The Red Town Hall ( ) is the town hall of Berlin, Germany, located in the Mitte district on Rathausstraße near Alexanderplatz. It is the seat to the Governing Mayor of Berlin and the government (the Senate of Berlin) of the state of the city.

History

The town hall was built between 1861 and 1869 in the style of the Northern Italy High Renaissance by Hermann Friedrich Waesemann. It was modelled on the Old Town Hall of Toruń, Poland, while the architecture of the tower is reminiscent of the cathedral tower of the Cathedral of Laon, France. It replaced several individual buildings dating from the Middle Ages and now occupies an entire city block.

The building was heavily damaged by Allied bombing in World War II and rebuilt to the original plans between 1951 and 1956. The Neues Stadthaus, which survived the bombing and had formerly been the head office of Berlin's municipal fire insurance Feuersozietät in Parochialstraße served as the temporary city hall for the post-war city government for all the sectors of Berlin until September 1948. Following that time, it housed only those of the Soviet sector. The reconstructed Red Town Hall, then located in the Soviet sector, served as the town hall of East Berlin, while the Rathaus Schöneberg was the town hall of West Berlin. "Red Town Hall" (Rotes Rathaus) was also used figuratively to designate the socialist government of East Berlin, the Magistrat. After German reunification, the administration of reunified Berlin officially moved into the building on 1 October 1991.

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File:Ayuntamiento Rojo, Berlín, Alemania, 2016-04-22, DD 37-39 HDR.jpg|Tower and clock of Red Town Hall

File:Rotes Rathaus, Berlin.jpg|The Red Town Hall at night

File:Rotes Rathaus vom Fernsehturm aus.jpg|Seen from the Fernsehturm

File:Berlin- The Rotes Rathaus with the Neptunbrunnen in front - 2761.jpg|The Red Town Hall and Neptunbrunnen

File:LNM 03-13 Rotes Rathaus 08.jpg|Entrance hall of the Rathaus

File:Torun Ratusz Staromiejski 2010 03 04 7189.JPG|Toruń town hall, inspiration for the Red Town Hall

File:City of Berlin 1927.jpg|The Red Town Hall on a Sterling loan of the City Berlin, issued 2. July 1927

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See also

  • Senate of Berlin
  • Mayor of Berlin
  • List of mayors of Berlin
  • List of tourist attractions in Berlin
  • Alexanderplatz
  • Nikolaiviertel
  • Fernsehturm Berlin
  • Marienkirche
  • Marx-Engels-Forum
  • Altes Stadthaus, Berlin
  • CityMayors feature
  • Red Town Hall 360° Panorama
  • Rotes Rathaus website