Old Town Hall Steinfurt
The old town hall , a renaissance building , is located on the market in Burgsteinfurt .
The light-plastered building with dividing elements made of gray sandstone is characterized by a striking gable, which is structured with round windows and two pointed arch windows. The three-axis arcade floor is followed by another floor, which is structured with pointed arched windows and the step-like, three-zone gable. Pinnacles , connected by crab-like ornaments, emphasize this structure at the edges. A tower with a pointed helmet and a surrounding gallery above the sound holes crowns the building.
history
In 1561 the citizens of Burgsteinfurt built a stone town hall based on the Münster model . The growing self-confidence of the citizens of Steinfurt is also evident in the gable of the old town hall. The gable triangle on the ground floor is structured by protruding longitudinal and transverse beams. It turns into seven pointed pyramids; the city coat of arms also appears here. The tower of the building is supported by a single large oak beam, the so-called Kaiserstiel. On the upper floor there is the fireplace room and the large hall of the town hall, where you can still admire the emperor's handle.
The building was an open hall in the basement until 1922, in which the butcher's stalls , the city scales , the city guard and the prison were housed. The city court met on the street in front of the town hall, in winter in the council chamber on the upper floor. Most of the time, the sentences imposed were carried out immediately. For immediate prison there was the whipping or pillory . The so-called “donkey punishment”, in which the offenders were tied to a wheeled wooden horse or a donkey, was mainly carried out on adulterers and to discipline women. Invoices for repairs to the criminal device prove this special feature.
The roughly 600-year-old bell in the town hall's bell tower was originally cast for the Great Church, then fell into the hands of the citizens and was hung there when the town hall was built. It strikes the clock on the half and full hour.
The former council hall on the first floor is used as a ballroom.
literature
- Thomas Hoeren : Historical City Guide Steinfurt , Steinfurt 2005, ISBN 3934427812
Web links
Coordinates: 52 ° 8 ′ 52.4 " N , 7 ° 20 ′ 20.8" E