Mural, House Metzg, Arcas

The bread arbor in the "Haus zur Krone" leads from Martinsplatz to today's Arcas, which used to be called Metzgerplatz. Here also stands the "Metzg" house, built in 1538, which at that time housed the slaughterhouse. Many documents testify to the existence of the butcher's shop at this location even into the Middle Ages and beyond. Its location was ideal, as it could draw water for its operations from the Mühlbach and discharge the butcher's waste water directly into the Plessur. In front of the actual slaughter building were several butchering benches lent to townspeople. For the most part, small livestock such as sheep and pigs were slaughtered by the animal owners themselves. Today, the only reminder of the times of the Chur butchers is this mural from 1600, which depicts the slaughter of an ox. In the reproduction of the costumes of the woman and the man, it gives an insight into the time of the late Renaissance. Unfortunately, nothing is known about the author.

The house has had a turbulent history and has undergone several changes. For decades it was a hardware store, then classrooms of the trade school were housed in it before it served as a public library. Then, in 2018, it moved into the former post office building as the town library. Recently, efforts are underway to rename the Metzg - which has been known as such by the population for several hundred years - as "Haus zum Arcas". A perhaps questionable thing, because there are 22 houses on the Arcas.



Note: This text was translated by machine translation software and not by a human translator. It may contain translation errors.