Altes Rathaus

Altes Rathaus stretches 53 metres along the main market in Germany, with a deep-red façade and sculpted gables shaping the square. Its 35-metre tower rises above a building whose Renaissance origins meet nineteenth-century Neo-Renaissance details.

Built between 1567 and 1577 over a wooden predecessor, the building first served as a marketplace, then housed Duke Ernst I before becoming a town hall. After the city fire of 1665, builder Rudolphi reshaped it for civic duties, and the lord mayor’s office still occupies part of the interior. The north entrance displays ducal busts and shields, while heraldic lions and intricate arms decorate the west side.

A viewing platform at 23 metres opens across the market, with the city coat of arms visible in the mosaic paving below. Above the north gable, the golden Grumbachskopf opens its moving jaw every hour. Historic iron clockworks, updated with electric impulses, drive the spectacle, while mayoral portraits and a relief of Elector Johann Friedrich I connect the rooms with the city’s political history.