Heumarkt

Heumarkt is the broad expanse defined by a continuous row of pale, stone-fronted buildings that break only for the narrow streets feeding into the square. It served as Cologne's primary hay market for centuries, a place where farmers hauled wagons through the city gates to trade. In eighteen forty-eight, Frederick William the Third of Prussia had his bronze statue erected in the center, though locals famously mocked the monument by calling it the beer pump because it stood near the area's many taverns.