Colonial General stores – Neuer Markt

Colonial general stores

At the Neuer Markt flourished trade, including trade in products from the global south. The building, which nowadays accommodates a pharmacy, was in the past a colonial general store named

“Colonial Porzellan, Steingut & Glaswaren…”

There were 26 general stores in Rostock which purchased products from the german colonies, like cosmetics, decorative elements and confectionery.

Even if colonial products from the result of exploitation, thievery and suppression, the view on them in the global north was very positve. They were often used as presents for family or friends. 

Even to this very day people are still advertising products with colonial goods, instead of dealing with the colonial history and having a critical dispute with it, for example, the store Gerda Arndt at the Waldemarstraße. Or even the companyHanseatische Kolonialwaren Gesellschaft at the Zelckstraße, which has colonial heritage still in its name and was trying to offer events through a tourist office.

Even if you fortunately can hardly find some of the original colonial goods in Rostock there still exist similar exploitative structures. Major companies like EDEKA have still a clear reference to colonialism and are purchasing products which reproduce racism. 

If you want to buy products from the global south, you should rather go to the Eine-Welt-Laden at Hermannstraße 36. This store provides a better trade structure, fairer working conditions and wages as well as healthcare and education opportunities.

You can get more information on this topic thanks to another tour through the city:

Stadtrundgang – „Konsum Global“ in Rostock