Saalgasse is one of the oldest streets in the

Altstadt ''Altstadt'' is the German language word for "old town", and generally refers to the historical town or city centre within the old town or city wall, in contrast to younger suburbs outside. '' Neustadt'' (new town), the logical opposite of ''Alt ...

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

. It runs parallel to the bank of the

Main Main may refer to: Geography * Main River (disambiguation) **Most commonly the Main (river) in Germany * Main, Iran, a village in Fars Province *"Spanish Main", the Caribbean coasts of mainland Spanish territories in the 16th and 17th centuries ...

. From the Middle Ages to the destruction of the city on 22 March 1944, the Saal, together with the more northerly alte Markt and the central Bendergasse, formed one of the three east-west traffic axes of the Old Town. Initially, the Jews of the city lived on the street. After they were murdered and expelled in 1349, the citizens of the city appropriated the houses. Initially the street was called Saalhofgasse after the imposing Saalhof, but in the seventeenth century it was shortened to Saalgasse. In the middle was a small square called the Heilig-Geist-Plätzchen. The city was destroyed during the Second World War. After the war it was decided that with the exception of some important historical buildings, the old town would not be rebuilt. The Saalhof, the oldest building in the city, was restored. However, part of the Saalgasse remained undeveloped until the eighties when the

Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt The Schirn Kunsthalle is a Kunsthalle in Frankfurt, Germany, located in the old city between the Römer and the Frankfurt Cathedral. The Schirn exhibits both modern and contemporary art. It is the main venue for temporary art exhibitions in Fr ...

was built. Today it is an access road to a residential area from the 1950s; on its northern side there are post-modern town houses from the 1980s.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saalgasse Streets in Frankfurt The Holocaust in Germany