Covered butter market hall

The covered butter market hall (Botermarkt), located on Hofstraat, is a striking appearance in Deventer with its 6 meters wide, 30 meters long and 5 meters high. What was this used for before?

The covered open market hall was made of wood, glass and iron in 1899 and was built by city architect Mulock Houwer. The hall served as a butter market. It is a wooden roof with a ridge that rests on cast iron pillars in Renaissance-inspired shapes. The striking forging and construction work is from the Nering Bögel iron foundry, which can be seen on the pillars.

The farmers from the area came to sell their homemade butter. The images of barrels of butter in the cornice are a reminder of the purpose of this hall. Councilor H.W.J. van Marle was an alderman of Deventer at the time and donated the building to the city.

A memorial stone placed in the wall on Hofstraat states:

1889, OUT OF INTEREST IN THE FLOWER OF AGRICULTURE AND LIVESTOCK AND TRADE, MR. H.W.J. BY
MARLE GIVEN THIS BUTTER MARKET TO THE MUNICIPALITY OF DEVENTER.

Lost beauty
This location only served as a Butter Market for a short time. It was abolished shortly before the First World War. And much of the original beauty has been lost. During the bombing of December 15, 1944, the right wing was bombed and never rebuilt. Only the attachment points of the missing part can still be seen. On a sign at the front is the Latin motto: FIDE SED QUI VIDE. This means: “Trust, but be careful who you trust”.

Butter production then increasingly took place in dairy factories. In the years after its closure, the Botermarkt had many functions. For example, the building served as a bicycle shed for theater visitors, an emergency shed for the fire brigade and a home for the barrel organ “de Turk”.