Amthaus (Aarau)
The administration building of the district Aarau is the westernmost house on the south side of Laurenzenvorstadt in Aarau and carries the house number 12th
history
The building was erected in front of the Laurenzentor as a hospital on behalf of the city authorities between 1784 and 1787. The design comes from the Bernese architect Carl Ahasver von Sinner , who also supervised the construction work. The previous hospital was housed in the former St. Ursula monastery on the Halde. The city of Bern (Aarau was a Bernese subject town at the time) advanced £ 30,000 for the construction and also approved a local lottery. The building served not only as a hospital, but also as a boys' school.
In 1802 the canton school also moved in , which in the course of time took over the entire building. The planned extension project, which was submitted in 1863 due to lack of space, did not come to fruition. Instead, it was decided to build a new building at the eastern end of Bahnhofstrasse (No. 91) and move into in 1896. The rear of the new building is also on the Laurenzenvorstadt. After the canton school era, the Amthaus served as an office building and was converted into the headquarters of the Aarau district authorities in 1936. Today it also houses the city guard of the canton police. The district prison is also housed in it.
building
The three-storey building in the classical style has 15 window axes. The gray ground floor is separated from the ocher yellow superstructure by horizontal joints and a cornice . The central axis is not accentuated by a risalit as usual , but by the border of the portal, a balcony parapet supported by fluted consoles and a cartouche with the city coat of arms. A bent hipped roof spans the entire length of the building . Above it rises a massive polygonal roof turret with a clock and an open lantern .
literature
- Michael Stettler: The art monuments of the canton of Aargau. Volume I: Districts of Aarau, Kulm, Zofingen . Ed .: Society for Swiss Art History . Birkhäuser Verlag, Basel 1948, p. 77-80 .
Web links
Coordinates: 47 ° 23 '36.6 " N , 8 ° 2' 47.7" E ; CH1903: six hundred forty-five thousand eight hundred ninety-nine / 249365