We begin our hike on the 3,000-year-old Westenhellweg, which served as a trade route from the Meuse to the Memel River and was also used for salt production. Next, we will walk to the Freistuhl, which has been mentioned in Dortmund’s historical records for 1,000 years. From here, we continue to the KrügerPassage, where stock exchange activities and numerous events took place until 1943.
We will walk along Kampstrasse, circling the venerable Protestant St. Reinoldi Church. Here, the guide can tell you a lot about Dortmund’s financial and commercial history, and, if the church is open, you can also see quite a bit. The origins of the Brückviertel district ahead of us date back to the time of Charlemagne (768–814). Of the Burgtor, the nearby royal court, only the name remains. We can see the place name Gnadenort. An older name from 1610 is “Quaden Ort” or “Quaemort.” This roughly means “nasty, swampy, gloomy, bad place.”
As early as the 9th century, Brückstraße was already the main thoroughfare for Dortmund, thanks to its favourable location at the crossroads of Hellweg and a major north-south trade route. Due to space constraints, the street market that had previously been held there was moved to the market square on Trisselgasse, now known as the Old Market. Dortmund faced the problem that all the roads were often flooded, so “bridges” and planks were laid to allow merchants’ wagons to pass. Balkenstraße was first mentioned by name in 1342 as “Lohus (Lohhaus) subter Trabes” (under the beams); at the end of the 14th century, in addition to the name “Balkenstrate,” it was also known as “Gruetstrate.” This name was derived from the Grüttehaus, the Ratsbrauhaus brewery located opposite. Balkenstraße was once a log dam for merchants’ wagons, hence the name Balkenstraße (Beam Street). After all, the name of Dortmund means “Throtmanni”: settlement by gurgling waters.
Our tour ends at the old market on Trisselgasse: Minor crimes and fraud committed during market trading were publicly punished here.
A dishonest market trader would be “getrieselt,” meaning placed in a visible cage, the Trissel.