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 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 building. Originally designed by the Dutch architect Hendrick de Keyser, 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 (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 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 and Francois Hemony. Rijksmonument report The facade has a "Justitia" statue. Under the tower is an old city prison where the assassin of Willem the Silent, Balthasar Gérard, was kept before sentencing. Up the stairway and immediately behind the heavy wooden entrance doors is the Vierschaar, with a decorative painting of the Judgment of Solomon by Pieter van Bronckhorst.

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