Stuttgart: Market Hall

1911 – 1914

Architect: Martin Elsaesser

Dorotheenstraße 4, Stuttgart, Germany

The Stuttgart Market Hall, designed by architect Martin Elsaesser, opened on January 31, 1914, on the site of the Flower and Vegetable Hall and the Old Marstall, which were demolished between 1911 and 1912.

Competition

In 1910, the results of an architectural competition to design a new market hall in Stuttgart were published in the journal Zentralblatt der Bauverwaltung.

Seventy-seven architects from Stuttgart had entered the competition. Martin Elsaesser won first place, earning the building contract and a prize of 5,000 marks.

Since the inner-city site was too valuable for market use alone, the city demanded the construction of an additional administrative wing for the Municipal Building Department and the Building Police.

Elsaesser designed this wing as an L-shaped, four-story structure, with the long side facing Dorotheenstraße and the short side facing Münzstraße.

Market Hall

The market hall, designed by Elsaesser, was built between 1911 and 1914 on a square where a vegetable sales hall had been located since 1864.

Elsaesser incorporated the building into the intact old town of Stuttgart and designed the facades and details in the Reform style with Art Nouveau elements.

Octagonal oriels on the upper floors extend to the adjacent facades. Continuous cornices and a projecting roof edge emphasize the horizontality of the red plaster building and establish a visual connection with the neighboring buildings.

The administrative wing of the L-shaped building, which was constructed entirely in reinforced concrete, encloses a hall space for the market stalls in the inner angle.

Hardly noticeable from Dorotheenplatz, the enclosing walls of the administrative wing rise behind a two-story porch with an inserted mezzanine floor.

The facades are adorned with frescoes by Franz Heinrich Gref and Gustav Nida-Rümelin, as well as sculptures by Josef Zeitler and Jakob Brüllmann.

Interior

The interior features a functionalist reinforced concrete structure. Segmental arched girders span the 60-meter-long, 25-meter-wide hall, which is lit by a glass roof.

Roof Construction

The hall’s innovative roof structure, made of reinforced concrete, reveals the building’s modernity and the complexity of its construction.

Eleven double-joint girders span the 25-meter-deep space.

The three-part girders, developed by the construction company Wayss & Freytag, consist of an upper triangular girder, on which the glazed gable roof rests; a central arched girder, which supports the glass level that closes off the hall; and lower tension bands, which are coupled to the arched girder and are visible in the hall. The tension bands are flanked by window bands along the hall’s 60-meter-long longitudinal sides, which ensure the hall’s lighting and ventilation.

Two three-story side buildings, separated by arcades on the first floor, flank the hall.

Sale Stalls

The sales area covered the entire entrance floor, with goods offered separately.

The fruit and vegetable market had stalls with fixed wooden furniture in the hallway. Fish and meat were sold along the exterior walls.

Elsaesser adjusted the slope of the entrance level to match the natural gradient between Dorotheenstrasse and Dorotheenplatz, which facilitated cleaning and deliveries.

Streetcar tracks were inlaid in the asphalt pavement to allow trolleys loaded with goods to be pushed into the hall from Dorotheenstrasse and out to Dorotheenplatz.

The municipal council did not approve the connection to the city’s streetcar network until 1916, which allowed them to maintain the supply of potatoes to the population during the food shortage of World War I.

Fountain

A section for flowers and seeds was located in the one-story area behind the staircase leading to the gallery floor.

The Ceres fountain, designed by Ulfert Janssen and installed in 1916, was made of green-blue majolica and separated this area.

The fountain was destroyed in World War II and rebuilt as a replica from 2007 to 2009.

Reconstruction and Restoration

After being severely damaged during World War II, the market hall was rebuilt and reopened in 1953.

In 1971, plans were made to demolish the market hall. However, an opposition consisting of stall owners, citizens, the press, and the Office for the Preservation of Historical Monuments formed to oppose this decision.

Ultimately, the local council decided to preserve the market hall.

It has been a listed building since 1972.

In 1993, a fire destroyed the interior, necessitating extensive renovations.

In 2014, the faded frescoes by artists Franz Heinrich Gref and Gustav Nida-Rümelin on the main façade of the market hall were professionally restored.