What is a town hall, everyone knows who has been to the ancient cities of Europe. This is a building in which officials and merchants once lived. Today, such structures are architectural monuments. The article lists the most famous town halls in the world.
Meaning of the word
What is a town hall? This is a borrowing from Polish. In this Slavic language the word came from German. The fact is that the first such buildings were built precisely in German cities. In order to understand what a town hall is, it is worth taking a look at the German-Russian dictionary.
Rathaus - this is how the word is written, the meaning of which we are considering, in German. The noun consists of two parts - raten and Haus. The first is the verb, translated into Russian - "advise." The second is a noun, meaning home. What is a town hall? Literally, the house of advice.
Famous town halls
Similar buildings can be seen in the following cities:
- Bremen
- Munich.
- Prague.
- Tallinn.
- Regensburg.
- Antwerp.
- Kosice.
The city hall, founded several centuries ago, is in almost every ancient European city. The following describes the most famous buildings.
Bremen Town Hall
This building is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The building of the town hall in Bremen is an example of Gothic architecture. The construction is located in the historical center on the Market Square.
The town hall was built at the beginning of the 15th century. After a hundred years, the city authorities decided that the appearance of this building is too modest. The construction was restored, giving it the style of the Weser Renaissance. During the Second World War, more than half of Bremen's buildings were destroyed. The Town Hall miraculously survived. The last restoration was carried out in 2003.
Munich City Hall
The building is located on Marienplatz square, intended for city government. But some floors are open for tourists to visit. This is not the only town hall in the city, it was built not so long ago - in the middle of the 19th century. And therefore it is called New. Previously, the city council was located in the Old Town Hall, which is only a few tens of meters.
The construction, of course, is equipped with an elevator. Everyone can climb to the top floor, where there is one of the best observation platforms in Munich.
Old Town Hall
This building is located in the historical district of the Czech capital. The first building at the construction site, which is visited by thousands of tourists annually, appeared in the 13th century. The building today is one of the main attractions of Prague. However, it does not look the same as in the Middle Ages, because it was completed several times.
In 1360, a second building appeared on the western side. One hundred years later, another structure was erected here. At the beginning of the 19th century, a clock was installed upstairs and an area was added. In 1945, the Old Town Hall almost burned down. The fire destroyed part of the structure, and the chimes suffered.
Tallinn Town Hall
In the Middle Ages, the city government of Revel was located in this building - that was the name of the capital of Estonia. This building is one of the oldest cities in Europe. The first mention of it is found in documents of the 14th century.
Old Town Hall in Regensburg
The members of the city council have not been sitting in this building for a long time. Here is a museum. The construction of the building began in the 14th century. New details were repeatedly added to the construction. The Reichstag Museum, located here, was founded in the sixties of the last century. In Hitler's time there was a prison and a torture chamber in the basement of the town hall.
Antwerp Town Hall
This is one of the first renaissance buildings in Northern Europe. Built in the middle of the 16th century, at the time when Antwerp was a large trading city. The Town Hall is located on the main square, is a four-story building. It lost its original appearance during a fire in 1576, but the building was later restored. The interior of the premises is styled antique.