The Peter’s Staircase, built in 1278, is one of the oldest structures in Halberstadt. It connects the northern cathedral square with the lower town. At the latest since the In the 18th century, the Peter’s Staircase was part of the Jewish market, which had developed below the Petershof, the former bishop’s residence. As documents prove, the Jewish community had leased the staircase. The vaults in the body of the staircase were used as warehouses, and on the platform created by the body there were sales stalls, so-called Scharren. A city map of Halberstadt from 1780 lists this area in its legend under number 32 as “der Juden Kaufläden”. These are found in entries in the minute books of the Jewish community from the 19th century. This usually involves sales premises that are to be rented out or leases that are outstanding. You can find corresponding advertisements in newspapers. Unfortunately, there are no known pictorial representations of the Jewish market. A description of the lively business life in the area of the Peterstreppe can only be found in the memoirs of a great-niece of the Halberstadt poet Johann Wilhelm Ludwig Gleim (1719 – 1803), Marie Körte (1815 – 1884), written in 1860. She had spent her childhood in a house above St. Peter’s Stairs. Marie Körte vividly describes how Jewish women traded in old clothes and household goods. She describes the Jewish women wearing wigs and hoods over them, and she mentions the “ten commandment” on the doors, the mezuzah.

Until when the “Jewish market” existed in this form is not known.