The City Hall of Augsburg in Bavaria, Germany

Let's go travel and see Europe again. This time I am touring you in Augsburg, a city in the south-west of Bavaria, Germany. I am featuring one of the historical architectures in this city which is the City Hall of Augsburg. It is usually called in German as Augsburger Rathaus. It is the administrative centre of Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany, and one of the most significant secular buildings of the Renaissance style north of the Alps. It was designed and built by Elias Holl, Stadtbaumesiter (Master Builder of the town), in 1615–1624. Due to its historic and cultural importance, it is protected by the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict.

Here is an image of the City Hall taken during our visit last July 18, 2010.

The original Augsburger Rathaus was built in 1385, and it was decided at the beginning of the seventeenth century to complete a simple renovation of it in order to accommodate the Imperial Reichstag, which then sat in the city. In 1609, the town council commissioned the renowned architect, Elias Holl, to draw up a renovation plan for the Gothic building. It was only after six years of work that Holl could produce a plan for the magistrates, but this was rejected by the council, and, to Holl's surprise, he was issued with a new brief: to demolish the old Gothic town hall and erect in its place a beautiful new building.

Elias Holl produced his plan for the new Augsburger Rathaus, which was to be built in the Renaissance style, and, on 25 August 1615, the foundation stone was laid. It was the will of the magistrates that the Rathaus should not have a tower, however Elias Holl insisted on the famous onion domes by the gable, and in 1618 was allowed to proceed. The exterior of the Rathaus was completed in 1620, and the interior in 1624, following an almost fifteen-year planning phase and nine years of building. more here