
Introduction
Unlike, for instance, Drosselgasse in Rüdesheim or Broadway in New York, Bremen’s Böttcherstrasse did not evolve, but was consciously designed and planned, thus developing a cohesive sense of urbanity all its own: outwardly, in that the small-scale gables, arcades, multifarious roof landscape and, especially, the enclosed bridges at the entrances to the street set it apart from its surroundings. Rather than connecting into the network of streets in the city beyond, it distances itself, forming its own impression of ‘the urban’. Inwardly, Böttcherstrasse exhibits this cohesive sense of urbanity in that it is consciously characterised by various contrasting styles of architecture held together by the consistent use of brick as the building material. Despite that, at first glance it looks like it evolved haphazardly, like the city surrounding it – but the suspicion is that there is more to it than that.
Location and evolution of Böttcherstrasse in mediaeval Bremen
The Balgeinsel
Today, Böttcherstrasse is centrally located in the middle of the Altstadt (Old Town). One would expect it to be one of the oldest parts of the Bremen settlement. However, its location, mere steps away from the market square, was not always so central. The area in which the street is located was an island until the 18th century, separated from the dune ridge – at the highest point of which was the market square and the cathedral – by the Balge branch of the River Weser. Around 800, this island was a marshy piece of land criss-crossed with lots of small waterways, the height of which was raised over time by sand washed up at high tide. The Balgeinsel (island formed by the River Balge) was therefore initially disregarded when Bremen was first settled because it was much lower-lying and constantly liable to flooding.Weidinger, Ulrich: Mit Koggen zum Marktplatz, Bremen 1997, p. 57. The entire body of research on the subject of Bremen’s process of becoming a city is discussed and reviewed in Weidinger’s extensive study. We largely subscribe to his view on the early Böttcherstrasse. Early research incorrectly assumed that this island was the place of Bremen’s earliest settlement (e.g., Prüser, Friedrich: St. Martini und das Kirchspiel in: St. Martini zu Bremen, ed. by Wolfgang Wehowsky, Bremen 1960, p. 13) This geography is still noticeable today: if you stand at the statue of Roland with your back to the Town Hall and look towards Hoetger’s golden ‘Bringer of Light’ over the entrance to Böttcherstrasse, you can see that the ground drops away considerably. The drop is still between 1.5 and 2 m today. If you stand under the ‘Bringer of Light’ facing Martinistrasse, you can make out a slight incline. At this point, you have crossed over what was once the River Balge and you are standing on the Balgeinsel. The fact that the buildings on Böttcherstrasse were built on river sand became apparent once again the last time Roselius House was restored, when subsidence of up to a metre was foundFinal report on the restoration by Sparkasse in Bremen n.p. Bremen 1994. (Böttcherstrasse archive) underneath the floor. The street paving also sinks now and again and has to be levelled.
The Balgeinsel is easily recognisable on the 1796 Murtfeldt map: the Balge is marked as a small ditch south of the cathedral dune and the market square, creating a small island with Martinikirche church in the centre and Martinistrasse the street running along it. Archaeological work has revealed that the Balge was once between 20 and 30 metres wide. Throughout the Middle Ages, the north bank was used as a quay for the riverside market, which extended upWeidinger (1997), p. 68. the dune and was thus the point of origin of the Hanseatic City of Bremen. The difference in altitude between the dune ridge (Town Hall/cathedral) and the Balge was much greaterSchwarzwälder, Herbert: Entstehung und Anfänge der Stadt Bremen. Bremen 1955 (Veröffentlichungen aus dem Staatsarchiv der Freien Hansestadt Bremen, Heft 24), p. 51 at that time. Over the centuries, the significance of the Balge as a port declined in favour of the Schlachte, which was right on the bank of the River Weser, and more and more bridges were built over the Balge. In the late Middle Ages, there were 12 bridges over the Balge alone, which made it very difficult for ships to navigate it.Weidinger (1997), p. 186. The ‘Schüttingbrücke’ bridge over the Balge connected the market square and Böttcherstrasse. It is described in the 1541 book on in rem agreements Das älteste Lassungsbuch as “des Schuttinges brugge upper Balge” (the Schütting bridge over the Balge) and in the town register Ratsdenkelbuch “alse man dale geydt van deme Markede nha der Bodekerstrate” (going from the market to Böttcherstrasse), see Lonke, Alwin: Das älteste Lassungsbuch von 1434-1558 als Quelle für die Topografie Bremens. Bremen 1931 (Veröffentlichungen aus dem Staatsarchiv der Freien Hansestadt Bremen, Heft 6), p. 122. It became narrower and narrower as the area became more built-up, functioning as a sewer before finally being completely filled in in 1837. Today, street names referring to bridges, such as Stintbrücke and Balgebrückstrasse, as well as paving markings in a few places are evocative of the branch of the Weser that was once so central to the urban development of Bremen.
- constantly liable to flooding.Weidinger, Ulrich: Mit Koggen zum Marktplatz, Bremen 1997, p. 57. The entire body of research on the subject of Bremen’s process of becoming a city is discussed and reviewed in Weidinger’s extensive study. We largely subscribe to his view on the early Böttcherstrasse. Early research incorrectly assumed that this island was the place of Bremen’s earliest settlement (e.g., Prüser, Friedrich: St. Martini und das Kirchspiel in: St. Martini zu Bremen, ed. by Wolfgang Wehowsky, Bremen 1960, p. 13)
- subsidence of up to a metre was foundFinal report on the restoration by Sparkasse in Bremen n.p. Bremen 1994. (Böttcherstrasse archive)
- extended upWeidinger (1997), p. 68.
- much greaterSchwarzwälder, Herbert: Entstehung und Anfänge der Stadt Bremen. Bremen 1955 (Veröffentlichungen aus dem Staatsarchiv der Freien Hansestadt Bremen, Heft 24), p. 51
Its unfavourable geography meant the Balgeinsel was settled later than the dune ridge. The oldest traces of human settlement were discovered during excavation work for an underground car park on the corner of Wachtstrasse/Martinistrasse/Böttcherstrasse: a riverboat from the early 9th century was found along with pieces of wood and ceramics from sewers, which were dated toMoritz, Thomas: Die Ausgrabungen in der Bremer Altstadt 1989 in: Bremisches Jahrbuch 1991, p. 191-206, esp. p. 202 the late 11th, 12th and early 13th centuries. The level had to be raised for houses to be built on it. Presumably, how this happened was first individual terps of firm clay soil were built up with vertical and diagonal tree trunks shoring up the sides.E. Ehrhardt made discoveries backing this up during excavation work on the new-build St Petrus House in 1924: Ehrhardt, Ernst: Die große Balge und Funde bei Ausgrabungen an der Böttcherstrasse in: Bremer Nachrichten from 18 January 1925. These terps must have been a common form of settlement in the lowland and riverbank area of today’s inner city because the term ‘terp’ designates sites in the 15th century book of in rem agreements.Lonke, Alwin (1931), p. 84 It wasn’t until later that the entire surface was built up and extensively settled. Considering that the area of the Balgeinsel is at least five hectares, this would have meant moving a substantial amount of earth, as well as the work and cost this entailed. Similar depositionStade: Lüdecke, T. Arbeitsgebiet “Marschenbereich”. Der Ausbau der Stadt im 13. und 14. Jahrhundert in: Auf den Spuren des alten Stade, ed. by Bohmbach, J., Lüdecke, T. Mettjes, G., Stade 1986, p. 69-80. Hamburg: Hamburg. Urkundenbuch (Book of Official Documents) I, No. 285. Lübeck: Gläser, M. in Vol. 18, 1992 of Lübecker Schriften zur Archäologie und Kulturgeschichte is known to have occurred in Stade, Hamburg and Lübeck to create space for settlement within the city. This settlement of the Balgeinsel – as revealed by the discoveries mentioned above – happened in the 12th century and was completedAlso Schwarzwälder (1955), p. 231 and Weidinger (1997), p. 178. no later than 1229 with the establishment of the parish of St Martin.
The fact that there was plenty of space to settle on the dune ridge raises the question of why the Balgeinsel – with its hostile conditions – was settled at all.Schwarzwälder (1955), p. 234 leaves the question unanswered. Weidinger (1997), p. 179f. provides a plausible explanation, which is reported here. The answer to this question probably holds the key to the origins of Böttcherstrasse. Assuming that in the 12th/13th century, market activities were not only carried out in the form of the street market around the Liebfrauenkirche (Church of our Lady)According to Schwarzwälder (1955), p. 51, 89, 235f. but also in the form of a quay market in a space between the Liebfrauenkirche and the bank of the Balge larger than today’s market square, then the later Böttcherstrasse and the Balgeinsel beyond would lie directly opposite the centre of trade. For crafts or trades that made their money directly off the port, locating directly across from this market activity on the unoccupied, as yet unsettled Balgeinsel would be of great economic benefit.
- were dated toMoritz, Thomas: Die Ausgrabungen in der Bremer Altstadt 1989 in: Bremisches Jahrbuch 1991, p. 191-206, esp. p. 202
- shoring up the sides.E. Ehrhardt made discoveries backing this up during excavation work on the new-build St Petrus House in 1924: Ehrhardt, Ernst: Die große Balge und Funde bei Ausgrabungen an der Böttcherstrasse in: Bremer Nachrichten from 18 January 1925.
- rem agreements.Lonke, Alwin (1931), p. 84
- Similar depositionStade: Lüdecke, T. Arbeitsgebiet “Marschenbereich”. Der Ausbau der Stadt im 13. und 14. Jahrhundert in: Auf den Spuren des alten Stade, ed. by Bohmbach, J., Lüdecke, T. Mettjes, G., Stade 1986, p. 69-80. Hamburg: Hamburg. Urkundenbuch (Book of Official Documents) I, No. 285. Lübeck: Gläser, M. in Vol. 18, 1992 of Lübecker Schriften zur Archäologie und Kulturgeschichte
- was completedAlso Schwarzwälder (1955), p. 231 and Weidinger (1997), p. 178.
- was settled at all.Schwarzwälder (1955), p. 234 leaves the question unanswered. Weidinger (1997), p. 179f. provides a plausible explanation, which is reported here.
- street market around the Liebfrauenkirche (Church of our Lady)According to Schwarzwälder (1955), p. 51, 89, 235f.
Böttcherstrasse as a mediaeval shipyard
Böttcherei – that is to say coopering, barrel-making – was a craft where it was an advantage to be located in the immediate vicinity of the market and port. The first mention of Böttcherstrasse in the records is ‘Hellingstrate alias vero Bodekerstrate’.Bremisches Urkundenbuch (Bremen Book of Official Documents, henceforth BUB), ed. by D.R. Ehmck and W. v. Bippen, Vol. III, Bremen 1880, No. 466 of 1374. The mention is in connection with Mayor Doneldey’s obligation to pay rent on a property on Böttcherstrasse to the vicar of the St Willehad altar in the cathedral. Helling means launch slip and refers to the slanting slipway on which ships are built and launched on completion.Weidinger (1997), p. 335, annotation 378 So, shipbuilders were located on the street as well as coopers. Records also mention a public sawmill “carreria publica” (BUB III, No. 466). located on this street, which was important for both crafts. What’s interesting is that the street is referred to once in an old document as ‘Hellmchstrate’ but all subsequent mentionsHellmchstrate’ in BUB II, No. 176 from 1317. The subject of the document proves that it is the same street; that is to say the endowment of the St Willehad altar to the cathedral and the mention of a Syfridi Doneldey in both documents. The name Bodekerstrate appears mainly in Das älteste Lassungsbuch: around 30 times between 1436 and 1554. Lonke (1931), p. 107 are solely of ‘Bodekerstrate’. These different names for the one street document a change of use. Obviously, at the beginning of the 14th century it was home to boatbuilding and boat repair shops – Lastadien (wharfs). This was a convenient locationThis situation was common in the Middle Ages, Weidinger (1997), p. 308. To this day, we get a sense of the location of port and shipbuilding industry opposite each other in Hamburg from the landing stages where the Blohm & Voss shipyard is situated opposite the city port, even though it is not certain that this was the original location of the shipyard. close to the quay market opposite. Initially, the shipyards, which took up a lot of space, had sufficient room for their slipways and for storing and finishing the timber. However, the more built-up the Balgeinsel became, the more cramped conditions are likely to have become for the shipyards. Building density must have been high for the parish of St Martin to have been established in 1229, which is largely confined to the island formed by the Balge.The establishment of the parish of St Martin is documented in BUB I, 150. It’s likely to have become too cramped for the shipbuilders before long. It would not have been possible to build a ship such as the Bremer Kogge with a length of 20 m and a beam of 8 m in Hellingstrate, and such a ship would have found it difficult to manoeuvre on the Balge. Over the course of the 13th century, shipbuilding gradually moved to what would become Teerhof, which was opposite the new seaport of Schlachte.Weidinger (1997), p. 309f. The Schiffsmüllerprivileg of 1250 (BUB I, 246), the first mention of the Schlachte port, but shipbuilding is prohibited. However, prohibition is always a consequence of something untoward. In Hellingstrate, shipbuilding in the 13th century would have been confined to the building of small riverboats and lighters. By the first time the street is referred to as Hellmchstrate in 1317, shipbuilding was probably already in decline. Filling the gap they left were the coopers, who must have been very numerous by 1374 for their activity to be reflected in the naming of the street as “Helling- oder Bodekerstrate” (oder = or).
- ‘Hellingstrate alias vero Bodekerstrate’.Bremisches Urkundenbuch (Bremen Book of Official Documents, henceforth BUB), ed. by D.R. Ehmck and W. v. Bippen, Vol. III, Bremen 1880, No. 466 of 1374. The mention is in connection with Mayor Doneldey’s obligation to pay rent on a property on Böttcherstrasse to the vicar of the St Willehad altar in the cathedral.
- launched on completion.Weidinger (1997), p. 335, annotation 378
- sawmill “carreria publica” (BUB III, No. 466).
- subsequent mentionsHellmchstrate’ in BUB II, No. 176 from 1317. The subject of the document proves that it is the same street; that is to say the endowment of the St Willehad altar to the cathedral and the mention of a Syfridi Doneldey in both documents. The name Bodekerstrate appears mainly in Das älteste Lassungsbuch: around 30 times between 1436 and 1554. Lonke (1931), p. 107
- convenient locationThis situation was common in the Middle Ages, Weidinger (1997), p. 308. To this day, we get a sense of the location of port and shipbuilding industry opposite each other in Hamburg from the landing stages where the Blohm & Voss shipyard is situated opposite the city port, even though it is not certain that this was the original location of the shipyard.
- formed by the Balge.The establishment of the parish of St Martin is documented in BUB I, 150.
- seaport of Schlachte.Weidinger (1997), p. 309f. The Schiffsmüllerprivileg of 1250 (BUB I, 246), the first mention of the Schlachte port, but shipbuilding is prohibited. However, prohibition is always a consequence of something untoward.
The process of becoming a street
Walking down narrow Böttcherstrasse today, it’s hard to imagine the expansive shipyards and ship repair shops. What is noticeable is the kink in the street at what is now Roselius House, where it widens into a sort of square. We don’t have a definite explanation for this unusual street course.Schwarzwälder, Herbert: Bremen im Wandel der Zeiten. Die Altstadt. Bremen 1970, p. 173 is the only author to deal with this subject matter, but interprets it differently. Even if one considers that the square was only created by the new development under Ludwig Roselius, the kink in the street remains (see Murtfeldt’s map). How and when could this kink have come about? In general, conclusions about the settlement can be drawn from the shape of the plot and the course of the street, as property partitions often go back a long way in urban areas: When access into a new area was provided by a main thoroughfare, very narrow and very deep plots were partitioned to enable as many people as possible to live on the street. Thus, the gable ends of the houses faced the street and the roofs extended back into the plot. Any new street connecting two parallel main thoroughfares partitioned thus was generally narrower and the eaves sides of the houses faced the street.However, only limited conclusions about the chronological sequence of settlement can be drawn. The connecting street may have come into being at a later stage of development of the interior of the area. The property partition may, however, simply represent a hierarchical relationship between the main street and side street. See in relation to this Schwarzwälder (1955), p. 225
- unusual street course.Schwarzwälder, Herbert: Bremen im Wandel der Zeiten. Die Altstadt. Bremen 1970, p. 173 is the only author to deal with this subject matter, but interprets it differently.
- houses faced the street.However, only limited conclusions about the chronological sequence of settlement can be drawn. The connecting street may have come into being at a later stage of development of the interior of the area. The property partition may, however, simply represent a hierarchical relationship between the main street and side street. See in relation to this Schwarzwälder (1955), p. 225
If we look with this knowledge at the area around Böttcherstrasse on an old cadastral survey (Fig. 3), the kink can be explained as follows: Martinistrasse and Wachtstrasse have very narrow plots that go back an extraordinary long way. The section of Böttcherstrasse south of the kink runs between the deep plots Martinistrasse 8 and 9. Going by their layout, Böttcherstrasse 1 and 2 were probably originally part of the Martinistrasse 8 plot. The buildings at Böttcherstrasse 3-5 go back farther and each has a narrow side facing Böttcherstrasse. The section of the street north of the kink towards the Balge has small, quite shallow buildings. Evidently, Nos 6 to 10 and 11 to 16 were originally part of the Hinter dem Schütting 8 and 9 plots. This would suggest that the northern and southern halves of Böttcherstrasse may have developed at different times: the southern half was initially built from the Martinistrasse side as far as the kink, perhaps at the same time access was provided into the Balgeinsel, which, being the main thoroughfare,Schwarzwälder (1970), p. 160 ran across the island. At this time, around 1200, there were shipyards on the land north of the kink towards the Balge, suggesting the area was not yet densely built-up.
After the shipyards relocated to the Schlachte, this land, that is to say the south bank of the Balge, was divided into plots for development, which included the formerly open land towards the south, giving rise to very deep plots (Hinter dem Schütting 8, 9, 10). Then a way from the market square across the Schüttingsbrücke over the Balge and into the southern section of Böttcherstrasse and onto Martinistrasse emerged, on both sides of which small houses were built. At the back of Hinter dem Schütting 9, the building at Böttcherstrasse 6 was built with a chamfered, gable-front façade to accommodate the course of Böttcherstrasse. The other buildings were very shallow and were built eaves-front to the street. Perhaps the garden in the northwestern section of this area we can see on the cadastral survey is the remains of what was previously a wide-open shipbuilding area. Over time, small houses were built on the other open space east of Böttcherstrasse and connected with Böttcherstrasse via alleyways and courtyards. This is more or less the configuration we see on one of the earliest reliable maps dating to the mid-17th century by Caspar Schultz. The shape of the plots coincides with the 1923 cadastral survey (Fig. 3). We can assume that, from the outset, coopers were responsible for its development, as the two mentions of the street in the 14th century suggest.
- main thoroughfare,Schwarzwälder (1970), p. 160
The craft of coopering
We cannot say for definite when coopers began to practise their craft in the street. The dig mentioned above during excavation of the site at the corner of Martinistrasse and Wachtstrasse found evidence of the practice of coopering. Wooden staves,Moritz (1991), p. 205f the like of which coopers need to make barrels, were also found in a sewer that was dated to the 13th century. The first documented reference to a cooper“Gerbertus doliator” BUB I, 417 in Bremen also dates back to the 13th century. Unfortunately, it is not documented whether “barrel-maker Gerbert” had his cooperage in Böttcherstrasse. The craft quarters proper were northwest of the market square (Knochenhauerstrasse, Pelzerstrasse, Hutfilterstrasse, to name but a few). It seems plausible that the coopers practised their craft on the Balgeinsel from the outset. The island offered the coopers and the shipbuilders proximity to the port and sufficient space on the as yet undeveloped island. Moreover, they used open flames to fire the staves. The largely undeveloped island was also ideal for this, as there was a constant danger of fire breaking out in the densely built-up city.
- Wooden staves,Moritz (1991), p. 205f
- reference to a cooper“Gerbertus doliator” BUB I, 417
Unlike many other trades, we are very well informed about the coopering trade in Bremen. The importance of this craft for a mediaeval mercantile city cannot be overstated. While these days barrels tend to be associated only with the storage of wine or, at a push, with salted fish, sauerkraut or gherkins, pretty much all goods to be shipped were packed in wooden barrels up until well into the 19th century. You could say that wooden barrels were the shipping containers of the Middle Ages. Beer, hides, tallow, oil, butter, grain, pitch, cinder, salted fish – all these goods were protected from external factors and could be transported to their destination safe and dry. Buoys – navigational aidsThikötter, Elisabet: Die Zünfte Bremens im Mittelalter, Bremen 1930, (Veröffentlichungen aus dem Staatsarchiv der Freien Hansestadt Bremen, Heft 4) p. 88-92. The most important source was the trade guild’s record of judgements, the Schedebuch, which has survived. which were essential to the survival of a port city – were also generally wooden drums that were made by the coopers. As far back as 1259, duties on wooden wares had to paid to the advocatus. The barrel-maker’s trade guild (Tonnenmacher) was created prior to 1433. The fact that Hamburg had 104 master coopers in 1376, which soared to more than 200 in 1437, shows the enormous upsurgeSchildhauer, Johannes: Die Hanse, Leipzig 1984, p. 158 there was in the craft.
Soon, specialisation and the division of labour had come so far that in 1436, the Kimker (white coopers) split from the barrel-makers to form their own trade guildThikötter (1930), p. 88 . The white coopers were only allowed to make open-topped drums with one head (end); that is to say buckets, tubs, vats and cans. Thus, great emphasis has always been placed on care and quality in the manufacture of wooden barrels, and the practice of the craft was strictly regulated. The dimensions for the individual types of barrel were specified at Hanse Conventions.
“Each barrel is measured exactly and fired, as stated in the Kundige Rolle (the town law scroll) of 1489. The Küper (tallymen) officially qualified in measurement are sworn, as is the person who fires the lamprey barrels. Each type of fish has its own brand, e.g., Berger, Drontheimer, Scottish herring. Full-size, half-, quarter- and eighth-barrels are filled. Once the packer is finished, the tallyman fits the head and, in accordance with the oath he has sworn, may not remove any, e.g., under the pretext that the head does not fit. Once emptied, the marking – which has fulfilled its purpose – is chopped off with a hatchet and the empty barrels are brought back to the destined place, unless they are broken up. ...Time and time again, the meetings receive complaints of underfilling, leading to overpayment of charges because the goods were not measured by weight. ...Only the officially qualified guild member could make new barrels. The Altbinder (hoopers) and tallymen were only allowed to repair the barrels, for which, however, they were permitted to use a piece of new wood.”SourceIbid.
The disputes recorded in the Schedebuch show how seriously the manufacture of barrels was taken: for example, in the dispute between the barrel-makers’ guild and the sexton of St. Jakobi the verdict was “that he was not permitted either to make new barrels or use new staves in old barrels but could only put hoops on the barrels because he was not a guild member.”SourceIbid.
The procurement of timber was also occasionally a cause of disputes. For example, the white coopers were prohibited from keeping stocks of and trading in timber. The timber the coopers required was mostly transported to Bremen from the forested central highlands by barge down the Oker, Aller, Leine and Weser rivers. The location of Böttcherstrasse on the port of Balge was ideal for this.
Unlike other crafts, many coopers soon reached a certain level of prosperity. In Wismar, 21 out of 22 master coopers owned their own homeEngel, Evamaria: Die Deutsche Stadt des Mittelalters, Munich 1993, p. 150 , whereas only 3 out of 8 carpenters owned a house. The craft of coopering mainly relied on long-distance trade. One of Bremen’s most-important exports in the Middle Ages and in early modern times was beer. In 1550, there were 286 breweriesNiehoff, Lydia: Bremer Bier im Baltikum? in: Brem. Jb. 80/2001 in Bremen. In the 18th century, it was so difficult to procure timber for the barrel-makers for a time that cheaper beech wood was used to make the barrels instead of oak, which often leaked when used for liquids, so the landlords complained that the barrels weren’t fullHoyer, Karl: Das Bremer Brauereigewerbe in: Hansische Geschichtsblätter XIX/1913, p. 224 on delivery. Perhaps it is merely a coincidence that the Haake & Co. brewery has been located at Böttcherstrasse 151864 Directory of the City and State of Bremen. The final entry is in 1920. The property extended into Wachtstrasse, where C.H. Haake was registered at No. 35. H.W. Haake operated a brewery around the corner at Martinistrasse 12. since 1864. It is safe to say that the craft of coopering went into decline over the course of the 18th and especially in the 19th century. The industrial mass production of goods called for different vessels for transportation. How is the history of the craft of coopering reflected in Böttcherstrasse?
- enormous upsurgeSchildhauer, Johannes: Die Hanse, Leipzig 1984, p. 158
- their own trade guildThikötter (1930), p. 88
- Source a b Ibid.
- their own homeEngel, Evamaria: Die Deutsche Stadt des Mittelalters, Munich 1993, p. 150
- 286 breweriesNiehoff, Lydia: Bremer Bier im Baltikum? in: Brem. Jb. 80/2001
- barrels weren’t fullHoyer, Karl: Das Bremer Brauereigewerbe in: Hansische Geschichtsblätter XIX/1913, p. 224
- located at Böttcherstrasse 151864 Directory of the City and State of Bremen. The final entry is in 1920. The property extended into Wachtstrasse, where C.H. Haake was registered at No. 35. H.W. Haake operated a brewery around the corner at Martinistrasse 12.
The development of Böttcherstrasse
Old maps and photos were used to try and reconstruct what Böttcherstrasse would have looked like before its redevelopment by Ludwig Roselius. Unfortunately, the sources contained virtually no information on if and when coopers lived on the street. Böttcherstrasse is mentioned a few times but never in the context of the craft of coopering. It would have been the shortest connecting street from the market square to Martinistrasse, especially to the old granary that stood directly opposite the junction with Martinistrasse. It ran directly alongside the merchant’s guild hall over the Schüttingsbrücke, which was mentioned along with Böttcherstrasse in the 1541 Ratsdenkelbuch.“des Schuttinges brugge upper Balge” (the Schütting bridge over the Balge). In 1541, an establishment with a cellar was sold here and referred to as “alse men dale geydt van deme Markede nha der Bodekerstrate” (going from the market to Böttcherstrasse) Lonke, 1932 (Lassungsbuch), p. 123 When port activities increasingly moved from the Balge to the Schlachte, the location of Böttcherstrasse was still very convenient. As long-distance trade increased, the Martiniinsel (St Martin’s island) developed into a typical merchants’, storehouse and packing house district thanks to its proximity to the port. Along Martinistrasse and its side streets large gable-front storehouses were built to provide storage capacity for long-distance merchants.
The large number of gabled houses is clear from the 1664 map by Caspar Schultz (see Fig. 4). Schultz’s bird’s eye view is regarded as being very accurate and influenced all other maps of BremenSchwarzwälder, Herbert: Blick auf Bremen. Ansichten-Vogelschauen-Stadtpläne vom 16.-19. Jahrhundert, Bremen 1985, map explanations p. 13 for a long time. Schultz even drew the decorated gables in his bird’s eye view. Rich long-distance merchants settled not only on Langenstrasse but there were also deep gabled houses standing cheek by jowl in almost all other streets of the Balgeinsel. The parish of St Martin, despite its small size, was the second wealthiestSchwarzwälder (1970), p. 161 in the city. In Böttcherstrasse, however, we see a striking number of eaves-front houses on narrow plots instead of wealthy gabled houses, which supports the theory that it came later as a side street (see above).
- Ratsdenkelbuch.“des Schuttinges brugge upper Balge” (the Schütting bridge over the Balge). In 1541, an establishment with a cellar was sold here and referred to as “alse men dale geydt van deme Markede nha der Bodekerstrate” (going from the market to Böttcherstrasse) Lonke, 1932 (Lassungsbuch), p. 123
- influenced all other maps of BremenSchwarzwälder, Herbert: Blick auf Bremen. Ansichten-Vogelschauen-Stadtpläne vom 16.-19. Jahrhundert, Bremen 1985, map explanations p. 13
- second wealthiestSchwarzwälder (1970), p. 161
Johann Daniel Heinbach’s large drawing of the city of Bremen from 1734Original kept in the Focke Museum gives us a much more detailed impression of Böttcherstrasse, which we will study more closely. With the perspective shifted, all the façades of the houses of Böttcherstrasse are shown here. The drawing is so accurate that it is possible to transfer the old house numbers from the cadastral survey of 1923 to it. This drawing also confirms that much of the development as shown in Heinbach’s drawing remained intact until the street was redeveloped by Ludwig Roselius, albeit in very poor condition, as we can see from the historical photos.
- large drawing of the city of Bremen from 1734Original kept in the Focke Museum
While we see predominantly small eaves-front houses on the north and south end of the street, at the point of the kink where it widens out into a small square all the houses are large gabled houses, most of them with two full storeys and three floors in the gable roof. All these houses bar no. 6 have a highly decorated gable peak, presumably a small obelisk, as was typical of many wealthy, ornamented gables in the second half of the 16th century in Bremen and is today characteristic of the Weser Renaissance architectural style. Compared with the fine, large houses on the main streets, the gabled houses of Böttcherstrasse are more like the simple town houses of the 16th and 17th centuries. These gabled houses, with their two storeys, high-ceilinged lobby ground floors and stores above can hardly be described as typical coopers’ houses. It’s highly likely they were used by merchants and traders as storehouses. Why they are only at the kink with the square-like widening of the street still requires explanation. One of these larger merchant houses survived in No. 6, today Roselius House, albeit not the biggest or finest.
The adjacent Nos 4 and 5 south of it were left as gabled houses by Runge & Scotland when they were redeveloped. However, we can describe the rest of the eaves-front houses on the street as craftsmen’s houses. Craftsmen do not need nearly as much storage space as long-distance merchants. Nevertheless, most eaves-front houses had a dormer set on the eaves, in which there was a winch to hoist objects up into the upper floor or roof space.
The Bremen conservationist Rudolf Stein made drawings of how the small eaves-front houses on Böttcherstrasse (Nos 11 and 12) used to look and also 1Cf. Stein, Rudolf: Das Bremer Bürgerhaus, Tübingen 1970, p. 18 and 20 unadorned two-storey eaves-front houses with a high brick lower storey and a slightly overhanging post-and-beam upper storey. With an almost square layout, the ground floor featured the high-ceilinged lobby space into which kitchen and small rooms were later built. According to Stein, these houses thus have the primitive layout borrowed from the farmhouse of Lower Saxony. Despite the primitive layout being established by Stein, the style dates to the late 16th century at the latest. In 1921, Nos 11 and 12 were torn down. For Stein, the reconstruction of these two houses was illustrative.
- 1Cf. Stein, Rudolf: Das Bremer Bürgerhaus, Tübingen 1970, p. 18 and 20
In contrast, the following will attempt to reconstruct each individual building of Böttcherstrasse like a catalogue, as it was before redevelopment by Ludwig Roselius, insofar as its appearance and history can be determined for sure based on Heinbach’s drawing, historical photos and Bremen directories. The numbering[Uwe Bölts9] starts on the eastern side at the corner of Martinistrasse, jumps at No. 9 at the deep Hinter dem Schütting plot to the western side of the street and ends at No. 20 back at Martinistrasse No. 9. This numbering matches the old cadastral survey of 1921 and wasn’t replacedCf. Directories of the City and State of Bremen from 1931 and 1932 with the one that still applies today until 1931.
- replacedCf. Directories of the City and State of Bremen from 1931 and 1932
Catalogue of the houses on Böttcherstrasse before redevelopment by Ludwig Roselius (reconstruction)
Eastern side
No. 1 Plot 240
Cannot be precisely identified on Heinbach’s overview (Fig. 6). The southern section of the street is shown in greater detail on Heinbach’s 1731 citizens company district map. Four eaves-front houses are drawn in on it as far as gable-front house No. 3. If we picture the southernmost of them being knocked down to join the one on Martinistrasse, after that there is an eaves-front house with three window axes. The two houses after that will be knocked down to create the wider No. 2. The eaves-front house is cut off in the photo Fig. 10 but just about visible with its three window axes and one upper floor. It has therefore survived unchanged since at least the 18th century. Plot no. 240; purchased by L. Roselius in 1927,Böttcherstrasse archive, Atlantis House construction documentation torn down in 1929. The new-build Atlantis House now stands on this plot.
No. 2 Plot 241
Shown as two houses in Heinbach’s 1731 drawing (Fig. 9), eaves-front with a total of six window axes. It can be made out, greatly foreshortened, in the centre of Fig. 10 with rendered ground floor, projecting façade moulding, structured first floor and projecting eave moulding. Presumably, the building was newly constructed in the 19th century on the site of the two houses drawn by Heinbach. In the 1855 directory, it is listed as unoccupied; from 1864 to 1871 as a packing house; from 1872 as a carpentry workshop; and finally occupied by three parties before it was purchased by Ludwig Roselius in 1925 and torn downIbid. in 1929.
No. 3 Plot 242
In Heinbach’s 1731 drawing (Fig. 9) a gabled house with three window axes with lobby floor and central portal, two full storeys and three storeys in the roof with gable obelisk. Converted later, presumably with the introduction of a ceiling into the lobby floor as in Fig. 11, the house has three full storeys and two storeys in the roof. The stump of a gable obelisk can be made out. According to the directories, a rye bread bakery was located here until 1880. Purchased by Ludwig Roselius in 1929 (previous owner: Haake-Beck A.G.), used as a dwelling house until it was torn down in 1930. The lower part can clearly be made out on the left beside Bremen-Amerika-Bank in Fig. 10.
Nos 4/5 No plot number
Two large gabled houses in Heinbach’s 1734 drawing (Fig. 6): No. 4 has three full storeys and two storeys in the roof; No. 5 has two full storeys and three storeys in the roof. In the 1855 directory, it is listed as unoccupied and, from 1864, as packing houses. Fig. 12 [Uwe Bölts13] shows the houses before they were redeveloped by Runge and Scotland. They were presumably converted for use as packing houses in the 19th century: in the case of No. 4, the storeys were divided differently and façade mouldings removed. The windows originate from the conversion. A large door into the lobby was added to No. 5. However, the division of the storeys was retained. Both houses, along with No. 6, have been dated to the 16th century. Architects Runge & Scotland converted these two houses into Bremen-Amerika-Bank for Ludwig Roselius between 1922 and 1924. It was the first work they did in Böttcherstrasse. Today, its name is Glockenspiel House.
No. 6 Nos 6 to 9 are not drawn in on the cadastral survey of 1921 (BP0486), but they are on the survey of 1923 (BP0494), which is not shown here. Plot 243
See separate article on Roselius House (Böttcherstrasse 6).
- purchased by L. Roselius in 1927,Böttcherstrasse archive, Atlantis House construction documentation
- torn downIbid.
- No. 6 Nos 6 to 9 are not drawn in on the cadastral survey of 1921 (BP0486), but they are on the survey of 1923 (BP0494), which is not shown here.
No. 7 Plot 244
Heinbach’s 1734 drawing (Fig. 6) shows the eaves of Nos 6 to 8 as a continuous line. This seems to be for the sake of uniformity because, in the photo in Fig. 13, we can see that the structure of the houses is very different. However, their façades are different in Heinbach’s elevation and this is also clear when we look with the photos: No. 7 has three window axes, is eaves-front and has two full storeys with a high-ceilinged lobby-style ground floor as well as a central entrance with a dormer. A photo from around 1900 (Fig. 14) shows the house in the middle of the picture. The window axis on the right is slightly wider; the number of storeys tallies with Heinbach. The gap in the guttering shows that the dormer must still be intact. It is gone 20 years later, as we can see from the photo from the mid-1920s (Fig. 13). No. 7 is likely a larger craftsman’s house with a high lobby floor from the 17th or 18th century. According to the directory, it was occupied until 1914.
No. 8 Plot 245
In Heinbach’s 1734 drawing a narrow, eaves-front house with one and a half storeys with a dormer; i.e., a smallish craftsman’s house. It was converted, presumably in the early 19th century, as Fig. 13 shows two low storeys with enlarged windows with decorative scratch coat render over the entablature. The relatively large post-and-beam dormer is still intact in the photo.
No. 9 Plot 246
Heinbach’s drawing shows a gabled house with two window axes with a high lobby floor. Fig.15 shows two low-ceilinged storeys with four single window axes. The timber framework of the gabled roof is set on top of the solid ground floor. The photo shows ornamental painting in the filling, which was done by Ernst Müller-Scheessel. At the beginning of the 1920s, before the plan for Paula Becker-Modersohn House existed, Roselius intended to preserve the old buildings and began to restore them. Müller-Schessel’s façade paintings in the photo are the only visible evidence of these efforts.
After that is an alley to a courtyard, in which the rear building No. 9a stood. This rear courtyard may perhaps have inspired Bernhard Hoetger’s craft courtyard in his design of Paula Becker-Modersohn House.
In Heinbach’s drawing, we can see another eaves-front house with a dormer. However, it probably ended up as part of Hinter dem Schütting 9. The fact that the plot of this building is drawn in on the cadastral survey (Fig. 8) at the far side of the alley, but unnumbered, supports this theory. We know that this corner building – including the small building – was newly constructed around 1800 from the date 1806 inscribed in the gable stone of the single window in Fig. 13. The size of the window also points to this time of building.
Hinter dem Schütting No. 9 Plot 247a
Corner building: In Heinbach’s drawing, a high, wide gabled house with central bay window overlooking the street Hinter dem Schütting. Fig.16 shows that a new building must have been constructed around the end of the 18th/start of the 19th century: hip roof, corner rustication, simple bay windows on both sides of the entrance, high ground floor with three window axes and a mezzanine. This building made way in 1926 for Paula Becker-Modersohn House. With the ‘Niedersachsen’ public house and art exhibition space on the first floor, it was the centre of the art scene in Böttcherstrasse right after World War I.
Hinter dem Schütting No. 8 Plot 35
Corner building: In Heinbach’s drawing, a wide, eaves-front building with five window axes and bay windows on both sides, two-storey, named ‘Zobelsches Haus’. These bay windows were preserved when the building was demolished in 1910 (Fig. 17) and are nicely decorated in the rococo style.Stein, Rudolf: Bremer Barock und Rokoko, Bremen 1960, p. 250 dates the building to the beginning of the 17th century, putting the date the bay windows were built on as 1750. However, we can clearly make them out in Heinbach’s 1734 drawing. This would mean that these rococo features that were so characteristic of Bremen were used in Hanseatic architecture as early as the first half of the 18th century. They were salvaged and put into the building at Am Markt 1 as bay windows. Even though the layout of the building with bay windows would suggest a large gabled house, it was always low and eaves-front, as Stein’s reconstruction shows. Even in Schultz/Meier (Fig. 4), that is to say in the second half of the 17th century, it is in a row of eaves-front buildings between the Schüttingbrücke and Stintbrücke bridges.
- rococo style.Stein, Rudolf: Bremer Barock und Rokoko, Bremen 1960, p. 250 dates the building to the beginning of the 17th century, putting the date the bay windows were built on as 1750. However, we can clearly make them out in Heinbach’s 1734 drawing. This would mean that these rococo features that were so characteristic of Bremen were used in Hanseatic architecture as early as the first half of the 18th century.
Western side of Böttcherstrasse
In Heinbach’s drawing, the rear building of Hinter dem Schütting No. 8 extends deep into Böttcherstrasse as far as the passage opposite. However, this rear building did not have a separate entrance on Böttcherstrasse. On the cadastral survey (Fig. 8), this long building is partitioned and part of it is shown as No. 10. This part of the long house also remained standing after the corner building was demolished in 1910. Fig. 19 shows this tall building on the right; it does not have its own entrance on Böttcherstrasse here either.
No. 11 Plot 36
In Heinbach’s drawing, an eaves-front building with three window axes without visible storey borders. One of the two buildings that Stein drew a reconstruction of, but laterally reversed (Fig. 7). This building is recognisable in a photo showing the entire northwestern side of the old Böttcherstrasse (Fig. top right). Overhanging post-and-beam upper storey infilled with four window openings (incorrectly depicted by Stein) and, again, protruding dormer set on the eaves. This is a simple craftsman’s house, presumably from the 16th or 17th century. According to the directories, this building was occupied until 1912 (most recently by the fish smokehouse Wwe. Osterloh).
No. 12 Plot 37
In Heinbach’s drawing, an eaves-front building with a higher lobby floor than No. 11, same width but with only two window axes. Appears in Stein’s reconstruction and visible at the side in Fig. 20: Overhanging, low upper storey without a dormer in the roof room. Loading door built into the upper storey. Simple craftsman’s house, presumably 16th or 17th century. According to the directories, the building was occupied until 1911.
No. 13a Plot 38
A handmade drawing from the Land Survey Office from 1905 distinguishes between No. 13a (front building on Böttcherstrasse) and 13b (rear building). Heinbach shows two buildings each with three window axes: they are drawn eaves-front and the ground floors are the same height as in No. 12. Fig. 20 shows the building as being made entirely of post and beam with seven narrow window axes, of which the southern axis forms a passage leading to No. 13b, as the handmade drawing confirms (Fig. 21). The overhanging upper storey is slightly higher than that of No. 12. Over the three middle axes, there is a floor-height dormer set on the eaves. Going by its appearance, the building probably originates from the late 18th century, as Heinbach’s drawing depicts two buildings in this location. The building was already unoccupied around the turn of the century.
No. 13b Plot 39
Rear building of No. 13a and No. 14. Not drawn by Heinbach, nor do we have any photographic evidence. The handmade drawing (Fig.21) also shows stables to the rear. Therefore, animals were probably kept in BöttcherstrasseSchmidt-Barrien, Heinrich: Von der Bremer Böttcherstrasse, Bremen n.d. (1993) p. 11ff anecdotally describes the buildings and their occupants, including livestock holding, circa 1860. around 1900.
- animals were probably kept in BöttcherstrasseSchmidt-Barrien, Heinrich: Von der Bremer Böttcherstrasse, Bremen n.d. (1993) p. 11ff anecdotally describes the buildings and their occupants, including livestock holding, circa 1860.
No. 14 Plot 40
Depicted by Heinbach as a small, two-storey building with a small dormer over the portal axis on the right. Fig. 20 shows the building as a three-axis house on the left. Fig 22 is an even better view of this building with a resident standing in front of it. Given the large windows with plaster surround, the small dwelling house was presumably built entirely of stone during the 19th century; that is to say much later than Nos 11 to 13. It was occupied up until 1913 and torn down in 1920/21.
No. 15 Plot 41
Heinbach depicted this building as one of the large ornamented-gable houses with three window axes around the square-like point where the street widens. Fig 23 shows a tall, narrow gabled house with four full storeys and two floors in the gable roof. Typical packing house with large loading doors and a winch in the gable. The profiling of the dripstone dividing the storeys and the window division put the date as 16th century. Also, the relatively large depth of the building points to the old type of Hanseatic merchant’s house. A ceiling was put into the formerly high lobby floor around 1865; the windows were enlarged by semicircular arches and the entrance was moved to the right-hand side. It served as a passage into a rear courtyard. According to the directories, up until 1861 it was frequently occupied by new residents and unoccupied for a time. Between 1864 and 1920 it was used by the brewery Haake & Co. Demolished in 1920/21.
No. 16 Plot 42
Heinbach’s 1734 drawing shows the building in a row with the one before it and the one after it. There is no corner in the square, an inconsistency in Heinbach’s drawing that does not coincide with the current layout and all cadastral surveys. Also, on his 1731 district map (Fig. 9), the building adjoins No.17/18. There is no corner visible. The building is drawn considerably more accurately here: a wide gabled house with two full storeys and three storeys in the gable roof. The peak of the gable is decorated with a ball. From its size in Heinbach’s drawing it looks like the largest building on Böttcherstrasse. It was probably a quite wealthy building with a lobby ground floor and packing room floors; that is to say a merchant’s house. Unfortunately, there is no photograph of this building. However, a shadow of the pediment with ball ornament cast on the façade of No. 6 in a photo testifies to its existence.
No. 17/18
The corner site on the square into the southern section of the street is numbered thus in the cadastral surveys of the early 20th century. In Heinbach’s 1731 drawing (Fig. 9), three smaller eaves-front buildings, a small gable-front building and a larger eaves-front building come after No. 16. This illustration does not coincide with the cadastral surveys and old photos either. Building No. 17/18 is just about visible in Fig. 24 from one portal and one window axis. Directories indicate that the building was occupied until 1886. There is no further mention of it as of 1895.
No. 19 Plot 44
Identifiable in Fig. 24 as a brick-faced packing house with three window axes with the entrance on the left. Listed in the directory as a packing house since 1871.
No.20 Plot 45
Identical to Martinistrasse 9 in the cadastral survey (Fig. 8). This building extends from Martinistrasse deep into Böttcherstrasse, which Heinbach’s 1731 drawing also shows. Although No. 20 is drawn in on the cadastral survey, the building clearly does not have its own entrance on Böttcherstrasse, as Fig. 24 and Fig. 25 show. The only suggestion of one is a slightly raised loading door.