Fondaco dei Tedeschi
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The Fondaco dei Tedeschi (Venetian: Fontego dei Tedeschi) was the headquarters and restricted living quarters of the German merchant population in Venice, situated on the Grand Canal near the Rialto Bridge.
[edit] History
First constructed in 1228, the building was rebuilt between 1505 and 1508, after its destruction in a fire. Its outer facade was painted by Titian and Giorgione, but their work has not survived the Venetian climate (fragments survive in museum collections). Its architecture is typical of the cinquecento (Italian Renaissance) style, but the basic concept (and the word fondaco) is derived from a type of building in Arab countries. Like the Fondaco dei Turchi, the Fondaco dei Tedeschi was a palazzo, warehouse, and restricted living quarters for its population, in this case mainly Germanic merchants from cities such as Nuremberg and Augsburg. The German merchants arrived shortly after the building was originally constructed in the thirteen century and stayed until the Napoleonic occupation. Today, the building is the Venice headquarters of the Poste Italiane. As at 2007 it was for sale.
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