Hundegasse

Hundegasse (Dog Lane) is first mentioned in 1336 in the context of mortgage lending as "platea braseatorum" (Brewers' Lane). Alongside this earliest designation, the current name appears in 1378 as "platea canum" (Lane of Dogs). For a time both terms were used in parallel; after 1415 the older name disappears from the records.

Lanes called "Hundegasse" exist in a great number of German cities. In some cases, the name has been traced with certainty to knacker's yards and kennels located in those lanes. Such streets therefore tend to lie in outer districts and do not enjoy the best reputation. This does not apply to all cases, however — for example not to Elbing, and not to Danzig either. Here the knacker's yard was not located in the lane at the time the name arose. Hundegasse was one of the main streets of the city and was already in the 14th century, as the older name proves, predominantly inhabited by the highly respected brewers' guild.

One might at most think of the city yard (Stadthof) at the end of the lane, the council's stables. However, no evidence has been found that dogs were kept here. The dogs maintained in the city to guard Granary Island (Speicherinsel) were housed there.

It seems rather that the name owes its origin to a different connection: derivation from personal names. Streets named after persons were already quite numerous in Danzig in the 14th century. Almost without exception these were names of respected, well-known families — the same circles that in the 14th century used their capital, earned through trade and craft, for mortgage lending on urban properties in the customary form of annuity purchase.

Among these wealthy capitalists appear to have been bearers of the surname "Hund" (meaning "dog"). Between 1352 and 1435, the name is mentioned seven times. The earliest, Nikolaus Hund, granted a mortgage on a property in Beutlergasse in 1352. In 1402, Peter Tymmerman redeemed a mortgage belonging to Johann Hund on a property in Hundegasse between Ankerschmiedegasse and Mälzergasse. As late as 1411 and 1415, the name Nikolaus Hund appears in connection with the lane. It is likely that the same process occurred with Hundegasse as can be demonstrated for Gertrudengasse.

For the present-day numbers 1-14 and 119-128 of Hundegasse, the otherwise unattested name "Zaggengasse" was used in the military billeting register (Servis) of 1806. It derives from the Prussian provincialism "Zagge" (meaning horse) and refers to the neighboring stables of the city yard.

The Kuhtor (Cow Gate), which closes off the Hundegasse, is first mentioned in 1378 as "vedor." It owes its name to the municipal cattle pastures that were then still located on the opposite part of Granary Island. The bridge over the Motlawa is mentioned in 1379.

Hundegasse, known today in Polish as Ulica Ogarna, lies in the Rechtstadt (Main Town) district, the historic core of Gdansk. The street is lined with stately Renaissance-era townhouses. It connects via the Kuhbrücke (Cow Bridge) through the Kuhtor (Cow Gate), offering a glimpse into the rich architectural and cultural heritage of old Danzig.

Among its most famous former residents was Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686-1736), who spent part of his childhood at Hundegasse 95. The inventor of the mercury thermometer and the temperature scale bearing his name is commemorated today by a plaque on the house. At Hundegasse 101, Johannes Trojan (1837-1915) was born, a celebrated German humorist and poet. At Hundegasse 11/12 stood the Old Danzig Brewery run by Eduard Rodenacker, recalling the street's early origins as Brewers' Lane.