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Hamburg City Hall

Tuesday, 21 November 2023 - 11:00 am (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination: European Union / Europäische Union
Category/Kategorie: General, Hamburg Reading Time:  4 minutes

🔊 Listen to this Post Hamburg City Hall (German: Hamburger Rathaus) is the seat of local government of Hamburg, Germany. It is the seat of the government of Hamburg and as such, the seat of one of Germany’s 16 state parliaments. The Rathaus is located in the Altstadt quarter in the city center, at the Rathausmarkt square, and near the lake Binnenalster and the central station. Constructed from 1886 to 1897, the city hall still houses its original governmental functions with the office of the First Mayor of Hamburg and the meeting rooms for the Parliament and the Senate (the city’s executive branch).

The city hall is located in the center of Hamburg. In front of it is a market-square, the Rathausmarkt, used for events and festivals. At the rear of the town hall is the Hamburg Stock Exchange. The main shopping street, Mönckebergstraße, connects the town hall with the central station. The Binnenalster with the Jungfernstieg station and quay for the Alster ships is directly north of the Rathaus. A nearby architectural landmark is the St. Peter’s Church.

On the outside the architectural style is Neo-Renaissance, which is abandoned inside for several historical elements. It is one of the few completely preserved buildings of historicism in Hamburg. The roof is made of copper which, over time, has reacted with carbon dioxide and water and turned green, showing the age of the building. Built in a period of wealth and prosperity, in which the Kingdom of Prussia and its military defeated France in the Franco-German War and the German Empire was formed, the look of the new Hamburg Rathaus was intended to express this wealth and also the independence of the State of Hamburg and Hamburg’s republican traditions. The city hall has a total area of 17,000 m² (182,986 sq ft), not including the restaurant Ratsweinkeller, now called Parlament, of 2,900 m² (31,215 sq ft). The tower is 112 metres (367 ft) high with 436 steps. It is a common misconception that Hamburg Rathaus has more rooms than Buckingham Palace (647 vs. 775), on a building area of 5,400 m² (58,125 sq ft). The balcony is surmounted by a mosaic of Hamburg’s patron goddess Hammonia, the city’s coat of arms and an inscription of the city’s motto in Latin:

“Libertatem quam peperere maiores digne studeat servare posteritas.” (in English: The freedom won by our elders, may posterity strive to preserve it in dignity.)

The courtyard is decorated with a Hygieia fountain. Hygieia as the goddess of health and hygiene in Greek mythology and its surrounding figures represents the power and pureness of the water. It was built in remembrance of the cholera epidemic in 1892, the former technical purpose was air cooling in the city hall.

Read more on hamburg-travel.com – Town Hall, hamburg.com – City Hall and Wikipedia Hamburg City Hall (Smart Traveler App by U.S. Department of State - Weather report by weather.com - Johns Hopkins University & Medicine - Coronavirus Resource Center - Global Passport Power Rank - Democracy Index - GDP according to IMF, UN, and World Bank - Global Competitiveness Report - Corruption Perceptions Index - Press Freedom Index - World Justice Project - Rule of Law Index - UN Human Development Index - Global Peace Index - Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index). Photos by Wikimedia Commons. If you have a suggestion, critique, review or comment to this blog entry, we are looking forward to receive your e-mail at comment@wingsch.net. Please name the headline of the blog post to which your e-mail refers to in the subject line.

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