The Altes Rathaus at was built between 1737 and 1738 in the

Rococo Rococo, less commonly Roccoco ( , ; or ), also known as Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpte ...

style by the electoral court architect Michael Leveilly; however, it was not completely finished until around 1780. The four-storey building has seven window axes and a

gambrel A gambrel or gambrel roof is a usually symmetrical two-sided roof with two slopes on each side. The upper slope is positioned at a shallow angle, while the lower slope is steep. This design provides the advantages of a sloped roof while maxim ...

with dormers. It stands as a under

Cultural heritage management Cultural heritage management (CHM) is the vocation and practice of managing cultural heritage. Ann Marie Sullivan, Cultural Heritage & New Media: A Future for the Past, 15 J. MARSHALL REV. INTELL. PROP. L. 604 (2016) https://repository.jmls.edu/cg ...

. Apart from its central location in the and its former function as the seat of the municipal administration, the

town hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

has also become famous for the gilded

perron Perron may refer to: People * Count Perron (; ), Sardinian ambassador and secretary of state * Ernest Perron (1908–1961), a Swiss man who became politically powerful in Iran * Pierre Cuillier-Perron (1753–1834), a French military adventure ...

on the market square. In the course of history, this has repeatedly been the scene of important events, with famous personalities appearing there before the people of Bonn.

History

The building was erected to replace the former town hall, which had been destroyed by artillery fire during the Siege of Bonn (1689) and subsequently only makeshiftly restored, a three-storey building presumably erected in the 15th century. After a design by the master builder for a new town hall had been rejected, court architect Leveilly came into play, whose design was available in autumn 1736 After his approval, Elector

Clemens August of Bavaria Clemens August of Bavaria () (17 August 1700 – 6 February 1761) was an 18th-century member of the Wittelsbach dynasty of Bavaria and Archbishop-Elector of Cologne. Biography Clemens August (Clementus Augustus) was born in Brussels, the son of ...

laid the foundation stone for the new building on 24 April 1737, which was

topping out In building construction, topping out (sometimes referred to as topping off) is a builders' rite traditionally held when the last beam (or its equivalent) is placed at the top of a structure during its construction. Nowadays, the ceremony is ofte ...

on 5 November 1737 and could be occupied the following October; the first joint meeting of the Stadtmagistrat, mayor, lawyers and council took place here on 29 October 1738. The railing of the outside staircase was not made until 1765 and finally around 1780, the plastering and the facade decoration of the town hall was completed.Hermann Josef Roth: ''DuMont Kunst-Reiseführer Bonn: von der römischen Garnison zur Bundeshauptstadt - Kunst und Natur zwischen Voreifel und Siebengebirge''. DuMont, Cologne 1988, , . Also in 1780, the municipal meat hall, a three-aisled building with square pillars, was built as an extension to the town hall on its former rear side facing Rathausgasse according to plans by the court architect Johann Heinrich Roth.Gert Schroers (edit.); Josef Dietz: ''Merkzeichen an Straßen und Häusern: Small monuments of the city's history''. Verlag Siering, Bonn 1962, . In the 1870s, this building, eventually used by the city treasury and the city archives, was rebuilt in simple forms. On 18 October 1944, the town hall burnt down to the perimeter walls during the Allied bombing raids of the Second World War, and part of the vaults in the basement were also impacted. The subsequent reconstruction was carried out without the previous

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...

decorations and with a higher roof until 1950. After

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

became

Federal Capital A federal capital is a political entity, often a municipality or capital (political), capital city, that serves as the Seat of government, seat of the federal government. A federal capital is typically a city that physically encompasses the offices ...

in 1949, it became the site of historic speeches and state visits. As early as 12 September 1949,

Theodor Heuss Theodor Heuss (; 31 January 1884 – 12 December 1963) was a German liberal politician who served as the first president of West Germany from 1949 to 1959. His civil demeanour and his cordial nature – something of a contrast to German nati ...

appeared there before the people of Bonn to celebrate his just-won election as Federal President. In 1962, the French President

Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free France, Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Re ...

and in 1963, US President

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...

made welcoming speeches. On 13 June 1989, the people of Bonn cheered the Soviet head of state and party leader

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet and Russian politician who served as the last leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...

there. All heads of state signed the

Golden Book The usage of the title Golden Book includes: * Golden Books was the children's book imprint of Western Publishing, later Golden Books Publishing and now Random House/ Penguin Random House * Little Golden Books and Giant Golden Books children's se ...

of the city of Bonn. On 10 April 1973, Bonn's City Hall was opened to the public on the occasion of a state visit by the South Vietnamese general and president

Nguyễn Văn Thiệu Nguyễn Văn Thiệu (; 5 April 1923 – 29 September 2001) was a South Vietnam, South Vietnamese military officer and politician who was the Leaders of South Vietnam, president of South Vietnam from 1967 to 1975. He was a general in the Repub ...

stormed by about 60 hooded members of the

Communist Party of Germany The Communist Party of Germany (, ; KPD ) was a major Far-left politics, far-left political party in the Weimar Republic during the interwar period, German resistance to Nazism, underground resistance movement in Nazi Germany, and minor party ...

, the and the Communist Party of Germany/Marxist-Leninist, windows and inventory were destroyed. About 2000 demonstrators formed a wall against the police. The action caused half a million

Mark Mark may refer to: In the Bible * Mark the Evangelist (5–68), traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark * Gospel of Mark, one of the four canonical gospels and one of the three synoptic gospels Currencies * Mark (currency), a currenc ...

in property damage. RathausbonnWM2010

The building on Marktplatz lost its function as the seat of the municipal administration in 1978, as capacity was no longer sufficient after the

mergers Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of a company, business organization, or one of their operating units is transferred to or consolidated with another entity. They may happen through direct absorpt ...

completed in 1969 and a new Stadthaus had been built in Nordstadt. However, it continues to be used by the city of Bonn as a Representation Object. Important decisions and meetings that take place outside the activities of the committees and the city council continue to take place there. In addition, speeches and ceremonies of importance to the city continue to be held in the Old Town Hall. Within the framework of these tasks, the executive board department ''Basic Affairs'' and the executive board department ''International Affairs and Representation'' have their headquarters in the Old Town Hall, in addition to the Lord Mayor. The City of Bonn offers the possibility of getting married on selected dates in the wedding room of the City Hall.

Rehabilitation measures

The building had been in poor condition for several years, and the necessary renovation was postponed several times for financial reasons. The renovation of the façade, doors, windows and roof that was carried out, as well as the renewal of the technology (heating, air-conditioning and sanitary installations) and the improvement of fire protection cost 5.45 million euros and lasted from February 2010 to June 2011. The renovation was financed with funds from the so-called Konjunkturpaket. Since then, there has been further renovation and modernisation work, mainly carried out by the "Verein Altes Rathaus" founded in October 2009.
Restoration for the Old Town Hall: Five paintings of baroque princes shine in new splendour
'', press release of the City of Bonn, 2 April 2012

Historical pictures

Rathaus Bonn 1904.jpg, Altes Rathaus, 1904 Gorbi 1989.jpg, Michail Gorbatschow in front of the Alten Rathaus, 13 June 1989 Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F089006-0007, Bonn, Ausblick vom Dach des Stadthauses.jpg, View of the Stadthaus from the Marktplatz and the Altes Rathaus, 1991

Reception

*The town hall, though not an outstanding work of art, is nevertheless composed with great skill as the conclusion of the long narrow market, with the single large pilaster order and the broad sweeping flight of steps of significant effect.Paul Clemen: ''Die Kunstdenkmäler der Stadt und des Kreises Bonn''. L. Schwann, Düsseldorf 1905, ('' Die Kunstdenkmäler der Rheinprovinz'', vol. 5, dept. 3, ). (Unchanged reprint Verlag Schwann, Düsseldorf 1981, )
Internet Archive
*Impressively, the town hall with its balanced façade closes the market square. (...) Since the three-storey building occupies the entire narrow side of the square, its effect is further enhanced.

References

External links