Sanitary conditions at the uncovered Birsig stream – here between the Barfüsserplatz and the post office, erected in 1851/52 – were disastrous, the refuse dropping directly from the toilets at the back of the houses into the stream, whose water level was often too low to wash away the waste. The Great Council thus decided in 1898 to re-route this stretch of the Birsig stream underground, thus creating today’s Falknerstrasse. This street is named after Rudolf Falkner, head of the construction department who died in 1898.