January 20, 2018

3247 GERMANY (Saarland) - St. Johanner Market Square in Saarbrücken


The heart of Saarbrücken (and its nightlife hub) historic Saint Johanner Market Square (Sankt Johanner Markt) is a long, narrow public square anchored by an ornate fountain designed and built in 1759-1760 by Friedrich Joachim Stengel and flanked by some of the town's oldest buildings. As its name implies, it used to belong to the once independent municipality of St. Johann, which merged with Saarbrücken in 1909, along with Malstatt-Burbach.

After the settlement of Saarbrücken and the fishing village of St Johann on the opposite bank of the Saar have received the city rights in 1322, St Johann enlarged and exhibited the present market square as the center, surrounded by a few streets and the city wall. The village had extended to the streets around the Basilica of St. Johann, which stands on the site of the medieval chapel of St. Johann. In 1503, a fire destroyed most of the medieval buildings.

In the middle of the 18th century, new Baroque houses were built around the market, according to a concept by master builder Friedrich Joachim Stengel. The most striking object of that time is the fountain from today, which replaced an older one from 1602. The builder of the new Baroque fountain was Ignatius Bishop, and the sculptural works were executed by Johann Philipp Mihm. In 1938 the market was subjected to a radical renovation program, but in 1944 was severely affected by the Allied bombing, and again renovated after WWII.

About the stamp
The stamp is part of the series Blumen, about which I wrote here.

References
Saarbrücken (deutsch) - Wikipedia

Sender: Jorn Hegner (direct swap)
Sent from Saarbrücken (Saarland / Germany), on 13.01.2018
Photo: C. Sckär

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