Münster Prinzipalmarkt

The Prinzipalmarkt curves through the centre of Münster lined with tall stepped and scrolled gables above continuous arcades, the merchants' street of a Hanseatic city. Bombing destroyed around ninety per cent of the old town in 1944 and 1945, and there was a serious argument about rebuilding in modern form; the decision went to reconstruction, and the gables were rebuilt over the following decades, some exactly and some simplified. The Gothic town hall on the street holds the Hall of Peace where part of the Peace of Westphalia was signed in 1648. Münster has more bicycles than residents and a ring road built on the old fortifications.

What you actually see

• The arcaded gables - a curved street of rebuilt merchant houses.
• The Hall of Peace - the 1648 treaty room in the Gothic town hall.
• The reconstruction decision - a city rebuilt to its old form by choice.
• The Promenade - a car-free ring on the line of the old walls.

When to go

April to October; the city is busiest in term time and quiet in university holidays. The Christmas markets run through December across several squares.

Honest expectations

Everything on the street is postwar reconstruction. The Hall of Peace has limited hours and closes for civic use. Cyclists dominate the streets.

Nearby

Nordkirchen palace lies south; Burg Vischering is southwest.