The Minster Square in the centre district of

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

, Germany, is a paved area surrounding the Freiburger Minster. The city library, the Historical Merchants' Hall, the Wentzinger House and the Korn House are on this square. The Freiburger streams run along the sides of the square. Nearly all of the surrounding buildings were destroyed in the bombing of Freiburg on November 27, 1944. Only the buildings on the southeast side of the square, the historic mall, the Wentzinger House and the Old Guard, as well as the Minster itself, were spared from destruction. Luftbild Freiburg 1944

The Minster churchyard was originally surrounded by an approximately wall, which was only taken down in 1785. It served mainly as a city cemetery on the north side in the Middle Ages. Here, the outlines of the former cemetery chapel of St. Andreas are embedded into the

cobblestone Cobblestone is a natural building material based on Cobble (geology), cobble-sized stones, and is used for Road surface, pavement roads, streets, and buildings. Sett (paving), Setts, also called ''Belgian blocks'', are often referred to as " ...

s. The chapel, which included an

ossuary An ossuary is a chest, box, building, well, or site made to serve as the final resting place of human skeletal remains. They are frequently used where burial space is scarce. A body is first buried in a temporary grave, then after some years th ...

in the basement, was pulled down in 1752. In the year 1514, at the instance of Emperor Maximilian I, the cemetery was relocated to the suburban town of Neuburg because for sanitary reasons. Ever since then, the square has been used as a market place, which until then was on Kaiser-Joseph Street. The market takes place on all working days - with one exception: on August 15, the day of the

Assumption of Mary The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Catholic Mariology#Dogmatic teachings, Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it on 1 November 1950 in his apostolic constitution as follows: It leaves open the question of w ...

, who is the patron saint of the Minster, the square remains clear. On approximately 10,000 square metres, 80 to 180 market stalls offer groceries, craftwork and souvenirs. The northern side, the so-called farmer's market, is exclusively reserved for local farms and their products. On special occasions, for example the Freiburger wine festival, several stalls have to be shifted into the surrounding alleyways and partially also onto Kaiser-Joseph Street. For many visitors of the city, the minster market of Freiburg is an outstanding attraction. Until the

pedestrian zone Pedestrian zones (also known as auto-free zones and car-free zones, as pedestrian precincts in British English, and as pedestrian malls in the United States and Australia) are areas of a city or town restricted to use by people on foot or ...

was established in the 1970s, the square was used as a car park in the afternoon. In front of the main entrance there are three plague columns, which are located beneath the tower of the Minster. They were crowned by

St. Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

as well as by the two patron Saints, Lambert of Lüttich and Alexander. St. Alexander is a catacomb saint who replaced St. George in portrayals as a patron saint in the 17th century. ''Peter Kalchthaler''br>'' Die Stadtpatrone: St. Georg, St. Lambert, St. Alexander''
freiburgermuenster.info, retrieved 22 June 2013. On the minster square, St. George can be found on the 'Georgsbrunnen', which is a fountain named after him. St. Lambert can be seen on in the 'Fischbrunnen'.

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* {{coord, 47.9956, N, 7.8524, E, source:wikidata, display=title Tourist attractions in Freiburg im Breisgau Squares in Freiburg im Breisgau