Bremen Exchange

The Bremen Exchange (de:Bremer Börse) in Bremen was one of the eight German until 2007. In 2000 it ceased to use the Open outcry method and in 2007 the last operative units were closed. The property of exchange's holding company went to the newly established Foundation of the Bremen Stock Exchange (Stiftung Bremer Wertpapierbörse), a non-profit organisation which is intended to benefit scholarship, research, and culture.

In the late Middle Ages the Bremer Marktplatz and Liebfrauenkirchhof passage were the most important centres of trade and commerce in Bremen. Desire for an exchange arose at the beginning of the seventeenth century. Therefore, in 1613/4, 28 small houses at the south end of Liebfrauenkirchhof passage were torn down. Twenty-one stone vaults for wine storage were constructed over the next six years. The empty space in the vaults was made into an exchange and was soon playing host to most business activities.

On account of the dilapidation of the vaults and the ever-increasing volume of trade, the Senate of Bremen issued the First Exchange Ordinance on 14 March 1682, as a result of which the architect Jean Baptiste Broebes began construction of a single story building in the Baroque style above the cellar in 1687. A second story, designed by Giselher von Warneck was built between 1734 and 1736.

This baroque building is known as the Old Exchange (Alte Börse). On the ground floor there was the trading hall and the lottery office. The office was rebuilt towards the end of the eighteenth century as a book store. In the new second story there was a large banquet hall and two smaller halls for concerts, weddings, guest receptions and similar events. At the time the vaulted cellar was probably connected to the Bremen Ratskeller. Activity in the Old Exchange concentrated predominantly on real estate, merchandise, and banking transactions, but stocks were also traded.

After Napoleon Bonaparte and his troops occupied Bremen, the Exchange was temporarily closed by the French. This prompted a move to Kramerhaus and the Town Hall, where commerce was able to continue. In October 1813, after the defeat of the French, the Exchange was able to resume its activities in the building on Liebfrauenkirchhof.

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