johann poppe (1837–1915), who had gained a reputation for his skill in designing some of bremen's large public buildings including the waterworks (1873) and the library (1896), was selected as the architect for the cotton exchange. located on the corner of wachtstraße and the marktplatz, the building which originally had five storeys was completed in 1902. it combined the latest structural techniques (becoming bremen's first steel-framed building) with a high degree of functionality and an imposing neo-renaissance facade. the architecture critic walter müller-wulckow described the bremen cotton exchange, which started to shed its profuse ornamentation after exposure to the elements, as the "crassest" manifestation of "cancerous" building styles. as a result of weathering, the richly decorated outer walls of sandstone had to be almost completely renewed from 1922 to 1924 under the supervision of otto blendermann.