Old Town Hall (Düsseldorf)

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The town hall, 2013

The old town hall in Düsseldorf is the wing located on the northern side of the market square and the oldest part of the town hall complex in Düsseldorf's old town . It was built in the Renaissance style between 1570 and 1573 as an office building and meeting place for mayors , aldermen and the city council . Until 1806, the town hall also served as a meeting place for the estates of the Duchies of Jülich-Berg. Before that, a house had been used as the town hall since 1544, which had stood in the same place on the market square and had gradually become dilapidated. Before that, the house "Zum Schwarzen Horn" in Ratinger Strasse 6 had served as the town hall since 1470 . The construction of the town hall from 1573 expresses the upward development of the city under the Brandenburg dukes of Jülich-Kleve-Berg . Under Wilhelm the Rich it experienced a considerable expansion as a preferred residence town . Nevertheless, the city struggled to raise the funds for the construction costs and had to approach the sovereign for help several times.

When in 1831 the "Düsseldorf Chamber of Commerce" according to a royal decree of Friedrich Wilhelm III. was founded, it should be housed in the town hall. Although the decree was authorized by the Prussian king, the then mayor Philipp Schöller initially refused to make the premises available on a permanent basis. Nevertheless, the Chamber of Commerce maintained its first domicile in the town hall from 1831 to 1870.

description

The design of the town hall is stylistically related to the architecture of the palace extension from the same period. The plans of an unknown master builder were carried out by the master mason Heinrich Tußmann from Duisburg.

The building shows two " curved gables " and an eight-sided , five-storey stair tower . Originally the building was unplastered, showed a simple brick architecture with sparing house use and therefore resembled the townhouses of Holland and Belgium. It is very likely that the Kalkar town hall and the Mehrum building served as a model. The entrance was in the stair tower. The first floor had two large halls in which the woolen weavers and other guilds sold their goods. Later the oldest part of the town hall was redesigned by Johann Joseph Couven . This date is commemorated by the year 1749 carved over the entrance portal. Couven emphasized the corners of the stair tower with presented pilasters and separated the individual floors of the building with narrow cornices. He had a new portal built next to the stair tower with a simple rococo structure with a balcony above. In the post-war period, the facades of the old town hall were restored, behind the old facade a new functional building was built from 1958 to 1961 according to plans by Friedrich Tamms and H. Heyne. Here is the "Jan Wellem Hall", which is used for representative purposes.

  • Facade of the old town hall

  • The town hall before 1909

  • The town hall, 2010

  • The town hall, 2010

  • The town hall, 2013

  • Gable drawing (Paul Sültenfuß)

  • Old town hall, with its gables (drawing by Paul Sültenfuß)

  • Doors and portals of the old town hall

  • door

  • portal

  • Stairwells of the old town hall

  • Staircase in the side wing, photograph by Josef Kleesattel

  • Step detail in the side wing, drawing by Paul Sültenfuß

  • Lower stairs, photograph by Josef Kleesattel

  • Upper stairs, photograph by Josef Kleesattel

  • Details of the upper and lower stairs by Paul Sültenfuß

literature

  • Theo Lücker: Stones speak. Small signpost through Düsseldorf's old town . Verlag T. Ewers, Düsseldorf 1977, pp. 84-85 [No. 41 The Tussmann Building].

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Roland Kanz, Jürgen Wiener (ed.): Architectural Guide Düsseldorf. Dietrich Reimer, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-496-01232-3 , p. 198 [historical register]. Renaissance … 13… [City Hall]
  2. ^ JF Wilhelmi: Panorama of Düsseldorf and its surroundings. JHC Schreiner'sche Buchhandlung, Düsseldorf 1828, p. 83.
  3. ^ Hugo Weidenhaupt : Brief history of the city of Düsseldorf . Triltsch Verlag, Düsseldorf 1983, ISBN 3-7998-0000-X , p. 42.
  4. ^ Festschrift IHK-Düsseldorf. S. 9. Online version
  5. ↑ rp-online.de, Duisburger builds Düsseldorf town hall, April 10, 2017
  6. ^ Architects and Engineers Association in Düsseldorf (ed.): Düsseldorf and its buildings. L. Schwann, Düsseldorf 1904, p. 190.
  7. ↑ Roland Kanz, Jürgen Wiener (ed.): Architectural Guide Düsseldorf. Dietrich Reimer, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-496-01232-3 , p. 11, object no. 13 [City hall, market square, 1570/73, 1749, 1884, Heinrich Tußmann / Johann Joseph Couven / Eberhard Westhofen / Friedrich Tamms, H. Heyne]

Coordinates: 51 ° 13 ′ 33.9 ″  N , 6 ° 46 ′ 19.2 ″  E