City Halls of Germany

transcript

Presented in alphabetical order

Perspectives on the Nature of German City Halls“The architecture and ornamentation of city halls and the activities they housed embodied the efforts of

the citizens to set themselves apart from other dominant secular and religious institutions, such as royal

dynasties and the Catholic and Protestant churches. City halls were the sites of local governance or

administration and also sites of festivals and rituals that helped construct a sense of collective or shared

identity while legitimizing the authority of those individuals or groups that actually exercised some

measure of power in the cities. Sculptures on façades celebrated local notables alongside important

dynastic or national figures. The buildings thus linked civic authority with the performance of civic pride.”

— Jeffry M. Diefendorf, "Rebuilding City Halls in Postwar Germany: Architectural Form and Identity”

“We call events and occasions public when they are open to all, in contrast to closed or exclusive affairs as

when we speak of public spaces or public buildings. But, as in the expression public building, the term

need not refer to general accessibility; the building does not even have to be open to public traffic. Public

buildings simple house state institutions and as such are public.

— Jürgen Habermas, The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere

“Art was not morally neutral but worked in the service of virtue… Ornament was not crime, but the

addition of beauty and instruction to the satisfaction of material needs. Art began precisely where utility

broke off. Form was not to follow function, but to transcend it. Any evidence of restraint, understatement,

or, worst of all, parsimony, will subvert its intention.”

— Donald Olsen, The City as a Work of Art

Augsburg

1615-1624; Elias Holl, architect

Perspective drawing of Augsburg city hall by Theodor Fischer, 1886

Augsburg “Golden Room” ceiling

Golden Room Interior (panoramic photo)

Golden Room door latch (photo by Heribert Pohl)

Wide-angle view of the restored "Prince's Room" -- originally used to house

distinguished guests of the town council (photo by Kubische Panoramen)

Details of stove in the Prince's Room (photo by Rainer Fritz) -- note the Augsburg

pinecone atop the ionic capital in the left panel)

Bamberg

1467; additions in 1756 by Jakob Küchel

The bishop of Bamberg refused to allow the citizens to build a city hall on any land under the control of the church. So the townspeople created

an artificial island in the Regnitz river and built their town hall there.

Bamberg Facade Painting by Anwar Johann

3-D "signature" by mural painter Johann Anwander (photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Bamberg Main Entrance

Balcony detail (photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Berlin (Rotes Rauhaus)

(Hermann Friedrich Waesemann, architect) 1861-1869

Berlin (Rotes Rauhaus) tower

Berlin (Rotes Rauhaus) stairway

The new style: mayor's office in the Rotes Rathaus

Bremen1405-1409; renovated 1595-1612 (Lüder von Bentheim, architect)

Bremen Meeting Hall

Meeting Hall Ship Model (photo by Jürgen Howalt)

The Golden Room and wallpaper detail, by Heinrich Vogeler, 1905 (photos by Jobenau, left, and Birnbaum, right

Bremen City Hall ratskeller with barrel of 1653 wine

The Bacchus Dining Room in the City Hall Ratskeller

Cologne (Köln)

14th-19th century, multiple architects

Cologne detail

Platzjabbeck, the grotesque face that sticks out his tongue on the hour

With Saints Evergisius, Severin, and Maternus (first bishop of Cologne)

Cologne interior door

Düsseldorf

1570-1573; H. Tussmann architect; redesigned in 1749 by Joseph Couven

Düsseldorf city hall door (photo by John Hagstrom)

Düsseldorf coat of arms on city hall

DüsseldorfChristmas market in City Hall square

Frankfurt

1435, 1510,1542,1596,1896-1900; multiple architects

Balcony on Frankfurt city hall

"Bridge of Sighs" (leading to tax collector's office) and the Ratskeller (lower left)

Ratskeller entrance door (photo by Heribert Pohl)

Frankfurt ratskeller side gate (detail)

Freiburg

1559; Dietrich Neeb, architect; new city hall buildings (originally private houses) on left linked to old in 1901

Freiburg

Freiburg im Breisgau Old City Hall; begun in the fourteenth century, and often altered

Clock and bells (detail)

FreiburgDoor on older building

Freiburgwindow on newer building

Meeting room in the "new" section of city hall

Gernsbach

1617-1618; Hans Jakob Kast, architect

Bay window detail

Gernsbach Coat of Arms

Hamburg

1886-1897; seven architects, led by Martin Haller

Tower top and finial<img src="http://static.squarespace.com/static/53b9abe9e4b0366641161844/t/548bc619e4b04ff00dd44bff/1418446361152/" />

Tower top and finial

Note the Hamburg coat of arms against the red background The seal dates from the 13th century, and may only be used on government documents or buildings.The Latin inscription below the seal and above a mosaic representation of Hammonia, patron goddess of the city says:

May posterity strive to preserve the freedom won by our forebearers

City Hall inner courtyard with the Fountain of Hygieia, classical goddess of health (photo by Ulrich Kerstling)

Hamburg Parliament Chamber

Senate Room (photo by Luxtonnere)

Music Gallery -- note lights and music stands in the balcony

Christmas Tree in Hamburg City Hall

Hannover

1902-1913; Hermann Eggert and Gustav Halmhuber, architects

Hannover, night view

Interior beneath the dome

Meeting room, with a mural of local hero Dietrich Arnsborg urging the citizens of Hannover in 1563 to affirm the Reformation.

Hannover seen from the city hall

Old Hannover City Hall

1410; renovated by Conrad Wilhelm Hase, 1877-1891

Old Hannover City Hall (detail)

Old Hannover City Hall: figures in the roof brickwork

Detail with sculptured head of Conrad Wilhelm Hase, architect

of the renovated old city hall,m 1877-1891

Heidelberg1701-1703; 1886-1890; multiple architects

Heidelberg detail (Coat of Arms)Present coat of arms is a copy of the original by Heinrich Charrasky

For a reading of the symbolism, click here: http://www.dr-bernhard-peter.de/Heraldik/Galerien/galerie1021.htm

Stained glass representation of Karl-Ludwig I in the main meeting hall (photo by Michael Linnenbach)

Dramatic HDR image of the towers and shields (photo by Square Eyes)

Lübeck

1226-1308; 1435; 1570-1572; multiple architects

Baroque and Gothic (photo by Laurent Goletz)

Decorated oriel and balcony

Two views (unrestored and restored) of the balcony volutes (top photo by groenling)

Interior stairwell (photo by vazyvite)

Lübeck interior ceiling

Gothic revival wall and Art Nouveau decorations (photo by Jean Pierre Hinze)

Lübeck Audience Hall Doors

Formerly courtroom doors. Defendants judged innocent left by the taller door on the left;

guilty defendants had to duck their heads and exit through the lower door on the right.

Lübeck —> Lubbock

The city hall in the Texas town where I grew up

Munich Old City Hall

1392-1394;1470-1480;1861-1864; replaced by new city hall

Festival Hall

Munich Old City HallMorris Dancers by Erasmus Grasser (1480)

Morris Dancer in Munich Today (The Munich Morisken Dancers photo)

Munich1867-1908; Georg von Hauberrisser, architect

Munich Glockenspiel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1x3GrJFoyA&spfreload=10

Munich detail

Munich details

Iron Door Detail

Munich city hall ratskeller entrance (photo by License to Crennelate)

Neumunster1898-1900; Magnus Schlichting, architect

Neumunster facade detail

Mosaic honoring the crafts

Nuremberg1571-1620; Jakob Wolff the Younger, architect

West Exterior Facade

Entrance to the dining hall; over the entrance are: Alexander the Great, the leopard beast with four heads (from

the Book of Daniel), Julius Caesar and the beast with ten horns; in the center is the Nuremberg coast of arms,

representing its status as a Free Imperial City (right) and a member of the Holy Roman Empire (left)

NurembergMedieval dungeon and torture chamber below ground floor

The Great Hall before 1945

The Great Hall after 1945

Reconstruction plans for the Dürer mural in the Great Hall

Paderborn1613-1620; Hermann Baumhauer, architect

Paderborn detail

Hallway and stairs with sections of the old building

From the original building, only the stair railing remains in the ascent to the second floor

Rothenburg

1250-1400; 1572-1578; Leonhard Weidmann architect (second stage)

Detail, Roof and Oriels

Astronomical clock on the adjacent city hall building

Detail of the painted drinkers

Rothenburg tower stairs

View of Rothenburg from city hall roof

Schriesheim

Schriesheim1684; Felix Wismer, Hans Jacob Gugerle, Hans Jost, architects

Modern replica of a neck-iron pillory attached to the stonework of the Schriesheim city hall

Tangermünde

1430 (Hinrich Brunsberg, master builder) and 1846 (Friedrich August Stüler, architect)

Tangermünde facade detail

Meetings and Ceremony Room

Memorial to Grete Mide, a local woman burned at the state for allegedly setting fire to Tangermünde in 1617

Wernigerode

Construction begun in 1429, altered many times; completed in present form, 1939

Wernigerode city hall and plaza

BibliographyBooks

Chattopadhyay, Swati (Editor) and White, Jeremy (Editor), City Halls and Civic Materialism: Towards a Global History of Urban Public Space; London, 2014

Olsen, Donald J., The City as a Work of Art; Yale University, 1988

(Though this book covers primarily London, Paris, and Vienna, several chapters, such as “Architecture as Language: Representation and Instruction” apply to all the

city halls on this site.)

Kiewert Walter, Deutsche Rathäuser; Dresden, 1961

Rosemann, H. R. and Wolf Strache, Deutsche Rathäuser; Stuttgart, 1952

Web Links

I’ve listed the links — my own and many from Wikipedia — in English where possible. Otherwise, the links lead to web pages in German.

Augsburg

https://arthur-chandler.squarespace.com/augsburg-notes

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augsburg_Town_Hall

Bamberg

https://arthur-chandler.squarespace.com/bamberg-notes

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altes_Rathaus_(Bamberg)

Berlin

https://arthur-chandler.squarespace.com/berlin-notes

http://www.berlin.de/orte/sehenswuerdigkeiten/rotes-rathaus/

Bremen

https://arthur-chandler.squarespace.com/bremen-notes

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bremen_City_Hall

Cologne (Köln)

https://arthur-chandler.squarespace.com/new-page-1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cologne_City_Hall

Düsseldorf

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rathaus_Düsseldorf

Frankfurt

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Römer

Freiburg

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rathaus_(Freiburg_im_Breisgau)

Gernsbach

Bibliography

Hamburg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamburg_Rathaus

Hannoverhttps://arthur-chandler.squarespace.com/new-page-62

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Town_Hall_(Hanover)

Hannover Old City Hall

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altes_Rathaus_(Hannover)

Heidelberg

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rathaus_(Heidelberg)

Lübeck

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lübecker_Rathaus

Munich (München)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Town_Hall_(Munich)

Munich Old City Hall

https://arthur-chandler.squarespace.com/old-munich-notes

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Town_Hall,_Munich

Neumunster

https://arthur-chandler.squarespace.com/tangermnde-notes

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altes_Rathaus_(Neumünster)

Nuremberg

https://arthur-chandler.squarespace.com/nuremberg-notes

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nürnberger_Rathaus

Paderborn

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rathaus_Paderborn

Rothenburg

https://arthur-chandler.squarespace.com/rothenburg-notes

http://franken-wiki.de/index.php/Rathaus_Rothenburg

Schriesheim

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schriesheim (general information only)

Tangermünde

https://arthur-chandler.squarespace.com/neumnster-notes

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rathaus_Tangermünde

Wernigerode

http://www.hausgeschichte-wernigerode.de/looke.php?INDEX=24

City Halls of Germany

Art & Photos