The Markthalle is Freiburg's indoor food hall, tucked into the old town between Kaiser-Joseph-Straße and Grünwälderstraße, a few steps from the Martinstor gate. Its counters serve everything from Baden pork shoulder to Afghan rice and Brazilian bean stew. The surprise is the building: until the 1980s this was a printing works where newspapers rolled off the presses.
The Markthalle at a glance
- Where: Grünwälderstraße 4, in the southern part of the old town, close to the Martinstor and Kaiser-Joseph-Straße.
- Opened: 6 June 1987; renovated and reopened in October 2007.
- What it is today: a covered food court with about twenty independent counters, a bar and shared tables, used by office workers at lunchtime and by groups of friends in the evening.
- The building: a listed 19th-century sandstone building, the former printing works of the Poppen & Ortmann publishing house.
- Time needed: 30–60 minutes for a meal; 10 minutes if you only want to look around.
From printing presses to food stalls
For decades, newspapers were printed here by the publishing house Poppen & Ortmann. When typesetting and printing moved on to new technology and new premises, the old press hall in the middle of the old town stood empty. Local restaurateurs came up with the idea of filling it with food stalls instead, and the Markthalle opened on 6 June 1987, with the mayor, Rolf Böhme, cutting the ribbon. At the start there were 24 sales stalls and six live-cooking stands spread over about 800 square metres, in the former rotary press hall.
Twenty years later the hall was renovated and reopened on 6 October 2007 with around twenty stalls. The basic idea has not changed: each counter is run by its own operator, not by a chain, and you can collect a curry from one, a glass of Baden wine from another and dessert from a third, then eat together at the tables in the middle. Freiburg had a food hall decades before the format became fashionable in big cities.
What to look for
- The entrance: easy to miss from the street, it leads you through the old building into the hall, which suddenly opens up in front of you.
- The glass roof over the central space, which lets daylight into what was once a hall full of printing presses, and the chandeliers hanging beneath it.
- The sandstone façade of the old publishing building, a listed monument from the 19th century.
- The mix on the counters: Baden Schäufele (cured pork shoulder) next to Afghan Qabili palau, Brazilian feijoada, Indian curries and Italian espresso.
Eating like a Freiburger
The Markthalle is one half of Freiburg's food scene; the other is outdoors. On the Münsterplatz, around the cathedral, a farmers' market is held every day except Sunday, with stalls from Baden and the Black Forest selling fruit, vegetables, cheese and bread. Its classic snack is the Lange Rote, a long grilled sausage served in a bread roll, often with fried onions. Many visitors do both on the same day: market in the morning, Markthalle for lunch or dinner.
Tips for your visit
- Lunchtime is the busiest moment, when office workers queue at the counters. Come a little before noon or in the afternoon for an easier choice of table.
- Walk round all the counters before you decide. Each one is a separate business, so you order and pay at each counter you use.
- Combine a meal here with a walk along the Bächle, the small water channels of the old town, which run through the streets around the Martinstor.
Nearby
- Martinstor: one of Freiburg's two surviving medieval gates, first mentioned in 1238 and raised to 60 metres in 1901, with trams running through its arch.
- Augustinermuseum: the city's art museum in a former Augustinian monastery, known for original sculptures from Freiburg Minster, a few minutes' walk away.
- Gerberau and Fischerau: two quiet lanes along an old canal, once home to tanners and fishermen, now lined with small shops and cafés.
- Freiburg Minster: the Gothic cathedral with its openwork stone spire, about ten minutes' walk north along Kaiser-Joseph-Straße.
See Freiburg with World City Trail
Our Freiburg scavenger hunt turns the old town into a game you play on your phone. The route links 10 stops and takes around 2 hours, with about 24 minutes of walking. It includes the Schwabentor, Freiburg Minster and the Old Town Hall, so the Markthalle makes a good place to eat before or after.
If you prefer a different format, there is also a self-guided walking tour and an outdoor escape game in Freiburg.
Play the Freiburg scavenger hunt →
Take the self-guided walking tour of Freiburg →
Play the outdoor escape game in Freiburg →
Facts checked in October 2026.