Am Kranen Square, Bamberg

On the right bank of the Linker Regnitzarm (the left arm of the river Regnitz), below the Old Town Hall, is the embankment, where there are two ancient cranes on round stone pedestals. The triangular square along the embankment is named Am Kranen, which means "at the cranes".

In the Middle Ages, this place was the economic center of Bamberg, where merchant ships moored and unloaded. As early as 1156, King Frederick I Barbarossa issued a decree that every merchant ship passing through Bamberg was required to stop in the city and offer its cargo for sale within three days.

Now there are pleasure boats leaving from this pier, where you can go down the Regnitz River, sail along the "Little Venice" quarter and admire St. Michael's Cathedral from the water.

At the end of the embankment is the building of an old slaughterhouse, built in 1741-1742. Above the entrance, we see a sculpture of a cow and an inscription in Latin: "According to the laws of nature, only a calf can become a bull, but the artist's hand made me a bull before nature created a calf." On the river side, the building rests on an arcade, under which water flows. In the floor of the slaughter hall above the arcade, holes were made through which blood and other waste were washed directly into the river. Now the building is occupied by the university library.

On the opposite bank is the Am Leinritt embankment, built up with old half-timbered houses.

On the square you can visit the cafe "Kranen". The cafe's outdoor tables offer excellent views of the Regnitz River, bridges and the old Town Hall.