House Löwenstein

The building known as Haus Löwenstein, located at Markt Nr. 41, corner of Pontstraße in Aachen, was constructed parallel to the Aachen Town Hall and completed around 1344. It is one of the few Gothic structures, alongside the Cathedral and Town Hall, that survived the great city fire of 1656.

The original use of the house is unknown. The remaining Staufer cellar vaults, made from the same stone and in the same style as the slightly older Haus Brüssel directly opposite on the other side of Pontstraße, suggest that it may have served as an inn or wine house. Later, it was used as a residence for wealthy Aachen citizens. It was named after Anna Löwenstein, its first known owner. It is presumed that the Löwenstein family was a noble lineage, whose name originally was Lewe. The addition of the name Stein arose because the house was made of solid rubble stone, unlike most buildings of this time which were constructed using wood and clay. In the year 1478, an unverified Ida von Löwenstein is documented as a resident. Among the later owners were the mayor Adam Munten, a canon, a banker, and a merchant. Additionally, the house served as a meeting place for the guild of Löwenstein and, during the Reformation, as a location for Lutheran services. In the late 19th century, Haus Löwenstein was merged with the neighboring Haus Zum Wolf, and together they received a neo-Gothic façade in 1905. Since then, Haus Zum Wolf has housed the shared entrance for both buildings.

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