Rathaus
Rathaus stands on Heidelberg’s lively market square, at the heart of the old town, with castle ruins and the Neckar nearby. Its main façade combines Baroque masks and an electoral coat of arms with later architectural additions. An east-facing bell tower, attached in 1961, completes the changing silhouette.
The earlier city hall occupied this site until Heidelberg’s destruction during the War of the Palatine Succession in 1689. Builders raised the present Baroque structure between 1701 and 1703. Heinrich Charrasky created the surviving masks and coat of arms during that first phase. Expansion brought a north wing from 1886 to 1890, including a Neo-Renaissance council hall. Paintings and windows by Karl Hoffacker there depict the history of the Palatinate. After a fire in 1908, Franz Sales Kuhn designed a south wing in Neo-Baroque style between 1911 and 1924.
The mayor and city council meet here, while residents use the city administration’s services. From the balcony, a Christkind officially opens Heidelberg’s Christmas market each year. Festive façade lighting marks the season, while Pink Monday brings pink and rose illumination for the LGBTQ+ community.
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- Heidelberg
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Spots like this one are the stops myTuur strings into tours through Heidelberg. In the app, each story begins where you stand: walk up to a spot and it starts, read it on screen or listen as you go, then follow the route to the next one.
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myTuur is a free city-guide app. Its tours are built from spots, and each spot carries a story that starts when you get there, to read or to listen to as you like.