Altes Rathaus, Chemnitz: Historic Town Hall and Civic Complex
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.6
- Popularity
- Low
- Country
- Germany
- Primary era
- Early Modern
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Medieval, Early Modern, Modern
- Civilizations
- German, Holy Roman Empire
- Site type
- Civic
- Remains
- Town Hall
On this page10 sections
History
Altes Rathaus is a historic town hall in Chemnitz, Germany, built between 1496 and 1498 in the late Gothic period on the site of wooden predecessor buildings. It grew beside St. James’s Church and the market as the town’s civic administration expanded.
From wooden predecessors to a stone town hall
Major city fires in 1379, 1389, and 1395 encouraged the decision to construct a more durable stone town hall. The new building became part of the market’s civic setting, standing immediately beside the church and extending into the market area.
The stone town hall itself burned on 5 November 1617. After the fire, council meetings took place in the Dr. Vogel House at Roßmarkt. Reconstruction began in 1618, and the council had returned to the building by the autumn of 1619. The Hohe Turm, an older element of the complex, was completed in 1620.
Baroque remodelling and the expanded town hall
In 1746, Johann Gottlieb Ohndorff, a council master carpenter from Freiberg, gave the building its present Baroque form. Baroque architecture is characterized by dynamic shapes and elaborate ornament. The town hall therefore retained its late Gothic origin while acquiring a later appearance associated with the eighteenth century.
The New Town Hall was added between 1907 and 1911. The two buildings were planned as a unified architectural ensemble, linking the older civic building with the town hall’s expanded administrative complex.
Wartime destruction and reconstruction
Bombing on 5 March 1945 destroyed the Altes Rathaus, the Hohe Turm, and St. James’s Church. The town hall burned out, although the vaults on the first upper floor survived. The postwar rebuilding raised the building by an additional storey.
The Hohe Turm collapsed during the night of 3–4 February 1946. Its ruins were demolished by blasting, and the tower was then rebuilt. Reconstruction of the Old and New Town Halls and the Hohe Turm took place mainly between 1947 and 1951. The tower initially rose only to its gallery and was not structurally completed until 1986.
Since the political changes of 1990, the traditional office of the tower keeper has been revived. The Altes Rathaus also houses the mayor’s office, while the Hohe Turm serves as the workplace of Chemnitz’s tower keeper and as a viewing platform.
Remains
The surviving town-hall complex combines a late Gothic building with a later Baroque appearance, a rebuilt historic tower, and the adjoining New Town Hall. It stands beside St. James’s Church and projects into the market area, creating a continuous civic ensemble. The complex is also classified as an example of Saxon Renaissance architecture, the regional Renaissance tradition associated with Saxony.
Town hall and tower
Altes Rathaus
The Altes Rathaus retains its late Gothic origins, although its visible form reflects the Baroque remodelling of 1746 and the changes made after the Second World War. The building was reconstructed after the 1945 fire, with the vaults on the first upper floor surviving from the earlier structure. An extra storey was added during the postwar rebuilding.
Hohe Turm
The Hohe Turm is an older component of the town-hall complex and probably formed part of an inner urban fortification dating from around 1200. It was completed as part of the town-hall setting in 1620, but the present tower also reflects its postwar rebuilding after the collapse of 1946. The tower formerly housed the city bailiff, a municipal or territorial official who administered a town on behalf of a higher authority. It now contains the tower keeper’s workplace and functions as a viewing platform.
Judith–Lucretia Portal
Portal and carillon
The Judith–Lucretia Portal was made in 1559 by Merten Groß, who was a town councillor, cloth maker, and cloth merchant. Around 1580 it passed to the heirs of Agricola, and in 1589 it came to the Neefe family. The portal later adorned the patrician house built at the market in the mid-sixteenth century for the wealthy long-distance merchant Paul Neefe. A patrician house was the substantial urban residence of a wealthy and influential town family.
The portal remained on the so-called Neefe House until 1910. The Neefes had sold the building in 1804, and it became the Römischer Kaiser Hotel in 1815. After a major fire in 1921, the house was demolished. The portal is now mounted on the front of the Rathaus tower, whereas before the wartime destruction it stood on the side. Since 2001, a figurative carillon has stood above it. This musical installation of tuned bells incorporates six bronze figures made by Johannes Schulze.
