Schwörhaus

The Schwörhaus in Ulm is a Renaissance building that represents the city’s civic sovereignty. Its three storeys include an open loggia and a balcony. Built between 1612 and 1618, it rose on the site of an older structure linked to a royal palace mentioned in 854. Fire and war shaped the building’s later history in Ulm. After the 1785 fire, builders gave the Schwörhaus a Baroque gable, while later damage required reconstruction in 1954. The building has served several official purposes over time. It housed the city library and archive before becoming the House of City History with a permanent exhibition. Its vaulted ground-floor rooms hold the exhibition. The city archive also occupies this building. Schwörmontag connects the balcony with public accountability, as Ulm’s mayor reports to citizens there each year. The tradition reaches back to the fourteenth century. Its architecture records changing civic life through Renaissance forms and Baroque additions. The Schwörhaus is recorded as wheelchair accessible for visitors.