Little Germany, Bradford
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Little Germany is an area of particular historical and architectural interest in central Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The architecture is predominantly neoclassical in style with an Italian influence.[1] Many individual buildings are listed, and Little Germany is also protected as a Conservation Area.[2][3]
The buildings within Little Germany date back to the 19th century, developing from 1855. Most of the buildings were constructed for the use of textile businesses, although are also a few non-commercial buildings, for example Baptist and Methodist chapels. The commercial buildings are the legacy of merchants from mainland Europe, many of them Jewish,[3] who spent large sums of money constructing imposing warehouses[4] for the storage and sale of their goods for export. A large proportion of the merchants came from Germany hence the name Little Germany. Bradford became more attractive as a centre of international trade in the aftermath of the Franco-Prussian War, which disrupted commercial relations between France and Germany.
Architectural practices included Milnes & France, Lockwood & Mawson, Andrews & Delaunay and J.T. Fairbank building in italianate style. An 1871 building by George Corson for Scottish clients is in Scottish baronial style. Caspian House (61 East Parade) was built in 1873, as the warehouse of D. Delius and Company; the senior partner in the business was the father of the composer Frederick Delius.
Little Germany is also the home of the Bradford Playhouse, which has a mural on the back of the building that commemorates the centenary of the founding of the Independent Labour Party in Bradford in 1893.[5]
Scenes for the second season of the Channel 5 TV series All Creatures Great and Small were filmed in the area in April 2021.[6]
The area was also used to portray Moscow during Queen Elizabeth's visit of Russia in the season 5 of Netflix series The Crown.[7]
