Herne town hall

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The east facade of the town hall of Herne

The town hall of Herne has been the seat of the city council and administration since 1912.

Several forerunners of the town hall were built in Herne in 1873/1874 , but after a few years the buildings no longer met the requirements of the rapidly growing city and were used for other purposes.

Building history

Since the beginning of the 20th century, the city of Herne has expanded, grew economically and therefore needed a future-proof seat for its administration. On April 1, 1908, the communities of Baukau and Horsthausen were incorporated into Herne as new districts. Since then, at the latest, the existing town hall, the former school building of the evangelical community on Mont-Cenis-Straße (today Gutenberg-Platz) and the houses around it that were already rented were too small. The city council met in the auditorium of the girls' higher school, today's Haranni high school .

There were two plots to choose from for the new building, one on Schaeferstraße at the corner of Goethestraße and a larger one on Bergelsmannhof in the west of Hauptstraße, Bahnhofstraße. There was also enough space here for later extensions and it was located at the center of the elongated city. On November 17, 1908, the city bought the area near the Protestant cemetery of 8.88  hectares for 96,000  marks .

Starting with the new town hall buildings in the surrounding towns, the aim was to create “something perfect in terms of urban planning” for Herne. A general ideas competition was announced, in which 54 participants took part. This should serve as the basis for a main competition. The architect (and later professor at the Technical University of Karlsruhe ) Gisbert von Teuffel (1881–1970) won this with his design mallets and irons . In the competition that followed, both von Teuffel and Karl Kurzreuther , the head of the Herne urban planning office, won first prize. According to the award-winning plans, a floor plan that met all requirements was developed and on July 5, 1910 the construction cost of a total of 900,000 marks including the purchase of the land was decided. The artistic direction of the L-shaped building was entrusted in October 1910 to the prominent architect Wilhelm Kreis - at the time head of the Düsseldorf School of Applied Arts -, according to whose plans the neoclassical construction began on March 8, 1911 . The construction management was taken over by a commission under the direction of the city building office.

The foundation stone was laid on May 13, 1911, followed by the topping-out ceremony on November 4, 1911 . On October 1, 1912, the first offices moved into the new town hall, in order to inaugurate it on December 6, 1912. On this occasion, the first mayor, Karl Büren, was awarded the title of Lord Mayor .

Building

The town hall at night
Memorial plaque at the town hall

State-of-the-art building materials were used: the ceilings and the roof foundations were made of iron framework construction, the roof of the central building was made of reinforced concrete. The exterior of the building, made of massive red brick and tuff stone, is representative. The high central building with an open archway and a terrace in front, which is delimited by three outside staircases with corner posts , dominates the market square . Decorative lion figures wearing coats of arms stand on the front. The upper part of the central building, which contains the council chamber and the magistrate's meeting rooms behind its slender windows, is designed as a portico with a gable crown. In contrast, the side wings are kept simple. A dome-like roof, similar to the roofs of a corps de logis of the 18th century, emphasizes the central building from the side roof covering. A tower tower rises above the central building on a plateau, which harmoniously completes the whole. Two tall sculptures by Joseph Enseling , which were removed after December 9, 1965 for safety reasons and are no longer preserved, adorned the parapet. The height of the structure is 42 meters from the base to the top of the tower.

In keeping with the exterior, the interior of the central building was created in a representative but cautious manner. The entrance stairs and the main staircase were made of concrete, which was left partially visible. Some meeting rooms, the wedding hall ( bog oak ) and the mayor's office were decorated with wood paneling or wall coverings. The council chamber is designed as a representative highlight: 6.5 meter high cedar wood paneling, floor-to-ceiling windows, oak armchairs and desks give the room its effect. The hall is illuminated by two large chandeliers with 100 lamps each. Above the entrance doors is a grandstand accessible from the third floor. The other offices, however, were sober. Right from the start, the town hall had electric lights, central heating in all rooms and an elevator.

The total cost finally came to 950,000 marks. No other planned extensions were carried out.

Today the town hall is the seat of the mayor of the city of Herne, seat of the administration, meeting room of the city council and the district representation Herne-Mitte; it has been a listed building since 1985. For the centenary on December 6, 2012, a comprehensive exhibition on the history of the town hall was brought together and exhibited in the town hall until February 9, 2013. When it is over, selected display boards about the history of the house will continue to be on view.

architectural art

  • Hubert Nietsch : 1963 for the 10th anniversary on June 17, 1953, a relief on the Herner Rathaus gate.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Hermann Schaefer: Festschrift for the inauguration of the new town hall in Herne.
  2. ↑ www.herne.de accessed on February 11, 2013

literature

  • Hermann Schaefer . Festschrift for the inauguration of the new town hall in Herne . Herne December 6, 1912
  • City of Herne. The town hall of Herne - a house by citizens for citizens . (without a date)

Web links

Coordinates: 51 ° 32 ′ 17 ″  N , 7 ° 13 ′ 10 ″  E