Old School Street

“Alte Schulstraße” is notable for its high concentration of historic buildings, particularly the row of half-timbered houses at numbers 14–18. Originally, these were hall houses without chimneys; instead, a central fireplace provided heat.

The first floor began above the second row of windows, allowing smoke to escape more easily. An inscription above the door of number 18 suggests that craftsmen mainly lived here:

“HEIR STAN SUILEN UND LEISTEN
DAS LER KOST AM ALLER MEISTN”

The row of half-timbered houses was built in 1609, probably by Johann von Broichhausen. His coat of arms, alongside that of his wife Gertrud von Overheid, is still partially visible on house number 7.

In Kempen’s 1826 cadastral register, the street is simply listed as “Alte Schule” (“Old School”), which may also have referred to a Jewish house of prayer, potentially making the street an extension of the Jewish quarter from Judenstraße.

However, this has not been conclusively established. The name Alte Schulstraße appears in the town’s address book as early as 1829.