The Bremen City Hall (german: Bremer Rathaus) is the seat of the President of 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 ...

and Mayor of the

Free Hanseatic City of Bremen Bremen (), officially the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (german: Freie Hansestadt Bremen; nds, Free Hansestadt Bremen), is the smallest and least populous of Germany's 16 states. It is informally called ("State of Bremen"), although the term ...

. It is one of the most important examples of

Brick Gothic Brick Gothic (german: Backsteingotik, pl, Gotyk ceglany, nl, Baksteengotiek) is a specific style of Gothic architecture common in Northeast and Central Europe especially in the regions in and around the Baltic Sea, which do not have resourc ...

and Weser Renaissance architecture in Europe. Since 1973, it has been a protected historical building. In July 2004, along with the Bremen Roland statue, the building was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites because of its outstanding architecture and its testimony to the development of civic autonomy in the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...

Location and description

The city hall is on the northeastern side of the

market square The market square (or sometimes, the market place) is a Town square, square meant for trading, in which a market is held. It is an important feature of many towns and cities around the world.Schütting, still today seat of the board of commerce. On the southeastern side of the square is the seat of Bremen state parliament, called the Bürgerschaft. East of both, there is the town hall and parliament, along with the Bremen Cathedral. Near the northern corner of the town hall, there is a sculpture of the '' Town Musicians of Bremen'' (by Gerhard Marcks). North of it, there is the Church of Our Dear Lady ("Kirche Unser Lieben Frauen" or short "Liebfrauenkirche"). The old town hall itself, originally constructed in the 15th century, is a rectangular, two-storey hall measuring 41.5 by 15.8 m. The ground floor contains one large hall with oak pillars, historically used for merchants and theatre, and the upper floor contained the main festivity hall.

History

The ancient town hall

Bremen's original town hall had been situated in the southern end of the block between Liebfrauenkirchhof ("Our Dear Lady's Churchyard"), Obernstraße ("Highstreet") and Sögestraße ("Pigstreet"). In 1229, it was mentioned as "domus theatralis" ("show house"), since 1251 repeatedly as "domus consularis" ("councilars' house"). An arch across the Sögestraße and a repair by a mason suggest a stone building, and already existing before the arrival of Gothic style it must have been erected in Romanesque style. It is assumed that before the municipality gained a certain autonomy, the building served as a law court and therefore had at least one open hall, as old Saxon law forbade trials to be held in closed rooms. An exact description is not available, but several documents tell about the cloth shops in that location. They describe the locations of "sub" ("below") being the town hall and the office. Depending on the interpretation of "below" as "in the hall below …" or "in front of the basement of …", the documents suggest very different settings of the town hall and its environment. Two texts tell of a stair or staircase of the house at Liebfrauenkirchhof. After the construction of the newer town hall, it was hired out to the grocers' guild, than as a hobs store. Finally in 1598, it was sold to two owners, who converted it to or replaced it as their private houses.

The Gothic town hall

Around 1400, when the development of Bremen was at its height, a new town hall was planned and built. Most engaged were

burgomaster Burgomaster (alternatively spelled burgermeister, literally "master of the town, master of the borough, master of the fortress, master of the citizens") is the English form of various terms in or derived from Germanic languages for the chief m ...

Johann Hemeling and councilmen Friedrich Wagner and Hinrich von der Trupe. The location and design were a demonstration of confidence vis-à-vis the archbishop. Bremen Market Square, completed a century before, was now dominated by the town hall rather than by the

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

and the archbishop's palace. Both of its two halls, the upper hall and the lower hall, were a few inches longer and wider than the great hall of the episcopal palace. As in the palace, the entrances were placed at the sides rather than facing the square. The Ratskeller is below those halls. With the construction of the town hall, the first

Roland Roland (; frk, *Hrōþiland; lat-med, Hruodlandus or ''Rotholandus''; it, Orlando or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the ...

sculpture was erected in front of it. It was not yet as large as today. The town hall in

Gothic style Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

was decorated with 16 large sculptures, showing

emperors An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

and

prince-elector The prince-electors (german: Kurfürst pl. , cz, Kurfiřt, la, Princeps Elector), or electors for short, were the members of the electoral college that elected the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. From the 13th century onwards, the prince ...

s, demonstrating Bremen's claim of being an imperial city, and four ancient philosophers. But at the same time it was fortified; there were two wall-walks, one above the gallery towards the market square and one all around the gutters of the hip-roof. Four small towers with staircases served the access from the upper hall to the upper wall-walk. The gallery on ground level towards the market square during the first centuries was no shelter for merchants, it was reserved for trials. On the rear side of the Gothic town hall, there was an extension, in the upper floor containing the room for the city council, called Altes Wittheits-Stube, (The Old Council Chamber). West of it, there was an outer staircase from Our Dear Lady's Churchyard to the upper hall. After the ''Rebellion of the 104 Men'' in 1432, the outer staircase was removed. In the end of 15th century, an office was built below the old Wittheits-Stube.

Renaissance

In 1545 to 1550, an extension with three floors, containing a new Wittheits-Stube and offices, was built between the town hall and the archbishop's palace, showing a

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 ...

style gable eastward facing the cathedral. In the end of the century, Bremen lived through its second boom, and a great relaunch of the town hall was headed. The main artist was the architect and mason Lüder von Bentheim. The modernization took place in two steps: in the first step, during 1595 to 1596, the ten windows of the upper hall towards the market square were converted from pointed arches to large rectangular windows. About twelve years later, from 1608 to 1612, a great transformation to Weser Renaissance was started: The two middling windows and the proclamation door between them were displaced by a huge

avant-corps An ''avant-corps'' ( it, avancorpo or , plural , german: Risalit, pl, ryzalit), a French term literally meaning "fore-body", is a part of a building, such as a porch or pavilion, that juts out from the ''corps de logis'', often taller than othe ...

, consisting of slim pillars and columns and large windows. On top, a decorated gable in

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

Renaissance style was erected, two similar gables beside. Reliefs were used to decorate the facade. Many architectural elements based on masters of the Dutch Renaissance, such as Hans Vredeman de Vries,

Hendrik Goltzius Hendrick Goltzius, or Hendrik, (; ; January or February 1558 – 1 January 1617) was a German-born Dutch printmaker, draftsman, and painter. He was the leading Dutch engraver of the early Baroque period, or Northern Mannerism, lauded for his ...

and Jacob Floris. Furthermore, decorative balustrades were installed.

Baroque

Soon after the completion of those works, Germany was ravaged by the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...

, and after the

Peace of Westphalia The Peace of Westphalia (german: Westfälischer Friede, ) is the collective name for two peace treaties signed in October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and Münster. They ended the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) and brought pea ...

, Bremen had to defend against Swedish invasion. In 1682/83, The office on the rear side was enlarged in a form of

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

style – with horizontal rows of windows that did not become common before two centuries later.

19th century

With the

German mediatization German mediatisation (; german: deutsche Mediatisierung) was the major territorial restructuring that took place between 1802 and 1814 in Germany and the surrounding region by means of the mass mediatisation and secularisation In sociology, s ...

in 1803, the neighboring archbishop's palace that had been extraterritorial, at last Hanoveran, became a municipal property. Provisionally, it was used for offices at once. In 1818/19, it was partly dismantled and rebuilt as the Neoclassical "Stadthaus" (municipal office building). In 1826, dangerous damage to representative town hall and its extensions was detected. With the repairs, the appearance of the market front was conserved, but the eastern Renaissance façade was replaced by a simple one and the rear side lost its unique design.

20th century

From 1820 to 1900, Bremen multiplied its population, and, in the decades around 1900,

Wilhelminism The Wilhelmine Period () comprises the period of German history between 1890 and 1918, embracing the reign of Kaiser Wilhelm II in the German Empire from the resignation of Chancellor Otto von Bismarck until the end of World War I and Wilhelm's a ...

preferred abundant representation. Therefore, an enlargement of the town hall was planned. In 1909, the Stadthaus was dismantled in order to build the new town hall on its ground. During that work, many Gothic artifacts were found, significantly more than historians expected. With the "Neues Rathaus" ("New Town Hall"), the town hall in 1909–1913 received an extension about twice as large as the old building. The Munich architect

Gabriel von Seidl Gabriel von Seidl (9 December 1848 – 27 April 1913) was a German architect and a representative of the historicist style of architecture. Life and work Gabriel Seidl was born in Munich, Bavaria in 1848. He was the first son of the wealthy ba ...

succeeded to avoid a dominance of his addition. Nevertheless, its three Neo-renaissance facades are a very late example of Historism. The fourth one, facing the Church of Our Lady and adjacent to the rest of the Baroque extension, is rather

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...

. By boarding up the outer walls, and due to heroic efforts of the fire brigade, the town hall of Bremen survived the air raids of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

with little damage, though more than sixty percent of the city was destroyed.

Usage

*As mentioned above, the seat of the Burgomaster of Bremen is in the New Town Hall. *The ''Bremer Schaffermahlzeit'' a traditional annual banquet for the captains, is held in the banquet hall of the New Town Hall. *Many ceremonial events are held in the upper hall of the Old Town Hall. *The lower hall of the historical building is frequently used for exhibitions.

Main sights

Old Town Hall

*The ''Upper Hall'' (''Obere Rathaushalle''). It is still Bremen's official for meetings. *The ''Golden Chamber'' (''Güldenkammer''). This small room, added to the upper hall in 1608, was redecorated in 1905 by Heinrich Vogeler in a pure

style. All details and fittings, including door handles, fireguard, chandeliers and the gilded

leather wallpaper Leather wallpaper is a type of wallpaper used in various styles for wall covering. It is often referred to as wrought leather. It is often gilded, painted and decorated. Leather was used to cover and decorate sections of walls in the houses o ...

( cuir de Cordoue) have been selected in this style. *The ''Lower Hall'' (''Untere Rathaushalle''). This room retains its unadorned original form. In contrast to the upper chamber, this room is much simpler, with a stone floor, visible timber beams, and whitewashed walls. In earlier times, it also functioned as a marketplace for fine-goods such as spices and cloths. Nowadays it is used for exhibitions. *The '' Bremer Ratskeller'' is a public house in the basement, the home of the oldest barrel of wine in Germany, crafted in 1653.

New Town Hall

*The banquet hall *The fireplace room *The Gobelin room *The Senate Hall

Gallery

File:Bremen Rathaus Markt Bürgerschaft Uns.Lb.Frauen.png, Neighbourhood of Bremen's town hall Obere_Rathaushalle_W-O_2.jpg, Upper Hall Obere_Rathaushalle_Güldenkammer.jpg, Upper Hall with former archive (upstairs) and Güldenkammer RathausBremen-04h.jpg, Upper Hall, "

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Holy ...

and bishop Ansgar", painted in 1532 HB Untere Rathaushalle Aktivoli 2015.jpg, Lower Hall Bremen Ratskeller.jpg, Ratskeller RathausBremen-06.jpg, Fireplace in the New Town Hall

Sources

* Konrad Elmshäuser: ''Der erste Roland und das erste Rathaus von Bremen,'' In: Bremisches Jahrbuch, vol. 84, Bremen 2005, , p. 9–45 * Rudolf Stein: ''Romanische, gotische und Renaissancebaukunst in Bremen,'' Bremen 1962, p. 239–276 und 529–676

References

External links

City of Bremen official website
– in German and English
Town Hall and Roland on the Marketplace of Bremen
– UNESCO website {{Authority control

City hall 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 ...

City and town halls in Germany

World Heritage Sites in Germany Buildings and structures completed in 1400 1400s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire Brick Gothic Gothic architecture in Germany