The City Hall in

Delft Delft () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam, to the southeast, ...

is a

Renaissance style Renaissance architecture is the European architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 16th centuries in different regions, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of Ancient Greece, ancient Greek and ...

building on the Markt across from the Nieuwe Kerk. It is the seat of the city's government as well as a popular venue for civic wedding ceremonies. Most administrative functions have been transferred to an office inside the

Delft railway station Delft is the main railway station of the city of Delft, South Holland, Netherlands. It is located on the Amsterdam–Haarlem–Rotterdam railway, oldest railway line in the country, between the stations of Den Haag Centraal railway station, The H ...

building. Originally designed by the Dutch architect

Hendrick de Keyser Hendrick de Keyser (15 May 1565 – 15 May 1621) was a Dutch sculptor, merchant in Belgium bluestone, and architect who was instrumental in establishing a late Renaissance form of Mannerism changing into Baroque. Most of his works appeared in Ams ...

, it was heavily changed over the centuries and was restored in the 20th century to its Renaissance appearance.

History

Delft - De brand van het stadhuis op 4 maart 1618

In the town hall from 1618 are some group portraits, and portraits of the counts of Orange and Nassau, including several by

Michiel van Mierevelt Michiel Janszoon ( Jansz.) van Mierevelt (; also spelled Miereveld or Miereveldt; 1 May 1566 – 27 June 1641) was a Dutch painter and draftsman of the Dutch Golden Age. Biography Van Mierevelt was born and died in Delft, as a son of a goldsm ...

(1567–1641), one of the earliest Dutch portrait painters, and with his son

Pieter Pieter is a male given name, the Dutch language, Dutch form of Peter (name), Peter. The name has been one of the most common names in the Netherlands for centuries, but since the mid-twentieth century its popularity has dropped steadily, from a ...

(1595–1623), a native of Delft. The oldest part of the complex is the

belfry The belfry /ˈbɛlfri/ is a structure enclosing bells for ringing as part of a building, usually as part of a bell tower or steeple. It can also refer to the entire tower or building, particularly in continental Europe for such a tower attached ...

covered in " Gobertanger"

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

from

Wallonia Wallonia ( ; ; or ), officially the Walloon Region ( ; ), is one of the three communities, regions and language areas of Belgium, regions of Belgium—along with Flemish Region, Flanders and Brussels. Covering the southern portion of the c ...

, a building material used often in important renaissance buildings in the Netherlands up to 1600. The tower, called "De Steen" or "The Stone", was originally built around 1300 and has decorative clockfaces from 1536 and the bells were made by

Hendrick van Trier Hendrick may refer to: People * Hendrick (given name), alternative spelling of the Dutch given name Hendrik * Hendrick (surname) * King Hendrick (disambiguation), one of two Mohawk leaders who have often been conflated: ** Hendrick Tejonihokarawa ( ...

and Francois Hemony.

Rijksmonument A (, ) is a national heritage site of the Netherlands, listed by the agency Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed (RCE) acting for the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. At the end of February 2015, the Netherlands had 61,822 l ...

report The facade has a "Justitia" statue. Under the tower is an old city prison where the assassin of

Willem the Silent William the Silent or William the Taciturn (; 24 April 153310 July 1584), more commonly known in the Netherlands as William of Orange (), was the leader of the Dutch revolt against the Spanish Habsburgs that set off the Eighty Years' War (156 ...

Balthasar Gérard Balthasar Gérard (alternative spellings Gerards or Gerardts; c. 1557 – 14 July 1584) was the assassination, assassin of the Dutch revolt's leader, William the Silent of the House of Orange-Nassau, House of Orange (William the Silent, and lat ...

, was kept before sentencing. Up the stairway and immediately behind the heavy wooden entrance doors is the

Vierschaar A Vierschaar is a historical term for a tribunal in the Netherlands. Before the separation of lawmaking, law enforcement, and justice duties, the government of every town was administered by a senate (called a ''Wethouderschap'') formed of two, thr ...

, with a decorative painting of the

Judgment of Solomon The Judgement of Solomon is a story from the Old Testament in which Solomon ruled between two women who both claimed to be the mother of a child. Solomon ordered the baby be cut in half, with each woman to receive one half. The first woman accept ...

Pieter van Bronckhorst Pieter is a male given name, the Dutch form of Peter. The name has been one of the most common names in the Netherlands for centuries, but since the mid-twentieth century its popularity has dropped steadily, from almost 3000 per year in 1947 t ...

Vierschaar

File:Delft stadhuis-vierschaar.jpg, Vierschaar with painting on the wall by Bronkhorst File:Pieter van Bronckhorst -oordeel van Salamo - vierschaar Delft.jpg, Judgement of Salomon, by Bronkhorst, 1622 File:Delft wedding in Delft stadhuis.jpg, The City hall is still used for civic weddings, and couples pass through the Vierschaar to the main hall for the ceremony File:Workshop Peter Paul Rubens - Oordeel van Salamo - vierschaar Delft.jpg, Judgement of Salomon by Rubens'workshop, c.1615

Other views

File:WLM - EvaM1978 - Stadhuis Delft.jpg, View of the front facade with sculpture of Justitia File:11901 stadhuis delft gezien vanaf nieuwe kerk.jpg, City hall seen from the tower in the Nieuwe Kerk opposite File:StadhuisDelft-01.jpg, Seen from the front File:Stadhuis Delft 1e etage kamer.jpg, Inside, the Nieuwe Kerk is seen through the window File:Delft City Hall Winter.jpg, City hall in winter

References

{{coord, 52, 0, 41, N, 4, 21, 28, E, display=title, region:NL_type:landmark_source:nlwiki Buildings and structures completed in the 17th century

Rijksmonuments in Delft Renaissance architecture in the Netherlands