Boettcherstrasse – a 330-foot alleyway leading from the town market square to the River Weser – is a major tourist attraction in Bremen, Germany. Its history dates back to the Middle Ages. At that time, coopers (Boettcher in German) inhabited the short street. They were artisans who crafted wooden casks, barrels, vats, buckets and tubs from heated timber. The boettcher business boomed in the 18thcentury. But in the middle of the 19thcentury the harbor was relocated, and Boettcherstrasse went into decline. Over the years, its brick and sandstone buildings deteriorated one by one.
Boettcherstrasse is a 330-foot alleyway in Bremen, leading from the town market square to the River Weser. Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2017. www.walled-in-berlin.com
The Man who Saved Boettcherstrasse
By 1900, the houses on Boettcherstrasse were so dilapidated that the city of Bremen wanted to tear them down and replace them with new government buildings. But the Bremen coffee merchant and art collector, Ludwig Roselius, had a different idea. An aficionado of archaeology, culture and civilization, he purchased the house on Boettcherstrasse 6 (today the Ludwig Roselius Museum) and turned it into the headquarters of his coffee empire, Kaffee HAG (Kaffee-Handels-Aktiengesellschaft – Publicly Traded Coffee Company). Between 1922 and 1931, Roselius transformed the entire “Street of the Coopers” into a unique piece of art that combines traditional artisanry with modern architecture.
Boettcherstrasse during World War II
In 1944, British aerial bombs destroyed large portions of Boettcherstrasse. Having passed away the year before, Roselius did not have to see his life’s work destroyed. Following the war, his daughter Hildegard took on the task of slowly restoring the buildings with private funds. By 1954 the Kaffee HAG company had restored most of the facades to their original state. In 1979, Ludwig Roselius Jr. sold the company, along with Boettcherstrasse, to General Foods. Two years later, he bought Boettcherstrasse back. When it became apparent in 1989 that significant additional repairs were needed, a Bremen bank purchased the street and its buildings, restored them and transferred ownership to a non-profit foundation in 2004.
Boettcherstrasse Today
Today, the restored Boettcherstrasse remains a major tourist attraction. Along its winding alleyways, it houses arts and crafts shops, workshops, several art museums, bars, restaurants and a hotel. The street and its buildings are rare examples of modified Brick Expressionism. A major attraction is the carillon of Meissen porcelain bells at the Glockenspiel Haus.
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Walled-In is my story of growing up in Berlin during the Cold War. Juxtaposing the events that engulfed Berlin during the Berlin Blockade, the Berlin Airlift, the Berlin Wall and Kennedy’s Berlin visit with the struggle against my equally insurmountable parental walls, Walled-In is about freedom vs. conformity, conflict vs. harmony, domination vs. submission, loyalty vs. betrayal.
