History of Petersstrasse
Petersstraße connects the market square of Leipzig with Wilhelm-Leuschner-Square and is one of Leipzig’s main shopping streets. Historically, it was the centre of the Petersquarter and the old St. Peter’s Church was to be found here, as well as the Peter’s Gate (Peterstor) at its southern end. The Petersstrasse was part of the Via Imperii, which crossed the Via Regia in Leipzig. Here we see part of the west side, between the newly built Petersbogen on the left edge of the picture and the Marquette house (main tenant Hugendubel) with St Thomas’ Church in the background, on the right. Until 1945, the street even reached all the way to the market and accordingly extended 4-5 buildings further to the right with the fashion house Steckner (incl. Steckner-Passage) as the end.
Characteristic Architecture
Important buildings in this street view include the House “Drei Könige” (Three Kings – on the left), the Concentrahaus, the House “Zum Grönländer” (both centre) and the Petershof (centre right). The Grönländer house is the oldest in the street and was built in 1749/51 by George Werner for the Haugk family. Above the ground floor there is a golden relief with a Greenlander in a one-man boat. This goes back to a Haugk family story – a family member was rescued on a voyage off Greenland by a Greenlander who helped navigate the ship back into navigable water. To the left of the Grönländer House is the Sporergäßchen, today Leipzig’s narrowest alley in the city centre. The narrow building with an owl on the roof a little further to the right was built for Otto Hoffmann’s bank by his brother Julius Hoffmann. The façade design picks up on the symbolism of a bank house.
The Petershof
The Petershof left to the bank building was once Leipzig’s toy fair building and at the same time Leipzig’s largest cinema, the Capitol. Besides its façade, the entrance hall on the inside has also been preserved. The Petershof was built according to plans by Alfred Liebig. The seven figures on the first floor (by Johannes Konstantin Göldel) show people who were connected with the building and its realisation, such as the architect himself and the Jewish banker Kroch. Because of the latter, the Nazis removed the figures in the 1930s. They were recreated by Markus Gläser in 1994. But the Petershof had already played an important historical role earlier. In 1710, Böttger presented his newly invented European porcelain to the world for the first time in the predecessor building “Zum blauen Engel”.
