Alte Waage

Alte Waage stands beside Leipzig’s market, combining a reconstructed Renaissance facade with a modern side facing Katharinenstraße. The building is wheelchair accessible for visitors today. Its stepped gable, upper sundial and decorative stonework create the clearest view from the market. Concrete and porphyry give the opposite facade a distinctly twentieth-century appearance.

In 1555, mayor Hieronymus Lotter and builder Paul Speck created the building for Leipzig’s growing trade. The ground-floor weighing office checked goods and collected duties from merchants. A council wine tavern occupied the basement, while an upstairs dining room welcomed wealthy citizens, traders and fair visitors. Postal services later followed, including Saxony’s electoral post office from 1661 to 1712.

An air raid destroyed the building completely on 4 December 1943. Wolfgang Müller’s plans guided its reconstruction in 1963 and 1964, retaining the market-facing gable while introducing modern forms elsewhere. The rebuilt structure later held a travel agency, insurance offices and a fast-food restaurant. Its sundial now overlooks the same market where merchants once brought goods for weighing.

City: Leipzig
Content updated: 2026-06-22

Image: Friedrich Wilhelm Heine (1845–1921)Public domain
Image: Geisler Martin CC BY-SA 3.0
Image: Atelier Hermann Walter, Bernhard Müller (* 1860; † 1930), Karl Walter (* 1877; † 11. October 1940)Public domain
Image: Adolf Eltzner (1816-1891)Public domain

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