planned to combine the squares Höfchen and Markt into an oval square. This was intended to be visually highlighted by small radial streets. However, these plans were not realized. According to Eustache de Saint-Far's plans, the southern part of the square was to end at a new street leading to a courthouse to be built. On the opposite side, the Mainz Theatre was completed in 1833 after four years of construction. From 1837, the centre of the square was the Gutenberg monument designed by Bertel Thorvaldsen and cast by Charles Crozatier. To the west, Ludwigsstrasse leads to Schillerplatz with the Fastnachtsbrunnen (carnival fountain) and the Bassenheimer Hof. In designing Gutenbergplatz, Eustache de Saint-Far took inspiration from the buildings of Jean-Nicolas-Louis Durand. His collaborator François-Auguste Cheussey had studied with Durand. According to his plans, the square was to have a square floor plan and its centre was to be marked by a monument. The monument was to be surrounded by colonnades, Eustache de Saint-Far called it "pour les temps de foire". The edges of the square were to be architecturally accentuated by arcades. Mainz Cathedral is visible from Gutenbergplatz. The present appearance of Gutenbergplatz and Ludwigsstraße was decisively influenced by Ernst May. Trivia Near the square runs the 50th parallel north, which runs across the city centre of Mainz. It is said that several buildings and Gutenbergplatz itself are crossed directly by the 50th degree of latitude. In fact, however, only the Staatstheater Mainz is affected a few metres away. An optical course of the degree of latitude is marked in the planum of the square by two parallel metal rails for tourist purposes, between which the following inscription is placed with bronze letters: 50. GRAD NÖRDLICHER BREITE. A stylized globe, also embedded, marks the course of the latitude on the globe. Further reading Ewald Wegner (editor) with the participation of Hans Caspary, Paul-Georg Custodis, Ludwig Falck und Gerd Rupprecht: Kulturdenkmäler in Rheinland-Pfalz. Denkmaltopographie Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Band 2.2: Stadt Mainz. Altstadt. Schwann, Düsseldorf 1988, , External links Verzeichnis der Kulturdenkmäler Kreisfreie Stadt Mainz (PDF; 1,6 MB) auf denkmallisten.gdke-rlp.de References Squares in Mainz Culture in Mainz