Rotes Haus

Rotes Haus rises beside Trier’s bustling market with a vivid red sandstone facade that immediately draws your eye. Three storeys support a two-level gable, creating a bold Renaissance silhouette above the square. Golden letters stretch across the front above the windows, while Saint Anthony of Padua stands in a niche near the upper section.

Wolfgang Stuppeler built the house in 1684 for Johann Wilhelm Polch, a councilman and cathedral secretary. The building suffered destruction in December 1944. Reconstruction between 1968 and 1970 restored its Renaissance character after nearly twenty-five years. Red walls and the layered gable now present the form that defines the market view.

A Latin inscription claims that Trier existed 1,300 years before Rome and wishes the city lasting peace. The words recall a twelfth-century legend about Trebeta, an Assyrian prince who supposedly founded Trier before Rome. Today, a café occupies the building, bringing everyday activity beneath the saint’s watchful figure.