The Town Hall () of

Freiburg im Breisgau Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

, Germany, is spread over a total of 16 locations. The three most important buildings are the Old Town Hall () and the New Town Hall () in the city center as well as the Technical Town Hall () in the Stühlinger district. The oldest town hall in Freiburg is part of the building complex of the Old Town Hall. It is located in the inner courtyard and is now called ''Gerichtslaube'' ("court house") and is directly connected to the Old Town Hall. A passage from the New Town Hall to the Old Town Hall spans the Turmstraße between the two buildings. The three town halls form a complex, in which the three individual buildings are registered as monuments in the list of monuments of the country.

Old Town Hall (''Altes Rathaus'')

At the beginning of the

14th century The 14th century lasted from 1 January 1301 (represented by the Roman numerals MCCCI) to 31 December 1400 (MCD). It is estimated that the century witnessed the death of more than 45 million lives from political and natural disasters in both Euro ...

, the city of Freiburg bought a building on ''Franziskanerplatz'', today ''Rathausplatz'', followed by two more adjoining buildings to establish the chancery of the

town clerk A clerk (pronounced "clark" /klɑːk/ in British and Australian English) is a senior official of many municipal governments in the English-speaking world. In some communities, including most in the United States, the position is elected, but in ma ...

. In the court documents from the years 1443 to 1479 a ''Richthaus'' ("court house") is mentioned, which was situated in these buildings. In 1557, master builder Dietrich Neeb and master mason Barthlin Ress were assigned by the council to build a new building on the property. This new building was extended in 1561 to the north by a building, followed in 1600 by another in the ''Turmstraße''. Even though the buildings are united by a uniform facade, it is possible to distinguish different construction phases. The building of 1557/1559 has an asymmetrical arrangement of the construction axes, which is still visible today. The ground floor has three entrances. The main portal on the right in the

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 ...

dates back to 1558. Two lions hold the coat of arms of Freiburg and the ''Bindenschild'' of Austria. On the far left, the former passage route framed by a Renaissance arch into the courtyard of the town hall serves as the main entrance to the building. Above the arch is a clock crowned by the

double-headed eagle The double-headed eagle is an Iconology, iconographic symbol originating in the Bronze Age. The earliest predecessors of the symbol can be found in Mycenaean Greece and in the Ancient Near East, especially in Mesopotamian and Hittite Empire#icon ...

of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

with the coats of arms of Hungary and Bohemia as well as under the ''Herzschild'' of Castile and Austria. More coats of arms on the gable over the main entrance commemorate the different monarchs in Freiburg: The space in the top right contains the red eagle of the

House of Zähringen The House of Zähringen () was a dynasty of Duchy of Swabia, Swabian nobility. The family's name derived from Zähringen Castle near Freiburg im Breisgau. The Zähringer in the 12th century used the title of Duke of Zähringen, in compensation fo ...

(1091–1218). Next to it there is the lion of the counts of Urach, who took over the eagle of the ''Zähringer'' as well when they were counts of Freiburg. In the middle on the left, there is the State coat of arms of the

Habsburg hereditary lands The ("Hereditary Lands") of the House of Habsburg formed the Alpine heartland of the Habsburg monarchy.Kann, ''Habsburg Empire'', 1–4. They were the hereditary possessions of the Habsburgs within the Holy Roman Empire from before 1526. The ...

, the so-called ''Lerchenwappen'', which features five eagles on a blue background that stand for five different duchies. The Habsburgs ruled in Freiburg from 1368 to 1806 (except for 1677 until 1697, when Freiburg was part of the Kingdom of France), which is symbolized by the Alsatian coat of arms in the middle on the right. At the lower left. the shield of the

House of Austria The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

can be seen; to the right of it there is the coat of arms of Freiburg, the

Saint George's Cross In heraldry, Saint George's Cross (or the Cross of Saint George) is a red cross on a white background, which from the Late Middle Ages became associated with Saint George, the military saint, often depicted as a crusader. Associated with ...

. The house façade of the old town hall was painted with scenes from a

dance of death The ''Danse Macabre'' (; ), also called the Dance of Death, is an artistic genre of allegory from the Late Middle Ages on the universality of death. The ''Danse Macabre'' consists of the dead, or a personification of death, summoning represen ...

in 1559. At the behest of the council, the painter Galienus Entringer had to replace his own painting with a history painting with scenes from the life of

Philip II of Macedon Philip II of Macedon (; 382 BC – October 336 BC) was the king (''basileus'') of the ancient kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedonia from 359 BC until his death in 336 BC. He was a member of the Argead dynasty, founders of the ...

in 1560. In 1881, Fritz Geiges replaced the

neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

architectural painting of Simon Gösers of 1810 with paintings in the manner of the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

, but those had to be revised in 1886 because of damage. Today, the building is plastered uniformly in sandstone red. The windows are framed in black and gold with colorful portals.Peter Kalchthaler: ''Die historischen Rathäuser''. Presse-und Informationsamt, Freiburg im Breisgau 1990. During Operation Tigerfish in 1944, the old town hall burned out completely and the entire interior decor was lost. Modern materials were used in the reconstruction of the building. The Old Town Hall was also extended by three wings in the plain functional style usual for that time. As a result of the new construction, only the nuns'

undercroft An undercroft is traditionally a cellar or storage room, often brick-lined and Vault (architecture), vaulted, and used for storage in buildings since medieval times. In modern usage, an undercroft is generally a ground (street-level) area whi ...

of the convent of

Poor Clares The Poor Clares, officially the Order of Saint Clare (Latin language, Latin: ''Ordo Sanctae Clarae''), originally referred to as the Order of Poor Ladies, and also known as the Clarisses or Clarissines, the Minoresses, the Franciscan Clarist Or ...

was preserved. This convent was housed in the former Regelhaus (a quasi-monastic building) ''Zum Lämmlein'' from 1672 until its abolition in 1782. After that, the buildings were used by the "Hospital of the Holy Spirit".

New Town Hall (''Neues Rathaus'')

left, Damaged figure (top) New Town Hall The origins of the New Town Hall can be traced back to a duplex house. The one on the right (''Zum Rechen'') was commissioned by the physician Joachim Schiller von Herdern and built between 1539 and 1545. The university bought the adjacent house (''Zum Phönix'') and turned both houses into a complex of buildings. As assembly between the buildings a prestigious columned doorway decorated with pediments carrying the inscription ''Academia friburgensis'' had been chosen. This complex of buildings has served the university until 1774 as ''Collegium Universititas''. After the abolition of the

Jesuit order The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 by ...

, the university received new collegiate buildings in the ''Bertoldstraße''. The administration department and three of four faculties (medicine not included) relocated there. Since then, the building was called ''Alte Universität'' ("Old University"), ''Altes Kollegium'' ("Old College") or ''Alte Anatomie'' ("Old Anatomy"). In 1867, the Faculty of Medicine moved to new buildings northwards where a new university quarter arose. In the early 18th century, the ''Auditorium maximum'' (the biggest lecture hall) had been created in the course of a renovation of the building's south wing. Due to its grand stucco ceiling, the auditorium is considered the most beautiful room in Freiburg from the

baroque period The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from the early 17th century until the 1750s. It followed Renaissance art and Mannerism and preceded the Rococo (in ...

. In 1779, another auditorium for anatomical lectures (''Theatrum Anatomicum'') was created in the northern part of the building. After more than 300 years belonging to the university, the town purchased the building for 140 gold mark and finished its conversion into the New Town Hall in 1901. Reasons for this include lack of space and the historic preservation of a monument. In addition to that, the town wanted to prevent the demolition of the building and therefore real estate speculation. The transformation into the town hall was also linked to many changes to the substance of the building. A bay-window figure was frequently damaged by trucks and has been fully replaced in 2012.
Face-Lifting am Rathaus statt Nasenkorrektur
', Simone Lutz, Badische Zeitung, 2012-10-20, Retrieved 2012-10-22 Today, different theatrical performances take place in the courtyard of the new town hall in summer.

''Gerichtslaube''

The ''Gerichtslaube'' (court house) left, Lower hall The ''Gerichtslaube'' ("court house") is the oldest town hall in Freiburg. It is first documented in 1328 as a council building, but only since the 16th century identified as ''Gerichtslaube''. The ''Gerichtslaube'' was destroyed in the air raid on Freiburg ('' Operation Tigerfish'') of 1944 almost to the foundations; only parts of the access staircase and the west wall, the annex which contained the archives, including the establishment of 1553, remained almost intact. From 1961, the reconstruction was run by the ''Kuratorium Gerichtslaube'', a civic initiative, and in March 1975, the reconstruction was started according to the plans of the architect Gregor Schroeder. After the topping out ceremony in December 1975, it was solemnly inaugurated in June 1979. Another special feature is also here: on August 24, 1498, King Maximilian I had issued at the Freiburg Reichstag a wine ''

Reinheitsgebot The (; ) is a series of regulations limiting the ingredients in beer in Germany and the states of the former Holy Roman Empire. The best known version of the law was adopted in Bavaria in 1516 (by William IV), but similar regulations predate the ...

'' (Purity Law), which is older than the well-known purity law for beer from April 23, 1516.

References

Literature

* Rudolf Thoma: Das alte Rathhaus und die Universität. In: Badischer Architecten- und Ingenieur-Verein, Oberrheinischer Bezirk (ed.): Freiburg im Breisgau. Die Stadt und ihre Bauten. H. M. Poppen & Sohn, Freiburg im Breisgau 1898, p. 449–466 * Berent Schwineköper: ''Gerichtslaube und Rathaus zu Freiburg. Eine quellenkritische Untersuchung zu Grundfragen der Freiburger Topographie''. In: ''Schau-ins-Land'' 83, 1965, p. 5–69
Digitalisat
. * Peter Kalchthaler: ''Die historischen Rathäuser''. Press office, Freiburg im Breisgau 1990.

Old Town Hall (''Altes Rathaus'')

New Town Hall (''Neues Rathaus'')

''Gerichtslaube''

References

Literature

External links