What is "schildergasse"

__NOTOC__ The Schildergasse is a shopping street in central Cologne, Germany, and with 13,000 people passing through every hour, it is the busiest shopping street in Europe. The Schildergasse is a designated pedestrian zone and spans about 500 meters from Hohe Straße on the Eastern end to Neumarkt on the Western end.

The street dates back to Roman times, where it was the city's Decumanus Maximus. During the Middle Ages it was home to artists who painted coats of arms where the street got its name from (Schild meaning Shield). Among today's landmarks on Schildergasse are St. Antoniter church, the oldest Protestant church in Cologne, and Peek & Cloppenburg's Weltstadthaus, designed by Renzo Piano.