Old Stock Exchange

The Alte Handelsbörse on Naschmarkt square is Leipzig's oldest baroque building, erected in 1678 as the city's first permanent assembly house for its merchant community — at a time when Leipzig's trade fairs made it one of the most commercially powerful cities in the Holy Roman Empire. The two-storey rendered facade with pilasters and a sweeping exterior staircase is considered an early exemplar of Saxon baroque. A bronze monument to the young Goethe, who studied law in Leipzig from 1765 to 1768, stands at its entrance — he famously called the city 'Little Paris' in Faust. Today the protected landmark serves as a municipal events and reception venue, and together with the adjacent Old Town Hall forms the architectural centerpiece of the historic Naschmarkt.