page_title: Domshof
section_title: From 1803: The Domshof as a square of Bremen
hierarchical_section_title: Domshof / History / From 1803: The Domshof as a square of Bremen
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Bildvorlage von Anton Radl (1774–1852) aus dem Jahr 1818/1819: Domshof mit dem „zum Stadthaus modernisierten alten Palatium“ (rechts)
context_page_description: The Domshof is a town square in Bremen, north of the cathedral and the Marktplatz. The Domshof is used for markets as well as larger outdoor events, particularly May Day demonstrations.
  The Domshof is a trapezoid 67 m in width, 100 m long on the western side and 130 m long on the eastern side. Several streets radiate off the square. Buildings on the square include Bremen Cathedral, the Town Hall of Bremen, Bremen Landesbank, the Deutsche Bank am Domshof, SEB Bank, the Schifffahrtsbank and the Bremer Bank.
  The buildings around the Domshof are relatively uniform in construction, being made of sandstone and dark red or clinker brick. The red Maintal sandstone of the Deutsche Bank and a white rendered building differ from the others.
context_section_description: In 1803, as part of German mediatization, the Cathedral District became part of Bremen; thereafter the whole Domshof unquestionably belonged to the city. Within two years the Gesellschaft Museum had acquired the intendant's office on the corner of the Domshof and Schüsselkorb. A magnificent kontor house was built on the east side in 1809 (Number 10). House number 18 was the location of the prison prefect. The demolition of the shabby stalls by the cathedral occurred at this time.
  The Gothic palace which dated from 1293 was largely in disrepair by 1816 and a Stadthaus was built on its location by 1818, according to the plans of Nicolaus Blohm.
  In 1823 the building inspector Friedrich Moritz Stamm submitted a design for the complete remodelling of the square, which was accepted. The overgrown linden trees were removed, as was the central avenue, the thoroughfare lay next to the "trottoirs" on both sides of the square (as it does today) and the centre of the square was levelled, surrounded by stone posts and designated for pedestrian traffic only. The location encouraged the erection of hotels including Stadt Frankfurt and Zum Lindenhof as well as pubs like Börsenhalle, Shaers Kaffeehaus, and Stehely & Josty and the restaurant Quinat & Ritsert. The mansion at number 20 gave way in 1820 to the Lindenhof hotel, built by the restaurateur Albrecht Knoche. This hotel hosted a number of important German royals in the 1820s and 1830s. In 1837 it was increased to four floors and in 1857 a café was built by Wilhelm Wallau.  As a result of bankruptcies the hotel became public service offices in 1862 and in 1944 it was bombed.
  The infamous poisoner Gesche Gottfried was executed in 1831 at the south end of the Domshof, near the cathedral, before a crowd of 35,000. A spitting stone in unworked basalt with an engraved cross serves as a memorial to this, the last public execution in Bremen. Other assemblies and marches took place in the square in 1848 when volunteers came to join the war against Denmark, in 1849 on the anniversary of the Revolution, in 1851 by protesting supporters of the pastor Rudolph Dulon, in 1865 for the Second German National Shooting Competition, in 1871 to celebrate victory in the Franco-Prussian War and in 1913 to celebrate the centenary of the Battle of Leipzig. These celebrations included military parades, musters, free markets through 1913, daily changes of the guard, and memorial days.
  From 1858 there was further demolition and construction; the square was transformed into a hub of business and shopping. Business offices were erected: Number 11 in 1858, Number 23 in 1864, and Numbers 9 & 25 in 1871. A museum was built according to the plans of Heinrich Müller at Number 21a - it was destroyed in 1944. The entrepreneur Lüder Rutenberg constructed Rutenhof at Numbers 26-28 in 1875.
caption: The Domshof c.1821
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