Altes Kauf- und Danzhaus

The old "Kauf- und Danzhaus" was built in 1419 in Gothic style and rebuilt in the 17th/18th centuries. In the process it received baroque elements. The building burnt down in 1944 and was rebuilt in 1961/62. The old Kauf- und Danzhaus housed the Middle Rhine Museum until 2012 (since 2013 in the Forum Confluentes). Under the tower clock, which was installed in 1724, you can see the "eye roller", who moves his eyes back and forth in time with the clock's pendulum and sticks out his tongue every full and half hour. It commemorates the robber baron Johann Lutter von Kobern, who was executed on 14 October 1536 at the Florinsmarkt. According to legend, he rolled his eyes on the scaffold and stuck out his tongue at the spectators. Other sources show that the grimacing head was already to be seen on the town's seal in 1290, as a threatening gesture against the siege of the town by the Bishop of Vinstingen. The Gothic Schöffenhaus (Aldermen's House) was built right next to the old department stores' in 1530. This is where the aldermen of the town court met, whose task was to supervise the coins and weights. Until the 18th century, the town pillory stood in front of the aldermen's house. In 1965 the house, which was destroyed in the war, was reconstructed. To the left of the Old Department Store is the Bürresheimer Hof, built in 1659, which owes its name to its then (1714) owners, the von Breitbach-Bürresheim family. In September 2013, the GÖRLITZ Foundation acquired all the municipal buildings around the square. The ensemble at Florinsmarkt is to become a cultural and guest house across all buildings.