First listed in 1357 without a name of its own, as a cross-lane off the Langgasse. In the 15th century it was called Kevelergasse from 1415, then in 1522 "Kefelergasse, otherwise Pluczengasse." The latter designation remained in use as Plautzengasse until the 1876 renaming to Postgasse (Post Lane).

The oldest name, Kevelergasse, derives from the Low German "keveler" (bickerer, quarreler). A derivation from a personal name does not appear to apply, since the word does not occur as a citizen's name at the time the street name emerged. Rather, it likely belongs to that group of lanes -- like the Kibbeltwieten and Kibbenibberstraten formed from the same root -- named after the quarrelsome and contentious nature of their residents.

The later name Plautzengasse, formed from the Polish "pluca" (lungs, entrails), points to market stalls where the organ meats excluded from the regular butchers' stalls were sold. It cannot be ruled out that this meat trade was already taking place in the lane at the beginning of the 15th century, and that the lively exchange of words between buyers and sellers customary in this trade also gave rise to the older name.

The term "Plautze" had additional meanings in local usage: on one hand it referred to the belly, especially one of beer-gut proportions. On the other, "Plautze" also meant something like clan or disreputable gang. Thus the Plautzengasse, continuing the spirit of the old name, could simply denote the lane in which a disagreeable, quarrelsome clan resided.

History