Old Town Hall (Göttingen)
The old town hall in Göttingen was built in several construction phases from 1270 and was the seat of the council and administration of the city of Göttingen until 1978 . It stands on the west side of the market square in the middle of the old town. Today it is used for representative purposes.
history
It is not known exactly when construction of the building began. However, investigations on the beams of the medieval roofs still preserved show that the wood used was felled around the year 1270. Hence, it is believed that they were used for construction shortly thereafter. In a document from 1344, the town hall building is referred to as "cophus", which shows that the influential merchants' guild also used the building for their own purposes. The basement of the building was also used as a "winkeller" at this time.
In 1366, Duke Ernst I , who ruled the Principality of Göttingen at the time, authorized the citizens of Göttingen to
- "Dat se mughen buwen, setten unde maken ore kophus unde rathus to Gottingen in de straten, wurvene es willet unde des to rade unde on dat even unde comfortable is"
- (that they can build, sit and make their department store and town hall in Göttingen on the street and on the street where and how they want and decide and it is right and convenient for them).
The foundation stone of the approved extension and renovation of the town hall was laid in 1369. The combing books still preserved today show the effort and the process. A "Dorntze" (also Dornse ; Low German for "heatable room") and the council kitchen with an anteroom were added to the existing hall to the west . The Dorntze was the most representative room in the building and served the council as a meeting room. On the upper floor there were rooms for storage purposes. In the early 15th century, the old main hall received a new beamed ceiling, and another “nygen dorntze” was added south of the council kitchen. At this time an expansion of the building to the south was initiated; in front of it, on the eastern front, a staircase was added and a three-bay arbor was added. The battlements with the round corner towers around the roof were left unfinished on the lower extension. In 1540 the interior was painted by the Göttingen painter Heinrich Heisen.
The building was devastated during the Thirty Years War when the city was recaptured for the Protestant side by Swedish and Weimar troops under Wilhelm von Weimar . The defending imperial troops withdrew fighting after the storming of the city in the town hall and only surrendered there in the so-called blood chamber. Because the hall and ground floor were completely neglected as a result, all representative events were moved to the rooms on the upper floor.
After the Georg August University was founded in the 18th century, the building was renovated and modernized. The heraldic lions from the workshop of the Heyd brothers in Kassel, who are the main characters in the fairy tale “The Sad Lions of Göttingen”, also date from the end of the 18th century . Between 1883 and 1886 the hall was given a new interior and decoration, which was carried out by the painter Hermann Schaper from Hanover. The restaurant in the town hall's cellar was also rebuilt at the end of the 19th century. The building was restored until 1907, after which work was suspended for seventy years.
After the construction of the new town hall south of the old town in 1978, the city administration moved there, and the now old town hall could be converted after a restoration. The roof over the arbor was redesigned and a gable was added. Since then, the building has mainly been used for representative purposes. In addition to civil weddings in the large ballroom, the medieval Dorntze, exhibitions are also held regularly. Some rooms serve the Göttingen Tourismus eV as offices, until the beginning of 2019 the tourist information office also occupied one room. Most of the basement is used as a restaurant.
The quarry stone building is now 41 meters long and 21.5 meters deep; on the market side (to the east) it shows two distinctly different architectural styles. The northern, higher section is defined by a final crenellated crown. The southern section with the arbor is dominated by a high rectangular window with an ashlar frame. It was not until later expansion work at the beginning of this century, when a mezzanine was built in, that this window was enlarged and is therefore larger than the others.
Paintings in the interior of the old town hall
Judge scene: accused, judge, plaintiff. Slogan : Dat right to strong and dat wrong to sick
Registry office scene: widow with child, couple with newborn
Alms: beggars receive bread. Banner : He who has mercy on the poor honors God
Tax payment. Slogan : Children, bring you iuwe tinse, bolde, bolde!
literature
- Jens-Uwe Brinkmann: Old Town Hall in Göttingen. ( Small art guide for Lower Saxony , issue 1), Muster-Schmidt Verlag, 2nd edition, Göttingen 1993.
- Hans Reuther: architecture. In: Göttingen, History of a University City, Volume 1, ed. by Dietrich Denecke and Helga-Maria Kühn , Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1987, page 530, 548 ff.
- Wulf Schadendorf : City Hall to Göttingen. (Small art guide for Lower Saxony, volume 1), Göttingen 1953.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Stephen G. Clackson: The sad lions of Göttingen . In: Göttinger Tageblatt . No. 300 - week 51, December 24, 1994, S. 15 .
Coordinates: 51 ° 31 '58.4 " N , 9 ° 56' 4.9" E