The Rotes Rathaus (, ''Red City Hall'') is the town hall of

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, located in the

Mitte Mitte () is the first and most central borough of Berlin. The borough consists of six sub-entities: Mitte proper, Gesundbrunnen, Hansaviertel, Moabit, Tiergarten and Wedding. It is one of the two boroughs (the other being Friedrichshain-Kreuzb ...

district on Rathausstraße near

Alexanderplatz () ( en, Alexander Square) is a large public square and transport hub in the central Mitte district of Berlin. The square is named after the Russian Tsar Alexander I, which also denotes the larger neighbourhood stretching from in the nort ...

. It is the home to the governing mayor and the government (the Senate of Berlin) of the state of Berlin. The name of the landmark building dates from the façade design with red

clinker bricks Clinker bricks are partially-Glass transition, vitrified bricks used in the construction of buildings. Clinker bricks are produced when wet clay bricks are exposed to excessive heat during the Pottery#Firing, firing process, sintering the surfac ...

History

The

Rathaus In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

was built between 1861 and 1869 in the style of the

Northern Italy Northern Italy ( it, Italia settentrionale, it, Nord Italia, label=none, it, Alta Italia, label=none or just it, Nord, label=none) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. It consists of eight administrative regions ...

High

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

Hermann Friedrich Waesemann Hermann Friedrich Waesemann (6 June 1813 – 28 January 1879) was a German architect. He was born in Danzig (Gdańsk), the son of an architect. He studied mathematics and science in Bonn from 1830 to 1832, before going to Berlin to study ar ...

. It was modelled on the Old Town Hall of Thorn (today

Toruń )'' , image_skyline = , image_caption = , image_flag = POL Toruń flag.svg , image_shield = POL Toruń COA.svg , nickname = City of Angels, Gingerbread city, Copernicus Town , pushpin_map = Kuyavian-Pom ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

), while the architecture of the tower is reminiscent of the cathedral tower of Notre-Dame de Laon in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. It replaced several individual buildings dating from the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

and now occupies an entire city block. The building was heavily damaged by Allied bombing in World War II and rebuilt to the original plans between 1951 and 1956. The ''Neues Stadthaus'', which survived the bombing and had formerly been the head office of Berlin's municipal fire insurance ''Feuersozietät'' in Parochialstraße served as the temporary city hall for the post-war city government for all the sectors of Berlin until September 1948. Following that time, it housed only those of the Soviet sector. The reconstructed Rotes Rathaus, then located in the Soviet sector, served as the town hall of

East Berlin East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as ...

, while the

Rathaus Schöneberg Rathaus Schöneberg is the city hall for the borough of Tempelhof-Schöneberg in Berlin. From 1949 until 1990 it served as the seat of the state senate of West Berlin and from 1949 until 1991 as the seat of the Governing Mayor. History The san ...

was the town hall of

West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...

. After

German reunification German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...

, the administration of reunified Berlin officially moved into the Rotes Rathaus on 1 October 1991. File:Ayuntamiento Rojo, Berlín, Alemania, 2016-04-22, DD 37-39 HDR.jpg, Tower and clock of Rotes Rathaus File:Rotes Rathaus, Berlin.jpg, Rotes Rathaus at night File:Rotes Rathaus vom Fernsehturm aus.jpg, Seen from the Fernsehturm File:Berlin- The Rotes Rathaus with the Neptunbrunnen in front - 2761.jpg, Rotes Rathaus and

Neptunbrunnen The Neptune Fountain (german: Neptunbrunnen) in Berlin was built in 1891 and was designed by Reinhold Begas. The Roman god Neptune is in the center. The four women around him represent the four main rivers of Prussia at the time the fountain was ...

File:LNM 03-13 Rotes Rathaus 08.jpg, Entrance hall of the Rathaus File:Torun Ratusz Staromiejski 2010 03 04 7189.JPG,

town hall, inspiration for the Rotes Rathaus

External links

CityMayors feature

{{Authority control Buildings and structures in Mitte City and town halls in Germany Government buildings completed in 1869 1869 establishments in Prussia Official residences of subnational executives Rebuilt buildings and structures in Berlin

History

See also

External links