserved to this day.
Destruction and rebuilding in the 19th and 20th centuries
Significant evidence of the pre-industrial buildings had already been demolished in the 19th century. In 1899, three statues - Kaiser Wilhelm I, Otto von Bismarck and Wilhelm von Moltke - were erected in their place. Like almost the entire development, they fell victim to the events of the Second World War and the subsequent redesign.
After the western side with the Siegert House had already been reconstructed in 1954 and completed with the "Türmerhaus" in 2002, the reconstruction of the southern side of the square was also completed in 2002.