The Stuttgart market hall was opened in 1914 in Stuttgart city center (Dorotheenstrasse 4). Today the market hall is a food market in the upper price segment. It offers a total of 6,800 square meters of usable space for service providers and retailers, including 3,500 square meters on the ground floor for sales stalls. In 2010 there were 37 different stalls. The column-free space in the hall is 60 meters long and 25 meters wide. There are several restaurants on Sporerstraße and in the market hall.
In 1910, the construction administration’s trade journal Zentralblatt published the results of an architectural competition for the construction of a market hall in Stuttgart. 77 architects from Stuttgart took part, with Martin Elsaesser‘s design taking first place, for which he was awarded prize money of 5,000 marks and he also received the building contract. A location was chosen for the hall where, among other things, there had been a vegetable warehouse since 1864.
The market hall was built between 1911 and 1914 according to the plans and under the direction of Elsaesser. The construction costs amounted to 1.85 million marks. The opening took place in January 1914. Inside, the hall is a functional reinforced concrete structure. This was carried out by the company Buchheim & Heister, headquartered in Frankfurt am Main. The hall, with over 400 stalls at the time, already offered a large range of food. The market hall was damaged in the air raids in 1944. Repaired at the end of the war, it was able to resume its function in 1947.
Considerations in the early 1970s to demolish or convert the market hall were met by strong opposition from stall owners, customers, the press and monument authorities. The local council then decided by a majority of one vote to preserve the market hall. The Stern had previously certified that the building was the most beautiful market hall in Germany. Since 1973, the market hall has been considered a cultural monument of particular importance according to Section 12 of the Baden-Württemberg Monument Protection Act; as such it has been formally entered in the monument register since 1978.
