Odense City Hall ( da, Odense Rådhus) houses the administrative offices of Odense Municipality in the city of

Odense Odense ( , , ) is the third largest city in Denmark (behind Copenhagen and Aarhus) and the largest city on the island of Funen. As of 1 January 2022, the city proper had a population of 180,863 while Odense Municipality had a population of 20 ...

on the Danish island of

Funen Funen ( da, Fyn, ), with an area of , is the third-largest island of Denmark, after Zealand and Vendsyssel-Thy. It is the 165th-largest island in the world. It is located in the central part of the country and has a population of 469,947 as o ...

. Today's building was designed by

Johan Daniel Herholdt Johan Daniel Herholdt (13 August 1818 – 11 April 1902) was a Danish architect, professor and royal building inspector. He worked in the Historicist style and had a significant influence on Danish architecture during the second half of the 19th a ...

and

Carl Lendorf Carl William Frederik Lendorf (13 December 1839 - 29 September 1918) was a Danish architect and historicist who worked primarily in Odense. He also designed Copenhagen's 1898 St Thomas' Church. Biography He was born in 1839 in Copenhagen, the son ...

in the

Historicist 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 ...

style, inspired by Italian buildings such as the

Palazzo Pubblico The Palazzo Pubblico (''town hall'') is a palace in Siena, Tuscany, central Italy. Construction began in 1297 to serve as the seat of the Republic of Siena's government, which consisted of the Podestà and Council of Nine, the elected off ...

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centur ...

which it closely resembles. Completed in 1885, tts red masonry bears sandstone decorations, stepped gables and a saw-tooth course. It stands on the site of a smaller building from 1480. In 1937, Bent Helveg-Møller won the competition for the building's enlargement. The tower over the main entrance was torn down in 1942 but was not rebuilt. As work was delayed during the war, the extension was not completed until 1955. In conjunction with

Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales. Andersen's fairy tales, consist ...

's 200th anniversary in 2005, comprehensive renovation work was completed on the building's interiors, including the entrance halls, meeting rooms, banqueting hall and council chamber.

References

{{Coord, 55.3961, 10.3889, type:landmark_region:DK, format=dms, display=title Odense Historicist architecture in Denmark Gothic Revival architecture in Denmark Government buildings completed in 1883 City and town halls in Denmark Listed city and town halls in Denmark Odense Municipality