German city halls served to establish civic identity and authority separate from royal and religious institutions. They housed local governance and hosted civic rituals and festivals. Sculptures on the façades celebrated local leaders alongside national figures, linking civic pride to civic authority. The buildings' architecture and ornamentation embodied citizens' efforts to define themselves while legitimizing existing power structures. Later, as public spheres emerged, city halls represented state institutions open to the public, though not necessarily accessible to all. Their art aimed to instruct and beautify while transcending mere utility or function.

1. Presented in alphabetical order

2. 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

3. Augsburg
1615-1624; Elias Holl, architect

4. Perspective drawing of Augsburg city hall by Theodor Fischer, 1886

5. Augsburg “Golden Room” ceiling

6. Golden Room Interior (panoramic photo)

7. Golden Room door latch (photo by Heribert Pohl)

8. Wide-angle view of the restored "Prince's Room" -- originally used to house
distinguished guests of the town council (photo by Kubische Panoramen)

9. Details of stove in the Prince's Room (photo by Rainer Fritz) -- note the Augsburg
pinecone atop the ionic capital in the left panel)

10. 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.

11. Bamberg Facade Painting by Anwar Johann

12. 3-D "signature" by mural painter Johann Anwander (photo: Wikimedia Commons)

13. Bamberg Main Entrance

14. Balcony detail (photo: Wikimedia Commons)

15. Berlin (Rotes Rauhaus)
(Hermann Friedrich Waesemann, architect) 1861-1869

16. Berlin (Rotes Rauhaus) tower

17. Berlin (Rotes Rauhaus) stairway

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

19. Bremen
1405-1409; renovated 1595-1612 (Lüder von Bentheim, architect)

20. Bremen Meeting Hall

21. Meeting Hall Ship Model (photo by Jürgen Howalt)

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

23. Bremen City Hall ratskeller with barrel of 1653 wine

24. The Bacchus Dining Room in the City Hall Ratskeller

25. Cologne (Köln)
14th-19th century, multiple architects

26. Cologne detail

27. Platzjabbeck, the grotesque face that sticks out his tongue on the hour
With Saints Evergisius, Severin, and Maternus (first bishop of Cologne)

28. Cologne interior door

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

30. Düsseldorf city hall door (photo by John Hagstrom)

31. Düsseldorf coat of arms on city hall

32. Düsseldorf
Christmas market in City Hall square

33. Frankfurt
1435, 1510,1542,1596,1896-1900; multiple architects

34. Balcony on Frankfurt city hall

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

36. Ratskeller entrance door (photo by Heribert Pohl)

37. Frankfurt ratskeller side gate (detail)

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

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

40. Clock and bells (detail)

41. Freiburg
Door on older building

42. Freiburg
window on newer building

43. Meeting room in the "new" section of city hall

44. Gernsbach
1617-1618; Hans Jakob Kast, architect

45. Bay window detail

46. Gernsbach Coat of Arms

47. Hamburg
1886-1897; seven architects, led by Martin Haller

48. Tower top and finial

49. 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

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

51. Hamburg Parliament Chamber

52. Senate Room (photo by Luxtonnere)

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

54. Christmas Tree in Hamburg City Hall

55. Hannover
1902-1913; Hermann Eggert and Gustav Halmhuber, architects

56. Hannover, night view

57. Interior beneath the dome

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

59. Hannover seen from the city hall

60. Old Hannover City Hall
1410; renovated by Conrad Wilhelm Hase, 1877-1891

61. Old Hannover City Hall (detail)

62. Old Hannover City Hall: figures in the roof brickwork

63. Detail with sculptured head of Conrad Wilhelm Hase, architect

64. Heidelberg
1701-1703; 1886-1890; multiple architects

65. 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

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

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

68. Lübeck
1226-1308; 1435; 1570-1572; multiple architects

69. Baroque and Gothic (photo by Laurent Goletz)

70. Decorated oriel and balcony

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

72. Interior stairwell (photo by vazyvite)

73. Lübeck interior ceiling

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

75. 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.

76. Lübeck —> Lubbock
The city hall in the Texas town where I grew up

77. Munich Old City Hall
1392-1394;1470-1480;1861-1864; replaced by new city hall

78. Festival Hall

79. Munich Old City Hall
Morris Dancers by Erasmus Grasser (1480)

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

81. Munich
1867-1908; Georg von Hauberrisser, architect

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

83. Munich detail

84. Munich details

85. Iron Door Detail

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

87. Neumunster
1898-1900; Magnus Schlichting, architect

88. Neumunster facade detail

89. Mosaic honoring the crafts

90. Nuremberg
1571-1620; Jakob Wolff the Younger, architect

91. West Exterior Facade

92. 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)

93. Nuremberg
Medieval dungeon and torture chamber below ground floor

94. The Great Hall before 1945

95. The Great Hall after 1945

96. Reconstruction plans for the Dürer mural in the Great Hall

97. Paderborn
1613-1620; Hermann Baumhauer, architect

98. Paderborn detail

99. Hallway and stairs with sections of the old building

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

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

102. Detail, Roof and Oriels

103. Astronomical clock on the adjacent city hall building

104. Detail of the painted drinkers

105. Rothenburg tower stairs

106. View of Rothenburg from city hall roof

107. Schriesheim
Schriesheim
1684; Felix Wismer, Hans Jacob Gugerle, Hans Jost, architects

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

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

110. Tangermünde facade detail

111. Meetings and Ceremony Room

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

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

114. Wernigerode city hall and plaza

115. Bibliography
Books
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
https://arthur-chandler.squarespace.com/new-page-2
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rathaus_Düsseldorf
Frankfurt
https://arthur-chandler.squarespace.com/new-page-3
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Römer
Freiburg
https://arthur-chandler.squarespace.com/new-page-4
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rathaus_(Freiburg_im_Breisgau)
Gernsbach

116. Bibliography
Hamburg
https://arthur-chandler.squarespace.com/new-page-35
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamburg_Rathaus
Hannover
https://arthur-chandler.squarespace.com/new-page-62
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Town_Hall_(Hanover)
Hannover Old City Hall
https://arthur-chandler.squarespace.com/new-page-40
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altes_Rathaus_(Hannover)
Heidelberg
https://arthur-chandler.squarespace.com/new-page-12
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rathaus_(Heidelberg)
Lübeck
https://arthur-chandler.squarespace.com/new-page-51
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lübecker_Rathaus
Munich (München)
https://arthur-chandler.squarespace.com/new-page-69
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
https://arthur-chandler.squarespace.com/new-page-38
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