5
Graeme Rolfe -
4 years ago
I had heard about the mysterious cotton exchange from a friend.
'Just go inside, turn to the right, and ride the Paternoster. You can go right over the top! It's best not to talk to the security guard, just go for it. '
Right from the start I was intrigued. A shadowy cotton cabal, setting world textile prices, sitting on a mysterious treasure of primitive elevator technology, all hiding in plain sight.
I spent the morning staking out the front door. I enjoyed a coffee at the Starbucks across the street and observed traffic going in and out, looking to see if there was any kind of security. Everything seemed pretty normal, but I couldn't be sure. I had to take a closer look.
As I approached the front door I tried to act German and think about cotton. I was wearing cotton socks, a cotton tshirt, and cotton pants, surely I would look like I belonged. The doors parted as I walked up the steps and I entered an antechamber with a security desk to the left and more doors straight ahead. The guard might have been looking at me, but I couldn't tell as I was hiding deep in the upturned collar of my jacket and trying not to look at him. Thankfully the second set of doors opened for me as I continued to move on, trying to look like I belonged. I was in!
A beautiful staircase opened right in front of the doors, but I was in search of a different means of climbing to the next story. I turned to the right to look for the legendary Paternoster. There it was, just a few meters ahead, roped off with velvet and some incomprehensible German warning signs. Nothing was going to stop me from riding the machine at that point, and I swallowed my fear and stepped onto the next car to slowly climb into view.
I felt a surge of adrenaline as I was slowly lifted to the next level, and the next. Now the time came to disembark and I took a hesitant step into the third floor hallway. Success! Now I just had to escape the building without being caught. The next car slowly inched down into view and I rode the platform back towards the ground floor. I had been told it was safe to ride in a full loop, but I wasn't sure. The warning signs came to mind, and I wondered what happened to the cars when they dropped below the lowest floor. I didn't want to find out and I quickly made my exit back to the safety of the ground floor hallway.
An office worker saw me disembark, and seemed to show little interest. Perhaps I would make it out of the clutches of the cotton cabal safely after all. The doors opened again before me as I retraced my steps past security, and I risked a glance at the guard behind the desk. He was deeply interested in a newspaper of some kind, and I made my escape, back to the rainy streets of Bremen a fugitive from cotton justice.
I highly recommend recreating this scenario on your own visit to the cotton exchange. It may be just on old office building with an antique elevating device, and a friendly security guard, but yesterday it was the setting for my very own spy movie.
Five stars, would sneak in again (but you don't have to. )
