Bautzen town hall

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Bautzen town hall
Town hall Bautzen 101.JPG
Data
place Bautzen , Saxony
builder Johann Christoph von Naumann
Construction year Remodeling from 1729 to 1732
height 54 m
Floor space 990 m²
Coordinates 51 ° 10 '53.9 "  N , 14 ° 25' 25.5"  E Coordinates: 51 ° 10 '53.9 "  N , 14 ° 25' 25.5"  E

The town hall of Bautzen ( Radnica in Upper Sorbian ) is located between the main market (in the south) and meat market (in the north) in the middle of Bautzen's old town . The construction of the first permanent council seat at this point goes back to a decree of the Bohemian King Ottokar I Přemysl , who allowed Bautzen to build “a particularly stately stone house” here.

Building history

The first town hall was built in 1213. However, almost nothing of this original building has survived due to the extensive destruction and renovations. After its opening in the 13th century, the vault on the lower floor of the town hall was probably initially used as a department store for cloth makers, who were the richest merchants in the city at the time. In 1284 the traders moved to the newly built Gewandhaus on the opposite side of the main market , as the space in the vaulted town hall was no longer sufficient for them. The Bautzen Town Hall has been its seat since the Upper Lusatian Association of Six Cities was founded in 1346.

Clocks on the town hall tower; to the right of the top clock is the Turkish head

In 1489 the foundation stone for the tower of the town hall was laid. The construction was completed on August 21, 1493. In 1525 the first tower clock with the associated hour bell was installed on the south side of the tower. In 1582 the top of the town hall tower was removed in order to raise it by one floor. In addition, the stone walkway underneath the tower hood was created in this phase of renovation.

In 1627 a tower clock followed on the north side of the tower. The tower and the clock were destroyed in the great city fire of 1634. The tower was rebuilt by 1644, but in 1660 the upper part was torn down and destroyed in a storm. The tower was reconstructed again by 1663. After the town hall fire of 1704, in which the building and the tower were damaged again, the three-storey tower dome was erected during the reconstruction and is still preserved today. Between 1729 and 1732 the town hall was rebuilt according to the plans of Johann Christoph von Naumann and received its present shape. The renovations concentrated on the expansion of the upper floor, the enlargement of the windows and the extension of the staircase with the baroque double staircase on the north side. The south side received its pilaster architecture in 1863 .

Others

On the south side of the town hall tower, to the right of the top clock, a protruding dark stone can be seen, depicting a Turkish head with a turban . According to the legend, this was walled in to commemorate the troops of the Turks approaching in 1683, which, however, were already walled in near Vienna by the armies of the Saxon Elector Johann Georg III in the course of the Second Turkish Siege of Vienna . and the Polish Prince Johann III. Sobieski were defeated. Fearing the approaching troops of the Turks, the townspeople had already rushed to repair the walls, ramparts and gates in order to be prepared for battle.

From 1864 to 1985 the statue of the " Ritter Dutschmann " stood on a pedestal on the south facade of the town hall , who today again crowns the fountain on the main market in front of the town hall.

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literature

  • Hans Mirtschin: 800 years of Bautzen town hall - building history and design. Lusatia Verlag, Bautzen 2013, ISBN 978-3-936758-87-0 .
  • Cornelius Gurlitt : The town hall. In:  Descriptive representation of the older architectural and art monuments of the Kingdom of Saxony. 33. Booklet: Bautzen (city) . CC Meinhold, Dresden 1909, pp. 206-221.
  • Wolfgang Roch: Bautzen - the capital of the royal Saxon Margraviate of Upper Lusatia. Wellersche Buchhandlung ( Oskar Roesger ), Bautzen 1914.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The Turk's Head at the Town Hall , Bautzener Sagen, Verlag Johannes Vieweg, Leipzig 24, page 16.

Web links

Commons : Rathaus Bautzen  - Collection of images, videos and audio files