Konstablerwache

Geschichte

Konstablerwache is a central square in the centre of Frankfurt am Main and part of its pedestrian zone. It lies to the east of Hauptwache with both squares linked by the Zeil, the central shopping area of the city.HistoryAt the corner of the current Konstablerwache square near the street of Fahrgasse, an armoury was established in 1544 for the defence of Frankfurt; this long represented the eastern end of the Zeil. In 1822 the building, which had been upgraded into a military guard house, was converted into a police station. The name Konstablerwache, (literally: "constable watch-house") comes from the period when the building was used as an armoury; the term constable was then used in Frankfurt for a military rank in the artillery. In 1833, it was at the centre of an attempted revolution when revolutionary students attacked and attempted to loot it and the main watch-house (Hauptwache).Later the two watch-houses proved too small for a growing city, and a new police headquarters was built at Hohenzollernplatz (now Platz der Republik). In contrast to Hauptwache, Konstablerwache was demolished in 1886 and replaced by commercial buildings. The Bienenkorbhaus office building was built on the site in 1953-54, the architect was Johannes Krahn.Until 1881 the present square was a significant but narrow road junction at the end of the broad street of the Zeil, with Allerheiligenstraße connecting towards the southeast to Allerheiligentor, Fahrgasse continuing to the east and Große Friedberger Strasse as the main north-south link in the old town, leading to Alte Brücke (old bridge) in the south and Friedberger Tor in the north. In that year, the New Zeil was built as a wide commercial street leading from Konstablerwache to the east towards Friedberger Anlage (the eastern section of the old city wall). Between the New Zeil and Allerheiligenstraße there was a small square, which was far smaller than the modern square. At the beginning of the 20th century Konstablerwache became a major transport hub, both for cars and trams.