Kirchgasse | South side of the collegiate church
Kirchgasse is one of the central axes of Tübingen’s old town. It connects the market square with the Holzmarkt at the collegiate church, one of the city’s landmarks, over a distance of around 150 metres. The alley is a pedestrian zone lined with a row of historic half-timbered houses that nestle closely together and give the street its characteristic charm. Kronenstraße also branches off from here at an acute angle to the southwest, highlighting the winding layout of the old town.
Architecture and building history
The south side of Kirchgasse is characterised by a striking row of medieval and early modern town houses. At the entrance to Holzmarkt stands the yellow-painted house at Holzmarkt 2 with the Hofpfisterei bakery, which together with the neighbouring building at Kirchgasse 10 was originally a single structure. Its structure dates back to 1450, although architectural historians discovered older, reused beams from 1347 during a renovation. For a long time, the traditional Müller & Co drugstore, one of the oldest drugstores in Germany, was located here. Today, the ground floor houses the meat and sausage shop ‘Schmälzle’.
To the right, towards the market square, is Kirchgasse 8, a half-timbered house from the 16th century, which most recently housed the Seeger jeweller’s and the Wenke art gallery. Right next to it stands the former Pfleghof, Kirchgasse 6, which was built around 1535. Used for many purposes over the centuries, it was the Hotel Kaiser for a long time, later the Esperia ice cream parlour, and since 2014 it has been a branch of the Hallhuber fashion store. The neighbouring houses at Kirchgasse 4 and 2 date from the 15th and early 16th centuries; they are characterised by rich half-timbering and steep gables and are now used as residential and commercial buildings. Between the two houses, a small decorative figure under the protruding bay window is particularly eye-catching.
The row of houses reflects the architectural history of the old town with its mixture of Gothic, early modern and later modified building elements. It documents the close interconnection between residential and craft activities as well as the flexible use of the buildings over the centuries. The collegiate church at the western end of the alley also gives the ensemble an impressive urban finish: its tower rises above the roofs, visible from afar, and marks the location on the saddle between Österberg and Spitzberg.
