Hamburg City Hall (german: link=no, Hamburger Rathaus, ) is the

seat of local government The seat of government is (as defined by ''Brewer's Politics'') "the building, complex of buildings or the city from which a government exercises its authority". In most countries, the nation’s capital is also seat of its government, thus that ...

of the Free and

Hanseatic The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label=German language, Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a Middle Ages, medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central Europe, Central and Norther ...

City of

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, Germany. It is the seat of the

government of Hamburg The government of Hamburg is divided into Executive (government), executive, Legislature, legislative and judiciary, judicial branches. Hamburg is a city-state and municipality, and thus its governance deals with several details of both state and ...

and as such, the seat of one of Germany's 16 state parliaments. The Rathaus is located in the Altstadt quarter in the city center, at the

Rathausmarkt Rathausmarkt (lit. ''City Hall Marketplace'') is the central square of Hamburg, Germany, located in the Altstadt (''old town'') quarter right in front of the Hamburg Rathaus.

square, and near the lake

Binnenalster Binnenalster () or Inner Alster Lake is one of two artificial lakes within the city limits of Hamburg, Germany, which are formed by the river Alster (the other being the Außenalster). The main annual festival is the ''Alstervergnügen''. The lak ...

and the

central station Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...

. Constructed from 1886 to 1897, the city hall still houses its original governmental functions with the office of the First Mayor of Hamburg and the meeting rooms for the

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

and the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

(the city's executive branch).

History

After the old city hall was destroyed in the great fire of 1842, it took almost 44 years to build a new one. The present building was designed by a group of seven architects, led by

Martin Haller Martin Emil Ferdinand Haller (1835–1925) was a German architect, who designed the Hamburg Rathaus and the building of the Consulate General of the United States in Hamburg, and a member of the Hamburg Parliament. Early life and family H ...

. Construction started in 1886 and the new city hall was inaugurated in 1897. Its cost was 11 million

German gold mark The German mark (german: Goldmark ; sign: ℳ) was the currency of the German Empire, which spanned from 1871 to 1918. The mark was paired with the minor unit of the pfennig (₰); 100 pfennigs were equivalent to 1 mark. The mark was on the g ...

s, about €80 million. On 26 October 1897 at the official opening ceremony the First Mayor Johannes Versmann received the key of the city hall. In the postwar period, various heads of state visited Hamburg and its City Hall — among them Emperor

Haile Selassie I Haile Selassie I ( gez, ቀዳማዊ ኀይለ ሥላሴ, Qädamawi Häylä Səllasé, ; born Tafari Makonnen; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as Regent Plenipotentiary of Ethiopia ('' ...

, the

Shah Shah (; fa, شاه, , ) is a royal title that was historically used by the leading figures of Iranian monarchies.Yarshater, EhsaPersia or Iran, Persian or Farsi, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII no. 1 (1989) It was also used by a variety of ...

anshah

Mohammed Reza Pahlavi Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monoth ...

in 1955, and in 1965 Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

. An emotionally moving service of remembrance was held on the market-square for the victims of the

North Sea flood of 1962 The North Sea flood of 1962 was a natural disaster affecting mainly the coastal regions of West Germany and in particular the city of Hamburg in the night from 16 February to 17 February 1962. In total, the homes of about 60,000 people were ...

. Happier moments were the celebrations of

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its football section. Though the current HSV was founded in June 1919 from a merger of three ...

German football champions The German football champions are the annual winners of the highest association football competition in Germany. The history of the German football championship is complex and reflects the turbulent history of the country through the course of t ...

, the last time though in 1983. In 1971 a room in the tower was only discovered accidentally during a search for a document fallen behind a filing cabinet. So there is a probability that there are even more rooms than the currently counted 647 rooms.

Architecture

On the outside the architectural style is

Neo-Renaissance Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range o ...

, which is abandoned inside for several historical elements. It is one of the few completely preserved buildings of

historicism Historicism is an approach to explaining the existence of phenomena, especially social and cultural practices (including ideas and beliefs), by studying their history, that is, by studying the process by which they came about. The term is widely u ...

in Hamburg. Built in a period of wealth and prosperity, in which the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Re ...

and its military defeated France in the Franco-German War and the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

was formed, the look of the new Hamburg Rathaus was intended to express this wealth and also the independence of the State of Hamburg and Hamburg's republican traditions. The city hall has a total area of , not including the restaurant ''Ratsweinkeller'', now called ''Parlament'', of . The tower is high with 436 steps. It is a common misconception that Hamburg Rathaus has more rooms than

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...

(647 vs. 775), on a building area of . The balcony is surmounted by a

mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

of Hamburg's patron goddess

Hammonia Hammonia is the female personification of Hamburg. The figure of Hammonia as symbol of Hamburg first appears in art and literature in the 18th century. Up until the Protestant Reformation, the city's patroness had been the Virgin Mary. A tall ...

, the city's

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

and an inscription of the city's

motto A motto (derived from the Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of an individual, family, social group, or organisation. Mot ...

in Latin: The courtyard is decorated with a

Hygieia Hygieia is a goddess from Greek, as well as Roman, mythology (also referred to as: Hygiea or Hygeia; ; grc, Ὑγιεία or , la, Hygēa or ). Hygieia is a goddess of health ( el, ὑγίεια – ''hugieia''), cleanliness and hygiene. Her ...

fountain. Hygieia as the goddess of health and hygiene in Greek mythology and its surrounding figures represents the power and pureness of the water. It was built in remembrance of the

cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...

epidemic in 1892, the former technical purpose was air cooling in the city hall.

Interiors

Tannenbaum im Hamburger Rathaus.jpg, Grand Hallway Hamburger Rathaus (Treppenaufgang).jpg, Stairwell to the Bürgerschaft 2011-06-22-hh-buergerschaft-by-RalfR-25.jpg, Lobby of the Bürgerschaft 181 - Rathaus (Hamburg).jpg, Kaisersaal (Emperor's Hall) Hamburger.Rathaus.Prunkleuchter.im.Kaisersaal.jpg, Chandelier, Kaisersaal 182 - Rathaus (Hamburg).jpg, Tower hall Plenarsaal Hamburgische Bürgerschaft IMG 6403 6404 6405 edit.jpg, Plenary Hall of the

Hamburg Parliament The Hamburg Parliament (german: Hamburgische Bürgerschaft; literally “Hamburgish Citizenry”) is the unicameral legislature of the German state of Hamburg according to the constitution of Hamburg. As of 2011 there were 121 members in the parli ...

Hamburger.Rathaus.Senatssaal.jpg, Council chamber, Senate meeting room Hamburger.Rathaus.Gerechtigkeit.Senat.jpg, "Justice", Senate wing Hamburger.Rathaus.Gnade.Senat.jpg, "Grace", Senate wing 17-09-05-Rathaus Hamburg innen RR70355-Panorama.jpg, Mayor's office with the city's Golden Book

Functions

The lobby is a public area used for concerts and exhibitions. It is open to the public. The emperor's hall in the first floor is the second-largest representation hall, named after

Wilhelm II Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor (german: Kaiser) and King of Prussia, reigning from 15 June 1888 until his abdication on 9 November 1918. Despite strengthening the German Empir ...

and functions as a room for official presentations. The mayor's hall was planned as a small meeting room. In the room as of 2008 the entry in the city's Golden Book take place, which was done by many dignitaries including the former German President

Paul von Hindenburg Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg (; abbreviated ; 2 October 1847 – 2 August 1934) was a German field marshal and statesman who led the Imperial German Army during World War I and later became President of Germany fro ...

and the

Dalai Lama Dalai Lama (, ; ) is a title given by the Tibetan people to the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest and most dominant of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The 14th and current Dal ...

. In the left wing is the floor of the

. The 121 representatives meet in a room that was renovated during the

Nazi era Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. Only three fields on the ceiling shows its original decoration. The Hamburg Rathaus 03

Gallery

The Rathaus takes part in the

Long Night of Museums The Long Night of Museums (german: Lange Nacht der Museen), or the Night of Museums, and, since 2005, the European Night of Museums, is a cultural event in which museums and cultural institutions to remain open late into the night to introduce ...

. Even it is not a museum itself, and there are many virtual and historical details. During the ''Long Night of Museums in Hamburg'' the motto is "long night in centre of power".

Neighborhood

The city hall is located in the center of Hamburg. In front of it is a market-square, the

Rathausmarkt Rathausmarkt (lit. ''City Hall Marketplace'') is the central square of Hamburg, Germany, located in the Altstadt (''old town'') quarter right in front of the Hamburg Rathaus.

, used for events and festivals. At the rear of the town hall is the

Hamburg Stock Exchange The Hamburg Stock Exchange (german: link=yes, Hamburger Börse) is the oldest stock exchange in Germany. It was founded in 1558 in the Free and Hanseatic city of Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 ...

. The main shopping street,

Mönckebergstraße The Mönckebergstraße (locally also called Mö) is one of the main shopping streets in Hamburg, Germany. Mönckebergstraße is located in Hamburg-Altstadt, running some 800 m in east-west-direction between the Hauptbahnhof at Steintorwall and th ...

, connects the town hall with the

. The

with the

Jungfernstieg station Jungfernstieg () is an underground railway stationName, station code and category: Liste Bahnhofskategorie 2008, DB Station&Service AG, Köthener Straße 2, 10963 Berlin (2008) in the city centre of Hamburg, Germany, served by the underground ra ...

and quay for the Alster ships is directly north of the Rathaus. A nearby architectural landmark is the St. Peter's Church.

References

External links

Hamburgische Bürgerschaft - Welcome to Hamburg City Hall!
official website of the Hamburg Parliament ''(Hamburgische Bürgerschaft)''

on hamburg.de
Picture of the Hamburg City Hall

directly
{{Authority control Government buildings completed in 1897 Buildings and structures in Hamburg-Mitte City and town halls in Germany German Landtag buildings Heritage sites in Hamburg Tourist attractions in Hamburg Renaissance Revival architecture in Germany Official residences of subnational executives Office buildings in Germany