City Hall Basel (Rathaus) description and photos - Switzerland: Basel (Topic)

Basel Town Hall (Rathaus) description and photos - Switzerland: Basel. Detailed information about the attraction. Description, photographs and a map showing the nearest significant objects. The name in English is Rathaus.

Photo and description

Basel City Hall is a 16th century building built of red sandstone. It faces with its main facade the main town square, Marktplatz.

In 1290 there was already a small town hall here, which was destroyed by an earthquake in 1356. The entire city archive was lost. To replace the city hall, the so-called Palace of Lords was urgently erected, where the city municipality was located. In 1501 Basel joined the Swiss Confederation. The Grand Council, which ruled the canton and spared no expense for representative expenses, decided in 1503 to build a new town hall building, which would be connected with the Palace of Lords by a passage.

Construction work, which began in 1504, continued until 1514. The original Palace of the Lords, which was rebuilt in the years 1517-1521 behind the town hall. The Hall of the Grand Council was organized there, and Hans Holbein the Younger was instructed to decorate it. His frescoes were restored by Hans Bock at the beginning of the next century. He also painted the courtyard and the wall above the stairs on the right side in 1608-1609. Until 1611, he also painted the coat of arms of Basel on the main facade. The paintings of Holbein the Younger are partially preserved and are now on display in the Basel Art Museum.

The remains of the Lords Palace are considered the oldest part of the town hall. Already in the 20th century, another wing and a high tower were added to the central building, erected in the late Gothic style. At first, the city residents were hostile to the construction of such a tower, but then they resigned themselves and now they cannot imagine their town hall without it.

The interiors of the town hall can be seen by signing up for a tour.

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Topic: City Hall Basel (Rathaus) description and photos - Switzerland: Basel.