page_title: Domshof
section_title: 17th and 18th centuries: Sweden and Hanover
hierarchical_section_title: Domshof / History / 17th and 18th centuries: Sweden and Hanover
caption_attribution_description: English: The Rutenhof built by Lüder Rutenberg 1873–1875 on the westside of the Domshof square in Bremen (Germany), dismantled 1967/1968. Deutsch: Der Rutenhof, ein von Lüder Rutenberg 1873–1875 erbautes Geschäftshaus auf der Westseite des Domshof in Bremen. 1967/1968 abgerissen.
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: The sovereign government of the cathedral, along with the Cathedral District and the palace, changed several times. Until the Reformation it was the Catholic Prince-Archbishop, then the Lutheran Administrator regnant of the Prince-Archbishopric, then Swedish Bremen-Verden from 1648, then Electoral Hanover from 1715 to 1719, finally becoming part of the City of Bremen in 1803.
  Up to 1803, the boundaries of the square remained unclear. In the agreement of 1654 which ended the First Swedish War on Bremen, only usage regulations were established with respect to the Domshof and the Domsheide. Bremen claimed the whole square for itself, held military parades and other events on it and the square was used for the storage of lumber and peat, as well as a regular pig market. Swedish protests went unheard. The unclear usage regulations meant that the houses on the Domshof that were owned by the church and then the Swedish Crown fell into disrepair.
  Johann Daniel Heinbach's plan of 1730 shows a large stack of timber in the northern part of the square from about 70 trees. The north side was ringed by the gabled houses of burghers in Gothic and Renaissance style. The western and eastern sides with half-timbered houses, carriage houses and stables are shown with many vacant lots. Johann Christian Danckwerth listed 160 buildings belonging to the Electorate of Hanover, of which eight houses and five shabby stalls by the cathedral were in the "Great Doms Hof".
  In the 18th century, the square was used as a military assembly point as well as for executions and running the gauntlet. Bremen continued to use the square as before and, though Hanover made protests through its civic administration, these were unsuccessful. The question of sovereignty over the Domshof (whether the square was fundus regis or part of the free city) remained "in suspenso". When stalls were set out for the Freimarkt, both the Mayor of Bremen and the Hanoverian alderman approved them and Hanover collected the rental fee.
  Hanover's intendant in Bremen, Theodor Olbers wrote "Since the Domshof is one of the most beautiful squares in the city of Bremen..." it would be good if "it were embellished." As a result of this proposal, the square was partially renovated by Bremen and Hanover together. Some 60 or 70 new linden trees were planted in two groups, bordered by 69 sandstone pillars and 195 m (640 ft) of chain, so that a tree-lined avenue ran through the middle of the square. An area between the cathedral and the palace was paved in 1799. The city council hoped,
  "that soon the rest of the Domshof may be lifted from its embarrassing, desolate, and swampy condition by this opportunity."
  Soon after this the square received street lighting.
caption: The Rutenhof on the Domshof in Bremen; built 1873–1875, demolished 1967–1968 
   Architect Lüder Rutenberg
exif: {"Image ImageWidth": "1360", "Image ImageLength": "1732", "Image BitsPerSample": "8", "Image Compression": "Uncompressed", "Image PhotometricInterpretation": "1", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image SamplesPerPixel": "1", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS3 Macintosh", "Image DateTime": "2008:11:21 09:17:21", "Image ExifOffset": "236", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "374", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "8211", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "610", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "842"}