The Kaiser-Joseph-Strasse — called "Kajo" by locals — runs straight through the old town from the Siegesdenkmal in the north down to the Martinstor in the south, a kilometre of department stores, cafés, and pavement musicians. It is fully pedestrianised apart from the trams that run down the middle.
The street was named after the Habsburg emperor Joseph II in 1881, replacing the earlier "Grosse Gasse." It follows the line of the original Roman road through Freiburg. Today it is the city's main shopping artery and the spine that visitors use to walk from one end of the old town to the other.