Description of the attraction
Basel City Hall is a 16th century building made of red sandstone. It faces with its main facade the main town square, Marktplatz.
In 1290, there was already a small city hall, which was destroyed by an earthquake in 1356. The entire city archive was lost. To replace the mayor's office, the so-called Palace of Lords was urgently erected, where the city municipality was located. In 1501 Basel joined the Swiss Confederation. The Grand Council, which ruled the canton and spared no expense for the representative expenses, decided in 1503 to build a new town hall building, which would be connected with the Palace of Lords by a passage.
Construction work, which began in 1504, continued until 1514. The original Palace of the Lords, which happened to be behind the town hall in 1517-1521, was rebuilt. The Hall of the Grand Council was organized there, and Hans Holbein the Younger was instructed to decorate it. His frescoes were restored by Hans Bock at the beginning of the next century. He also painted the courtyard and the wall above the stairs on the right side in 1608-1609. Until 1611, he also painted the coat of arms of Basel on the main façade. The paintings of Holbein the Younger have been partially preserved and are now on display at the Basel Art Museum.
The remains of the Lords Palace are considered the oldest part of the town hall. Already in the 20th century, another wing and a high tower were added to the central building, erected in the late Gothic style. At first, the residents of the city reacted with hostility to the construction of such a tower, but then they resigned themselves and now they cannot imagine their town hall without it.
The interiors of the town hall can be seen by signing up for a tour.
