The Alte Handelsbörse or Alte Börse (Old

exchange Exchange may refer to: Physics *Gas exchange is the movement of oxygen and carbon dioxide molecules from a region of higher concentration to a region of lower concentration. Places United States * Exchange, Indiana, an unincorporated community * ...

) in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

, Germany, is the city's oldest assembly building of merchants, and also the oldest Baroque building. Built as the Börse in 1678, it is now used as an event venue and is known in English as the Old Stock Exchange.

History

Leipzig has always been an important trading centre, being at the intersection of two historical trade routes, and trade fairs have been held here for nearly a millennium. The initiative to build a Börse, as a neutral exchange place to conduct business and seal deals, came in 1667 from 30 major merchants after complaints by foreign merchants. The city council took the decisive decision to build the Börse on 6 May 1678. The building was probably designed by , a master builder at the court of

John George II, Elector of Saxony Johann George II (31 May 1613 – 22 August 1680) was the Elector of Saxony from 1656 to 1680. He belonged to the Albertine line of the House of Wettin. Biography He was the third (fourth in order of birth) but eldest surviving son of the Elector ...

, in Dresden. Construction began at the adjacent to the

Old Town Hall Old or OLD may refer to: Places * Old, Baranya, Hungary * Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, ...

on 30 May 1678. The Börse was used already from 1679, but the artwork in the interior was completed only in 1687. The ground floor had rooms rented to merchants, the upper floor offered a hall, ''Börsensaal'', for auctions, balls and other events. Naschmarkt1880

After the end of the

German campaign of 1813 The German campaign (german: Befreiungskriege , lit=Wars of Liberation ) was fought in 1813. Members of the Sixth Coalition, including the German states of Austria and Prussia, plus Russia and Sweden, fought a series of battles in Germany ag ...

and the reopening of the exchange, the building was rebuilt and extended in 1816 according to the designs of the Leipzig building director Johann Carl Friedrich Dauthe and the Karlsruhe building director

Friedrich Weinbrenner Friedrich Weinbrenner (24 November 1766 – 1 March 1826) was a German architect and city planner admired for his mastery of classical style. Birth and education Weinbrenner was born in Karlsruhe, and began his career apprenticed to his father, ...

. With the growth of the trade fair in the second half of the 19th century, it was decided to build the . When it was completed in 1886, the old exchange building was named Alte Handelsbörse (or Alte Börse). After 1887, the Börsensaal served as a meeting room for the city councillors. Between 1905 and 1907, a porch built in 1816 was demolished and the original shape of the building was restored. During the Second World War, the Börse burnt down completely in 1943, resulting in the irretrievable loss of the valuable stucco ceiling and ceiling paintings. The building was secured with an emergency roof. Restoration of the exterior began in 1955, completed in 1962. Since then, the Alte Börse has been used for cultural events such as readings, concerts and exhibitions. Between 1992 and 1995, the facade and the interior were extensively renovated, with a focus on the original colouring of the facades and the window glazing in the style of the 17th century.

Architecture

The design of the Börse shows parallels in many details to the and the Lusthaus in the Italian Garden in Dresden. Builders involved included the Leipzig master mason Christian Richter, the stonemasons Andreas Junghans from

Rochlitz Rochlitz (; hsb, Rochlica) is a major district town (Große Kreisstadt) in the district of Mittelsachsen, in Saxony, Germany. Rochlitz is the head of the "municipal partnership Rochlitz" (Verwaltungsgemeinschaft Rochlitz) with its other members ...

, Hans Caspar Beck from Laucha and Melchior Bock from

Zeitz Zeitz ( hsb, Žič) is a town in the Burgenlandkreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the river White Elster, in the triangle of the federal states Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia and Saxony. History Zeitz was first recorded und ...

as well as the master carpenter Christian Schmied. The last features to be completed were a stucco ceiling by

Giovanni Simonetti Giovanni Simonetti (1652 – 4 November 1716) was a Swiss architect, builder, and plasterer who was involved in the design of the Jerusalem Church in Berlin. He constructed the Neue Kirche from 1701 to 1708. He also plastered the stucco ceiling ...

and seven allegorical ceiling paintings by . The Börse is a freestanding building with two floors and a flat roof, accessed by an open two-way staircase. It has a plaster facade, embellished all around with flat pilasters with Ionic capitals and festoons. A sandstone balustrade has round-arched portals. Above the staircase, two winged

putti A putto (; plural putti ) is a figure in a work of art depicted as a chubby male child, usually naked and sometimes winged. Originally limited to profane passions in symbolism,Dempsey, Charles. ''Inventing the Renaissance Putto''. University of ...

hold the Leipzig city

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

. The front features two statues, of

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...

and

Mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...

, the god of the merchants, while the back has

Minerva Minerva (; ett, Menrva) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. Minerva is not a patron of violence such as Mars, but of strategic war. From the second century BC onward, the Roma ...

and

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never fa ...

. The facades of the building are evenly spaced on all sides with high rectangular windows and low transverse rectangular windows above. The Alte Handelsbörse thus combines elements of both Dutch and Italian Baroque.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alte Handelsborse Buildings and structures completed in the 1670s Buildings and structures in Leipzig Stock exchanges

History

Architecture

References

Further reading

External links