[2] In the 1850s, Sændergade was being developed from the Aarhus River near the cathedral to Sønder Allé but the last stretch to the Central Station was only served by a small path going through a plant nursery.

[6][7] The first years traffic to Store Torv still went through Fredensgade and Skolegade but when St. Clemens Bridge opened in 1884 Ryesgade and Søndergade became the main thoroughfare connecting the central station and the newly developing neighborhood Frederiksbjerg south of it to the old city center north of the river.

During the lengthy construction period access to Ryesgade was restricted by a large height differential and traffic started moving along the newly developed Park Allé instead.

[10] In 1929, construction was completed and buildings along the upper third of Ryesgade had been demolished and rebuilt in order to make the street level with Banegårdspladsen.

In Aarhus it was decided to turn Søndergade into a pedestrian street but in Ryesgade store owners objected, fearing loss of revenue with the absence of cars.

Clemens Square were renovated and Ryesgade was closed off to car traffic, thus creating a 750 meters long pedestrian street known as Strøget.

Designed in Gothic Revival architecture by the German architect Frantz Schmitz who had worked on the recently completed Cologne Cathedral.