Old Town Hall (Bonn)

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Old Town Hall (2011) after the renovation
Old town hall before renovation (2009)

The old town hall on Bonn's market square was built in the Rococo style from 1737 to 1738 by the electoral court architect Michael Leveilly ; However, it was not fully completed until around 1780. The three-story building has seven window axes and a mansard roof with dormers. It is a listed building as a monument .

history

Market square with the old town hall (right), photochromic print around 1900

In addition to its central location in Bonn's city center and its former function as the seat of the city administration, the town hall is also famous for the gilded flight of stairs on the market square. In the course of history, it has repeatedly been the scene of important events, with famous personalities appearing there before the people of Bonn.

On October 18, 1944 , during the Allied bombing raids in World War II , the town hall burned down to the surrounding walls, and part of the vaults in the basement were also broken through. The subsequent reconstruction took place without the previous stucco decorations and with a higher roof up to 1950. After Bonn became the federal capital in 1949 , it became the site of historical speeches and state visits. As early as September 12, 1949, Theodor Heuss appeared before the Bonn team to celebrate the election of the Federal President he had just won. In 1962, French President Charles de Gaulle and in 1963 US President John F. Kennedy gave welcoming speeches. On June 13, 1989, the Bonners cheered the Soviet state and party leader Mikhail Gorbachev there. All heads of state signed the city of Bonn's Golden Book .

On April 10, 1973, on the occasion of a state visit by the South Vietnamese General and President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu , the Bonn City Hall was stormed by around 60 hooded members of the Communist Party of Germany , the League against Imperialism and the Communist Party of Germany / Marxist-Leninists , window and inventory were destroyed. About 2,000 demonstrators formed a wall against the police. The action resulted in property damage of half a million marks .

City hall wrapping during renovation (June 2010)

The building on the market square lost its function as the seat of the municipal administration in 1978, as the capacity was no longer sufficient after the incorporation in 1969 and a new town house had been built in the northern part of the city . However, it is still used by the city of Bonn as a representative object. Significant resolutions and assemblies outside of the activities of the committees and city council continue to take place there. In addition, speeches and celebrations that are important for the city are still held in the Old Town Hall. To perform these duties in addition to the mayor, the Management Board have referat policy matters and the Executive Unit for International Affairs and representation located in the Old Town Hall. The city of Bonn offers the opportunity to get married in the town hall's wedding room on selected dates .

Remedial measures

The building had been in poor condition for several years, the necessary renovation was postponed several times for financial reasons. The renovation of the facade, doors, windows and roof, as well as the renewal of the technology (heating, air conditioning and sanitary systems) and the improvement of fire protection cost 5.45 million euros and lasted from February 2010 to June 2011. The renovation was funded financed by the so-called economic stimulus package . Since then, further renovation and modernization work has been carried out, mainly carried out by the old town hall association founded in October 2009 .

reception

"The town hall is, if not an outstanding work of art, but composed with great skill as the end of the long narrow market, with the only large order of pilasters and the wide, expansive staircase of significant effect."

- Paul Clemen (1905)

“The town hall with its balanced facade closes the market square in an impressive manner. (...) Since the three-storey building takes up the entire narrow side of the square, its effect is increased. "

Individual evidence

  1. List of monuments of the city of Bonn (as of March 15, 2019), p. 39, number A 950
  2. ↑ The fate of the war in German architecture. Loss - damage - reconstruction. Documentation for the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany. Volume 1: Nord , Karl Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1988, ISBN 3-529-02685-9 , p. 385.
  3. The Thieubesuch on 04.10.1973 in Bonn , illustrated materials for the analysis of opposition (MAO) (accessed on 11 May 2014)
  4. kultur-in-bonn.de: Students storm Bonn's town hall ( Memento from July 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (accessed on July 9, 2014)
  5. ^ House of History: Bonn Town Hall Tower February '73 (accessed on July 9, 2014)
  6. Still no money for renovation , General-Anzeiger , August 30, 2008
  7. ↑ The renovation of the old town hall is picking up speed , press release from the city of Bonn on May 27, 2010
  8. Restoration for the old town hall: five paintings of baroque princes shine in new splendor , press release of the city of Bonn, April 2, 2012
  9. ^ Paul Clemen: The art monuments of the city and the district of Bonn . L. Schwann, Düsseldorf 1905, p. 171 (= Die Kunstdenkmäler der Rheinprovinz , Volume 5, Section 3, p. 467). (Unchanged reprint Verlag Schwann, Düsseldorf 1981, ISBN 3-590-32113-X ) ( Internet Archive )
  10. ^ Hermann Josef Roth: DuMont art travel guide Bonn: from the Roman garrison to the federal capital - art and nature between the Voreifel and the Siebengebirge . DuMont, Cologne 1988, ISBN 978-3-7701-1970-7 , pp. 45/46.

literature

Web links

Commons : Old Town Hall  - collection of images


Coordinates: 50 ° 44 ′ 6.1 ″  N , 7 ° 6 ′ 10.6 ″  E