Krüger Passage, Dortmund, Germany

Krüger Passage in Dortmund was built in 1912 by the latest in this family of printers and booksellers, who ran a local newspaper and had a bookshop which ran the whole length of one side of the arcade when it opened.

Sadly, that bookshop closed in 2009 after 97 years of business in the arcade and it’s not clear now what took its place as the whole structure is now a building site, supposedly to restore it to former glory, but for now (spring 2024) making it hard to picture how it was at any time in its past.

The Dampstrasse end of the arcade was also completely destroyed by bombs in 1943, so there are no original features at this end of the arcade today; even the ironwork lamps gathering cobwebs for now were a 1970s addition.

The other entrance on Westenhellweg has survived intact, though, with lots of intriguing details: there are the heads of Mr Krüger himself (Gustav, to the right side half way up the façade) and of the architect Hugo Steinbach on the left side. There are mythical creatures’ heads lining up along the façade, and the original lettering for Krüger Haus appears beside the front entrance on both sides.

Inside, and high up, are the painted arches in cream and brown, still visible in front of the scaffolding that hides everything else for now.

The glass dome that was originally the centrepiece for this arcade didn’t survive the war, and was replaced in the 1950s rebuild by a flat roof…I hear the current developers might be considering restoring the glass dome, which would be marvellous if they do.

So, at the moment, no shops in this arcade, though a few of the offices upstairs are still operational while the works go on.

I’d love to return once the arcade refurbishment is complete, so if you are a Dortmund local, or are visiting the city, do let me know via the comments if you see the work is finished.

My pick of the arcade’s past

The Krüger family had run their publishing house since 1828, but bought this land where a former hospital was standing until 1911, with a view to erecting a whole building for their printing press as well as the arcade for their bookshop.

The bookshop was a mainstay of Dortmund society until 2009. The newspaper run by the Krüger family was regarded as far too liberal by the Nazis, however, and was shut down not long after they came to power in 1933.

The bombs that fell on the arcade in 1943 took out not only the façade at one end, but also most of the inner shop fronts, with just the foundations of many walls remaining before the arcade was rebuilt in 1953 (with a flat roof replacing the former glass dome).

Apart from the bookshop in the arcade, Krüger Passage was famous for its cabaret and café. The Jung Mühle cabaret was upstairs, being reached by a staircase in the middle of the arcade.

By the 1920s, a new dance-bar was opened next door, and the Cabaret Jungmühle became the place to see and be seen in Dortmund. One stand-up comedian who performed regularly here was Joachim Ringelnatz. His satirical humour was denounced as ‘degenerate’ by the Nazis, who banned him from performing, though he died only a year after they imposed that ban.

And there were many international performers, too. Mac Wied weas apparently an Australian, though there seems to be no record of what they did or who they were. Roba Dschapur was an Indian acrobat immortalised thankfully in a poster showing him upside down on a ladder, topless but for a turban, and wearing glamorous trousers.

Sources for the stories in this section: Thanks to the excellent book “Das sündige Dortmund,” by Karl Neuhoff, for most of the material in this section. His book was published, appropriately, by the Krüger Press, though the edition I saw didn’t have a year of publication on the inside cover…