The Ledenhof is a Renaissance mansion on the southern edge of the Marktplatz, one of the finest secular Renaissance buildings in northern Germany. It was built in the late sixteenth century and served for a period as the city mint — the Old Mint, as it is still sometimes called. The façade is the thing to look at: a stepped gable of the type typical of the Low Countries and northern Germany in this period, with careful stone detailing that has survived remarkably well. It stands alongside the Gothic and half-timbered buildings of the square without looking out of place, which says something about how the architects of the period thought about their urban context.
The building has had various uses over the centuries and is now used for events and exhibitions. It is worth stopping in front of rather than rushing past on the way between the Rathaus and the Marienkirche. The stonework on the upper gable levels, in particular, repays a moment of attention.