Walking through Otterndorf’s old town and along the river Medem, lots of ancient buildings catch your eye. Looking more closely at the houses, you can recognize winches and bars attached to the gables. It is not hard to figure out their use:
Many many centuries ago this little town had a significant warehouse district. Between small streets and the river Medem many store houses were situated, which could be loaded and unloaded by carts from the house’s street side and by boats from their river side. A hotspot for these actions was the Baar-Rabe-bridge.
Otterndorf kept being an important place for trade for a long time. From here, agricultural goods were distributed to places like Hamburg, Bremen, Sleswig-Holstein and even to the Netherlands. The most impressive storehouse which still exists is half-timbered and made of typical red bricks. This building is called ´The Bullsche Speicher´ or “Bull’s Storage” and was built in the 18th century . It was named after the constructor, Otto Bull, who was a successful businessman and trader. The Bullsche Speicher was used to store grain, which was delivered on carts by local farmers. After profitably selling the grain, it was loaded onto boats which shipped it to close-by merchant cities like Hamburg and Bremen.
In Otterndorf there were two moorings – the ˋkleine Specken ´ and ˋgroße Specken ´. The Bullsche Speicher belonged to the little, or “kleine Specken”, which extended from here until the Medem. The ˋgroße Specken ´ was located a bit north of here, close to the old castle and today’s district court.
Today, Otterndorf’s merchant past is history and the Bullsche Speicher - like many other former storage houses – is a beautiful apartment building.