Already during the era of the Teutonic Order, a dam stood where the Rammbau is today. In the second half of the 15th century, when the Old Town was fortified, this dam was replaced by the city rampart.

On a plan from 1648, the area -- along with the opposite left bank of the Radaune river -- is called "Neuer Rahmbau" (New Frame Yard), to distinguish it from the "Alter Rahmbau" (Old Frame Yard) located near the Spendhaus. Besides these two, there was a third Rahmbau on the old castle grounds, between Zappengasse and Kleine Knueppelgasse. This third one is recorded on a roughly contemporary plan with the note: "Old castle, wherein the frames are built."

The name has appeared since 1495. It undoubtedly shares the same root as the neighboring street Im Raehm and denotes a place where cloth makers had erected their tenter frames to stretch fabrics along the Radaune river for drying.

As early as 1687, the Rammbau is also called "Neuer Rahmbau" or "Alter Baum an der Alten Stadt" (Old Beam at the Old Town). What the latter designation refers to is uncertain. It is assumed that a barrier formed from a beam was placed in the Radaune here, probably to prevent the fish crates located further upstream near the Seigen (fish weirs) from drifting away. The occasionally encountered spelling "Rammbaum" therefore originally meant "beam at the Rahmbau."

The present-day Kleine Rammbau (Small Rammbau) was known since the 17th century as "Achtern Thun" or "Hinterm Zaun" (Behind the Fence). Since 1882/83 it has been listed separately as Kleiner Rammbau in the address book.

History