Welcome to what many people rate as Hamburg's most impressive building; the grand Hamburg
City Hall, commonly more known as the "Rathaus".
The magnificent building you are looking at was constructed in late 19th century when
the old city hall was destroyed in a fire in 1842.
The lead designer of the city hall was Martin Haller, backed up by six other architects.
While the planning started much earlier, the construction phase of the new city hall began
1886 and completed 11 years later in 1897.
On October 26, 1897, at the official opening ceremony, the First Mayor Dr. Johannes Versmann
received the key to the city hall.
The new city hall was longed for by the city council, which for the last 55 years had to
work in back up facilities!
The new city hall was built in period of wealth and prosperity.
The Kingdom of Prussia and its confederates had just defeated France in the Franco-German
War and the German Empire had been created.
It was imperative that the look of the new Hamburg City hall should express this wealth
and success, but also the independence of the State of Hamburg and Hamburg's republican
traditions.
Hamburg is one of three city-states in Germany, together with Bremen and Berlin, so the city
hall would not only be a city hall, but also the seat of the local parliament.
By looking at the outside, I think both you and me can agree on that they've done a pretty
good job in symbolizing the wealth and importance of the building.
The exterior is indeed a magnificent sight!
The City Hall shines with an elaborately decorated and detailed façade.
If you look a few meters up, in between the windows, you will be able to see beautiful
statues of previous emperors of the kingdom.
The architectural style of the city halls outside is typical neo-renaissance, a common
style of the 19th century which draws its inspiration from many styles with a base in
Italian architecture.
It is one of the very few completely preserved buildings of this kind in Hamburg today.
Over the main balcony, you can see a string of text, written in gold.
This is a Latin phrase which translates to; "May our descendants strive to preserve the
freedom won by our elders" Above this phrase you can also see Hamburg's coat of arms; the
castle with the three towers.
The city hall itself is quite massive.
It has in total 647 rooms divided over an area of 17.000m2.
The 647th room was actually discovered by accident in 1971, when a document had fallen
behind a file cabinet.
Who knows, maybe the city hall holds more hidden rooms to be discovered.
If you walk to the sides of the building you can enter the courtyard of the city hall.
There you will find a decorated fountain featuring Hygieia . Hygieia as the goddess of health
in Greek mythology and its surrounding figures represents the power and pureness of the water.
It was built in remembrance of the cholera epidemic that hit Hamburg in 1892 due to overpopulation
and contaminated drinking water.
The total cost of this magnificent city hall was 11 million German gold marks, which was
a huge sum at the time.
Throughout the years, the city hall has been the center for many historical moments.
Several Heads of State have visited the city hall and this was the place where in May,
1945, the Nazi commander in chief General Woltz surrendered Hamburg to the British Army.
Today, the city hall is very much alive.
The building is used, not only for the parliament, but also for public concerts and exhibitions.
It is also still today a place for official presentations and meetings with dignitaries.