Cologne City Hall
Encyclopedia
The City Hall is a historical building in Cologne
, western Germany
, located off Hohe Straße
in the district of Innenstadt
, set between the two squares of Rathausplatz and Alter Markt. It houses part of the city government, including the city council and offices of the Lord Mayor. It is Germany's oldest city hall
with a documented history spanning some 900 years. The history of its council during the 11th century is a prominent example for self-gained municipal autonomy of Medieval cities.
Today's building complex consists of several structures, added successively in varying architectural styles: they include the 14th century historic town hall, the 15th century Gothic
style tower, the 16th century Renaissance
style loggia and cloister (the Löwenhof), and the 20th century Modern Movement atrium (the Piazzetta). The so-called Spanischer Bau is an extension on Rathausplatz but not directly connected with the main building.
, which until the year 475
was seat of the Roman Governor
of Germania Inferior
. Merovingian kings are known to have used the praetorium as a regia
until 754
, but the building was ultimately destroyed by an earthquake in the late 8th century. Under Hildebold
of Cologne, the city was elevated from a bishop's to an archbishop's see in 795, and the area around the former praetorium has become home to both a group of wealthy Patrician merchants and Cologne's Jewish community
- many of whom under immunity
of the king.
With Saint Bruno the Great, brother of Emperor Otto I, becoming archbishop in 953
, the Ottonian dynasty established a secular government by an ecclesiastic archbishop. This abundance of power in Medieval Europe was in stark confrontation to the emerge of emancipating burgher
s: armed conflicts in 1074 and 1096 were followed by the formation of a commune
and first municipal structures as a basis for urban autonomy. In order to consolidate their economic and political rights, Cologne burghers established fraternities and trade guild
s (most notably the Richerzeche). In the 1106 war of succession between Emperor Henry V and his father Emperor Henry IV, they took deliberate opposition to the archbishop, after which they gained benefit in regards to the city's territorial expansion over the following years. As - at the time - one of Europe's busiests trading ports and largest city in Germany, the population of Cologne gradually changed from a mainly feudal society to free citizens
; the coat of arms of Cologne
, first mentioned in 1114, is Europe's oldest municipal coat of arms. Documents from the years 1135 and 1152, recorded "a house in which citizen convene", referring to the first established council hall, at the location of today's town hall.
By 1180, the citizens of Cologne won a legal battle against Philip I, Archbishop of Cologne
, for another extension of Cologne's city walls. With the Battle of Worringen
fought in 1288, Cologne became independent from the Electorate and on 9. September 1475 officially gained Imperial immediacy as a free imperial city
. In 1388 Pope Urban VI
signed the charter for the University of Cologne
, Europe's first university to have been established by citizenry. On 14. September 1396 the constitution of Cologne came into effect and the Cologne gaffs and guilds (Gaffeln and Zünfte) assumed power in the council. Following the tradition of Roman consul
s, the council was headed by two elected Burgomaster
s (Mayors) until the year 1797, when council and constitution were replaced by the Napoleonic and later code civil. Since 1815 the city council is led by one Oberbürgermeister (Lord Mayor).
style council building of 1135 on the same location. The Saalbau dates back to 1330 and is named after the Hansasaal, a 30,0 by 7,6 metres large and up to 9,58 metres tall assembly hall and core of the entire Rathaus. The hall is named after the Hanseatic League
, which held an important summit in it on 19. November 1367. Noteworthy are stone figures of the Nine Worthies
, the Emperor and the Privileges.
, the tower - including the many exterior stone figures - has been restored entirely. Three times daily, a carillon
(German: Glockenspiel
) is played by the tower's bells.
style Loggia
is called - is a replacement of a previous loggia on the same location. The council initiated a lengthy design process in 1557, which lasted until 1562. In July 1567 the council approved the design by Wilhelm Vernukken from Kalkar
to be build, with construction lasting from 1569 to 1573. The loggia consists of a 2-storey, five-bay long and two-bay deep arcade, which functions as entrance to the councils main hall (Hansasaal) at ground level, and as balcony for the main hall on the upper floor. The balcony was used for public speeches throughout the year.
was built during the postwar restoration of the historic town hall.
delegates at the building during the time of the Thirty Years' War
(1618–1648), however was not in official use before the 19th century. After having been heavily damaged in 1942, the building was completely rebuilt in 1953.
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
, western Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, located off Hohe Straße
Hohe Straße
Hohe Straße is a shopping street in the old town of Cologne, Germany, and one of the city's both oldest and busiest streets. Together with many of its adjacent side streets, Hohe Straße is part of a designated pedestrian zone and spans about 680 meters from Cologne Cathedral on its Northern end to...
in the district of Innenstadt
Innenstadt, Cologne
Innenstadt is the central city district of the City of Cologne in Germany.The district was established with the last communal land reform in 1975, and comprises Cologne's historic old town , the Gründerzeit era new town plus the right-Rhenish district of Deutz...
, set between the two squares of Rathausplatz and Alter Markt. It houses part of the city government, including the city council and offices of the Lord Mayor. It is Germany's oldest city hall
City hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall or a municipal building or civic centre, is the chief administrative building of a city...
with a documented history spanning some 900 years. The history of its council during the 11th century is a prominent example for self-gained municipal autonomy of Medieval cities.
Today's building complex consists of several structures, added successively in varying architectural styles: they include the 14th century historic town hall, the 15th century Gothic
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
style tower, the 16th century Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
style loggia and cloister (the Löwenhof), and the 20th century Modern Movement atrium (the Piazzetta). The so-called Spanischer Bau is an extension on Rathausplatz but not directly connected with the main building.
History
The City Hall is located on the site of the former Ancient Roman PraetoriumPraetorium
- Etemology :The praetorium, also spelled prœtorium or pretorium, was originally used to identify the general’s tent within a Roman Castra, Castellum, or encampment. The word originates from the name of the chief Roman magistrate, known as Praetor...
, which until the year 475
475
Year 475 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Zeno without colleague...
was seat of the Roman Governor
Roman governors of Germania Inferior
This is a list of Roman governors of Germania Inferior . Capital and largest city of Germania Inferior was Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium , modern-day Cologne....
of Germania Inferior
Germania Inferior
Germania Inferior was a Roman province located on the left bank of the Rhine, in today's Luxembourg, southern Netherlands, parts of Belgium, and North Rhine-Westphalia left of the Rhine....
. Merovingian kings are known to have used the praetorium as a regia
Regia
The Regia was a structure in Ancient Rome, located in the Roman Forum. It was originally the residence of the kings of Rome or at least their main headquarters, and later the office of the Pontifex Maximus, the high priest of Roman religion. It occupied a triangular patch of terrain between the...
until 754
754
Year 754 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 754 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Europe :* Pope Stephen II crowns Pepin the short King...
, but the building was ultimately destroyed by an earthquake in the late 8th century. Under Hildebold
Hildebold
Hildebold was the Bishop of Cologne from 787 until 795 and the first Archbishop of Cologne thereafter.A friend of Charlemagne, in 791 Hildebold was made the archchaplain and chancellor of the Imperial Council. At the request of Charlemagne, Pope Adrian I released Hildebold from the traditional...
of Cologne, the city was elevated from a bishop's to an archbishop's see in 795, and the area around the former praetorium has become home to both a group of wealthy Patrician merchants and Cologne's Jewish community
History of the Jews in Cologne
The history of the Jews in Cologne is documented from the year 321 AD, almost as long as the history of Cologne. Because of this historical continuity, today’s Jewish synagogue community calls itself the "oldest Jewish congregation North of the Alps"....
- many of whom under immunity
Immunity
-Medicine:* Immunity , resistance of an organism to infection or disease.* Immunity , a scientific journal published by Cell Press-Law:*Amnesty law, immunity from past crimes...
of the king.
With Saint Bruno the Great, brother of Emperor Otto I, becoming archbishop in 953
953
Year 953 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* Liudolf, Duke of Swabia and Conrad the Red rebel against German King Otto I....
, the Ottonian dynasty established a secular government by an ecclesiastic archbishop. This abundance of power in Medieval Europe was in stark confrontation to the emerge of emancipating burgher
Burgher
Burgher may refer to:* A citizen of a borough or town, especially one belonging to middle class* A resident of a burgh* A formally defined class in medieval German cities, usually the only group from which city officials could be drawn...
s: armed conflicts in 1074 and 1096 were followed by the formation of a commune
Medieval commune
Medieval communes in the European Middle Ages had sworn allegiances of mutual defense among the citizens of a town or city. They took many forms, and varied widely in organization and makeup. Communes are first recorded in the late 11th and early 12th centuries, thereafter becoming a widespread...
and first municipal structures as a basis for urban autonomy. In order to consolidate their economic and political rights, Cologne burghers established fraternities and trade guild
Guild
A guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade. The earliest types of guild were formed as confraternities of workers. They were organized in a manner something between a trade union, a cartel, and a secret society...
s (most notably the Richerzeche). In the 1106 war of succession between Emperor Henry V and his father Emperor Henry IV, they took deliberate opposition to the archbishop, after which they gained benefit in regards to the city's territorial expansion over the following years. As - at the time - one of Europe's busiests trading ports and largest city in Germany, the population of Cologne gradually changed from a mainly feudal society to free citizens
Stadtluft macht frei
Stadtluft macht frei , or Stadtluft macht frei nach Jahr und Tag , is a German saying describing a principle of law in the Middle Ages...
; the coat of arms of Cologne
Coat of arms of Cologne
The Coat of arms of Cologne refers to more than one Coat of Arms, one for the city and the other for the Electorate and Archbishop of Cologne . The arms for the city has existed for some 1000 years and has changed over the course of the history of Cologne. The first known arms are Per fesse...
, first mentioned in 1114, is Europe's oldest municipal coat of arms. Documents from the years 1135 and 1152, recorded "a house in which citizen convene", referring to the first established council hall, at the location of today's town hall.
By 1180, the citizens of Cologne won a legal battle against Philip I, Archbishop of Cologne
Philip I, Archbishop of Cologne
Philip I was the Archbishop of Cologne and Archchancellor of Italy from 1167 to 1191.He was the son of Count Goswin II of Heinsberg and Adelaide of Sommerschenburg. He received his ecclesiastic training in Cologne and Rheims, becoming dean of the cathedral chapter in Cologne and then provost of...
, for another extension of Cologne's city walls. With the Battle of Worringen
Battle of Worringen
The Battle of Worringen was fought on June 5, 1288, near the town of Worringen , which is now the northernmost borough of Cologne...
fought in 1288, Cologne became independent from the Electorate and on 9. September 1475 officially gained Imperial immediacy as a free imperial city
Free Imperial City
In the Holy Roman Empire, a free imperial city was a city formally ruled by the emperor only — as opposed to the majority of cities in the Empire, which were governed by one of the many princes of the Empire, such as dukes or prince-bishops...
. In 1388 Pope Urban VI
Pope Urban VI
Pope Urban VI , born Bartolomeo Prignano, was Pope from 1378 to 1389.-Biography:Born in Itri, he was a devout monk and learned casuist, trained at Avignon. On March 21, 1364, he was consecrated Archbishop of Acerenza in the Kingdom of Naples...
signed the charter for the University of Cologne
University of Cologne
The University of Cologne is one of the oldest universities in Europe and, with over 44,000 students, one of the largest universities in Germany. The university is part of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, an association of Germany's leading research universities...
, Europe's first university to have been established by citizenry. On 14. September 1396 the constitution of Cologne came into effect and the Cologne gaffs and guilds (Gaffeln and Zünfte) assumed power in the council. Following the tradition of Roman consul
Roman consul
A consul served in the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic.Each year, two consuls were elected together, to serve for a one-year term. Each consul was given veto power over his colleague and the officials would alternate each month...
s, the council was headed by two elected Burgomaster
Burgomaster
Burgomaster is the English form of various terms in or derived from Germanic languages for the chief magistrate or chairman of the executive council of a sub-national level of administration...
s (Mayors) until the year 1797, when council and constitution were replaced by the Napoleonic and later code civil. Since 1815 the city council is led by one Oberbürgermeister (Lord Mayor).
Historic Town Hall
The oldest part of today's City Hall is the so-called Saalbau (i.e. roofed hall building), which replaced a previous RomanesqueRomanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...
style council building of 1135 on the same location. The Saalbau dates back to 1330 and is named after the Hansasaal, a 30,0 by 7,6 metres large and up to 9,58 metres tall assembly hall and core of the entire Rathaus. The hall is named after the Hanseatic League
Hanseatic League
The Hanseatic League was an economic alliance of trading cities and their merchant guilds that dominated trade along the coast of Northern Europe...
, which held an important summit in it on 19. November 1367. Noteworthy are stone figures of the Nine Worthies
Nine Worthies
The Nine Worthies are nine historical, scriptural and legendary personages who personify the ideals of chivalry as were established in the Middle Ages. All are commonly referred to as 'Princes' in their own right, despite whatever true titles each man may have held...
, the Emperor and the Privileges.
Tower
Commissioned by the Cologne guilds on 19 August 1406, the Gothic-style Ratsturm (Council tower) was built between 1407 and 1414 and reaches a height of 61 metres. It consists of five storeys and the so-called Ratskeller (Council cellar). Its purpose was mainly to store documents, but one of the lower floors also housed the Senatssaal (i.e. hall of the Cologne Senate). While being heavily damaged during the bombing of Cologne in World War IIBombing of Cologne in World War II
The City of Cologne was bombed in 262 separate air raids by the Allies during World War II, including 31 times by the Royal Air Force . Air raid alarms went off in the winter/spring of 1940 as enemy bombers passed overhead. However, the first actual bombing took place on 12 May 1940...
, the tower - including the many exterior stone figures - has been restored entirely. Three times daily, a carillon
Carillon
A carillon is a musical instrument that is typically housed in a free-standing bell tower, or the belfry of a church or other municipal building. The instrument consists of at least 23 cast bronze, cup-shaped bells, which are played serially to play a melody, or sounded together to play a chord...
(German: Glockenspiel
Glockenspiel
A glockenspiel is a percussion instrument composed of a set of tuned keys arranged in the fashion of the keyboard of a piano. In this way, it is similar to the xylophone; however, the xylophone's bars are made of wood, while the glockenspiel's are metal plates or tubes, and making it a metallophone...
) is played by the tower's bells.
Loggia
The Rathauslaube - as the RenaissanceRenaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
style Loggia
Loggia
Loggia is the name given to an architectural feature, originally of Minoan design. They are often a gallery or corridor at ground level, sometimes higher, on the facade of a building and open to the air on one side, where it is supported by columns or pierced openings in the wall...
is called - is a replacement of a previous loggia on the same location. The council initiated a lengthy design process in 1557, which lasted until 1562. In July 1567 the council approved the design by Wilhelm Vernukken from Kalkar
Kalkar
Kalkar is a municipality in the district of Kleve, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located near the Rhine, approx. 10 km south-east of Cleves. The most famous building of Kalkar is its church St...
to be build, with construction lasting from 1569 to 1573. The loggia consists of a 2-storey, five-bay long and two-bay deep arcade, which functions as entrance to the councils main hall (Hansasaal) at ground level, and as balcony for the main hall on the upper floor. The balcony was used for public speeches throughout the year.
Piazzetta
Likened to a small piazza with various building making up the perimeter walls, the 900 square metre large and 12,6 metres tall atriumAtrium (architecture)
In modern architecture, an atrium is a large open space, often several stories high and having a glazed roof and/or large windows, often situated within a larger multistory building and often located immediately beyond the main entrance doors...
was built during the postwar restoration of the historic town hall.
Spanischer Bau
Built on the North-western side of Rathausplatz in the years 1608 to 1615, the city council commissioned the originally Dutch Renaissance style building for meetings and celebrations. The name emerged in reference to SpanishHabsburg Spain
Habsburg Spain refers to the history of Spain over the 16th and 17th centuries , when Spain was ruled by the major branch of the Habsburg dynasty...
delegates at the building during the time of the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
(1618–1648), however was not in official use before the 19th century. After having been heavily damaged in 1942, the building was completely rebuilt in 1953.
See also
- Mayor of Cologne
- History of CologneHistory of CologneThe History of Cologne, Germany's oldest major city, can be broken into several periods.- Roman period :In 39 BC, the tribe of the Ubii entered into an agreement with the Roman forces and settled on the left bank of the Rhine. Their headquarters was Oppidum Ubiorum — the settlement of the Ubii, and...
- Historical Archive of the City of Cologne
- RathausRathausRathaus is a German word literally translating as “council house”, meaning “city hall” or “town hall”. Many specific buildings are referred to as Rathaus even when spoken about in English.Some important Rathäuser are:* Rathaus Schöneberg...