The Red Town Hall can be visited freely. Halls Stamp, Column, Assembly, Senate meetings are usual places for receptions and meetings in a modern style. The mayor’s office is also no frills - no stucco, fireplaces, etc. Beautiful front staircase with stained glass windows. I wonder if it is possible to visit the office of the mayor of Moscow?
Red Town Hall (Rotes Rathaus), photo Laurent ABRY
In Berlin, opposite the medieval Marienkirche church, is the Red Town Hall (Rotes Rathaus). The town hall got its name due to the fact that it was built of red brick. Construction was carried out from 1861 to 1869, according to the project of the architect G.F. Weseman.
German Weseman was simply in love with Italian architecture, which led to the construction of the town hall in the Neo-Renaissance style (semi-renaissance-semi-gothic). The three-story building of the town hall is crowned by a tower 74 meters high. To climb to its upper platform, you need to overcome 287 steps of the spiral staircase.
The city clock, located on the Red Town Hall, has two bells: a large bell that beats the clock is set to “re”, and a small bell that beats a quarter of an hour is set to “salt”.
A terracotta frieze passes along the walls of the building, on which scenes from the history of the city are executed.
Top view of the Red Town Hall, photo by Henri Kobylecki
During the war, the town hall building was destroyed. They restored it from 1951 to 1958. As a result, the interior of the town hall was changed. Now on the ground floor are the Hall of Columns and Stamp, which perform representative functions. On the third is a gallery with portraits of honorary Berliners.
After the restoration, the Berlin City Representative Assembly and the East Berlin Magistrate of the GDR were housed in the Red Town Hall; since 1991 - the seat of government (Senate) of the united state of Berlin. Here is the office of the burgomaster.
You can visit the Red Town Hall from Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 18:00.
Access is restricted only during international events.
How to get there
Take the metro to Alexanderplatz Station.