Town Hall (Ulm)
The Ulm Town Hall is one not least because of its frescoes and an astronomical clock of the outstanding monuments of the city of Ulm . Its complex building history - it consists of three different components - began in the 14th century, its current appearance goes back to the early Renaissance .
Building history
Gewandhaus
The oldest part of the Ulm City Hall was a building (later demolished) in the area of what is now the north wing of the City Hall. In 1357 it was referred to as the “Gewandhaus” and in 1362 as a “Kaufhaus”. In addition to iron and salt, a major trade in Ulm at this time was formed by substances, in particular the farshent . In 1369 the saddlers were also given the right to sell their goods there.
New department store
In 1370 the current east wing of the Ulm City Hall - also known as the “new department store” at the time - was added. On its ground floor there was an 8 m high sales hall for the butchers. A corresponding pointed arch gate on the south side still exists today. In 1383 the building is also known as the “court house”, as it now had an arbor open to the north on the ground floor, where the lower court met in public.
From 1395 at the latest, the Ulm council had a council chamber in the building, which in 1419 is now called the “town hall”. Around this time, a large council chamber was moved over the three-aisled department store and the south-eastern front of the building on the 1st floor was provided with 5 large, late Gothic staggered windows after 1420 . The two windows on the east side received a keel-arch frame , the three south windows Wimpergaufbauten . In addition, stone figures were attached to the windows. While the sculptures of the six electors in the south window of the town hall come from Master Hartmann , the sculptures on the east window are works by Hans Multscher . The figure of the emperor ( Charlemagne is shown , as there was no German emperor between 1420 and 1433) is flanked by two squires and the kings of Bohemia and Hungary (both crowns were held by King Sigismund , who was also crowned German emperor in 1433 ). The originals of today's copies at the town hall are in the Ulm Museum .
On the east side there is also an Annunciation pulpit, from which the emperor or his representative received homage, but also death sentences were read out. It must have existed as early as 1473, but was supplemented and redesigned in 1539 and 1604.
Roth's house
When the (new) department store was being built, an older half-timbered house (“Roth'sches Haus”) was purchased in the west of the complex. This was rebuilt around 1480 and adapted to the main structure. Around 1900 this part was completely demolished and replaced.
Redesign in the 16th century
In the 4th decade of the 16th century extensive renovations took place, in the course of which the north wing (i.e. the original clothing store or department store) was demolished and the north transverse building (with arcades) was completely renewed by the builder Hans Michel. From the original north building (Gewandhaus) only the cellar vaults remained, which were used as a prison for a long time. The east wing received its current shape with filigree columns and beams made of terracotta , and the existing oriel tower in the southeast corner was also changed.
In 1540, the facade painting attributed to Martin Schaffner on the north and east sides was completed. It is considered to be the largest fresco cycle of the 16th century in Germany. The east facade deals with topics such as divine wisdom, self-knowledge and justice, mainly using biblical examples. On the north facade, on the other hand, there are themes from Roman and Greek legends such as war-honors, male boldness and obedience. Schaffner used images - especially woodcuts for book illustrations - that came from Augsburg renaissance artists (including Hans Schäufelin ). Between 1576 and 1578 the old building must have been redesigned again.
Renovation around 1900
From 1898 to 1905, the now partially dilapidated Ulm City Hall was extensively renovated and partially redesigned, although numerous votes in favor of abandoning the building and building a new one elsewhere. The Roth'sche Haus was demolished and replaced by a new building that was better integrated into the overall complex. In 1903 this part of the building was additionally given an outside staircase in the northwest. The painting on the façade, which has since been heavily faded, was restored or reconstructed according to old templates, the Annunciation pulpit, which had been broken off in the meantime, was restored, and the astronomical clock was also repaired.
The original painting on the south facade has not been preserved and was redesigned in 1905. In the south gable is a box from Ulm , above it the coats of arms of the cities and countries with which Ulm had a commercial relationship. In the lower area the victorious Ulm homecoming over the besiegers Emperor Charles IV is shown in 1376.
From the Second World War
In a heavy air raid on Ulm on December 17, 1944 , the interior of the Ulm City Hall was largely destroyed. However, the outer shape and the wall paintings, like the vaulted rooms on the lower floors, remained largely intact. A previously removed hall door by Jörg Syrlin the Elder J. from 1509 was preserved (it is now in the Ulmer Museum ). After the war, the parts of the building were initially provided with emergency roofs. From 1951 the most important municipal offices and the mayor were able to move back into the town hall. In the late 1950s and 1973, the frescoes on Ulm City Hall were repaired.
From 1987 to 1989, the interior of the town hall was completely rebuilt. Among other things, a second, large council chamber was built in the north wing to complement the (now small) council chamber in the south-east.
Astronomical clock
The astronomical clock of the Ulm town hall on the eastern front of the building dates from around 1520. Around 1580 the Strasbourg clockmaker Isaak Habrecht was commissioned by the Ulm council to renew it. Its mechanics were destroyed in World War II and replaced in 1952.
Others
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A plaque for the astronomer and mathematician was at the southeast corner of the town hall in 1913 Johannes Kepler mounted, the pressure of 1626 to 1627 in Ulm Rudolphine Tables had to perform and on behalf of Ulmer Council Ulmer Boiler ( Kepler-boiler designed), a Combined standard measure for the five most important Ulmer measures of weight, length and content in the form of a large brass vessel. The board contains a riddle that has remained unsolved to this day.
A replica of the hang glider of the “Schneider von Ulm”, Albrecht Ludwig Berblinger , is on display in the atrium of the town hall .
In the (small) Ulm council chamber, glass panes from around 1600 have been preserved, and in one of the eastern council windows there is also a glass sundial that probably goes back to the time of the redesign around 1540.
On the square southeast of the town hall there is a fountain by Jörg Syrlin the Elder. Ä. from 1482. In this so-called fish box , fish were put out on market days.
literature
- Hans Koepf : The Ulm City Hall . Published by the main office of the city of Ulm, Süddt. Verlagsgesellschaft, 1981, 48 pp.
- Hans Koepf: Ulmer profane buildings . Research on the history of the city of Ulm (Ed. Stadtarchiv Ulm), Volume 4, 1982, W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart, ISBN 3-17-007078-9 , pp. 146–149.
- Hans Koepf: Swabian Art History, Vol. 2, Gothic architecture . Jan Thorbecke, Constance a. Stuttgart, 1961. pp. 100-101
- City of Ulm (ed.): The town hall . Construction documentation on the occasion of the reopening after the renovation from 1987 to 1989. 79 p.
Web links
- The Ulm City Hall, Flyer; Ed .: City of Ulm, Central Services, Public Relations and Representation 8/2009, Text: Henning Petershagen
- Brief information at tourismus.ulm.de
- Detailed information about the astronomical clock at Ulm City Hall
Individual evidence
- ↑ Hans-Joachim Albinus, Detlef Suckrau: Reminiscences of Johannes Kepler's stay in Ulm 1626-1627. New, strange and unsolved puzzles. Ulm and Oberschwaben, Vol. 61 (2019), pp. 175-211 (Chapter 3 on the Kepler memorial plaque, Chapter 2 on the Kepler kettle)
Coordinates: 48 ° 23 ′ 49.1 ″ N , 9 ° 59 ′ 36 ″ E