Markt

Hauptmarkt (the main market square) with Market Cross

Innenstadt (Old Town) · Free admission

The Hauptmarkt is one of Germany's most beautiful market squares. The Market Cross from 958 marked the legal center of the city, the Steipe served as a celebration hall, and the Petrusbrunnen is a fine piece of Trier Renaissance work. Today the square hosts the weekly market and the Christmas market.

At the center of the Hauptmarkt (the main market square) stands the Trier Market Cross, one of the oldest landmarks in the city. It dates back to the year 958, when Archbishop Henry I had the cross erected as a visible sign of the granted market rights. For centuries it documented the right to trade at this spot and made the Hauptmarkt the economic heart of Trier.

The market cross visible on the square today is a copy. The early medieval original is kept in the Stadtmuseum Simeonstift to protect it from the weather, where it can be examined up close. The column carries a replica of the cross and shows in its base the ancient spolia, illustrating the close connection of medieval Trier to its Roman past.

Visitors to the Hauptmarkt should also take time for the smaller details beyond the market cross: the Petrusbrunnen (St. Peter's Fountain) from 1595 rounds out the ensemble, and the square is lined with townhouses from the Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque eras. The square is at its most atmospheric during the Trier Christmas Market, when the market cross stands at the center of one of the most beautiful Advent markets in the region.

The Petrusbrunnen on the southeastern corner of the Hauptmarkt is one of the most significant Renaissance monuments in Trier. It was created by the Trier sculptor Hans Ruprecht Hoffmann and completed in 1595. At the top of the fountain column stands Saint Peter as patron of the city, holding the keys to heaven, a figure that highlights the close link between Trier and the prince of the apostles.

The fountain has a carefully thought-out iconographic program: around the base stand four female figures embodying the cardinal virtues, justice, fortitude, temperance and prudence. They are supplemented by numerous smaller figures, putti and waterspouts, making the work one of the most richly figured fountains of the German Renaissance. For centuries the fountain combined practical water supply with civic representation.

The Petrusbrunnen has been restored several times and is carefully maintained to preserve the fragile sandstone and finely worked figures. Visitors to the Hauptmarkt should take time to walk all the way around the fountain, since each side reveals different details of the iconographic program. The ensemble of Petrusbrunnen, market cross and Steipe is particularly atmospheric in the early morning hours, before the weekly market fills the square.