The Bremen Town Hall is one of the most important buildings of the
Brick Gothic and Weser Renaissance in Europe. It has been a listed
building since 1917. In July 2004, together with the Bremen Roland, it
was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
The building is the
seat of the Senate and the Mayor (in personal union Senate President) of
the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen.
The Bremen Town Hall is located in the middle of Bremen's old town on
the north-east side of the market square. Opposite on the south-west
side is the Schütting and on the south-east side is the modern house of
the Bremen Parliament. The towers of the cathedral rise southeast of the
town hall. To the north, separated only by the street Schoppensteel,
stands the Church of Our Lady. The Liebfrauenkirchhof extends in the
angle between the (old) town hall and the church and around it. On the
market square in front of the town hall is the Bremen Roland, on the
north corner of the old town hall on the Liebfrauenkirchhof is the
bronze sculpture of the Bremen Town Musicians by Gerhard Marcks.
For linguistic simplification, the south-west side facing the market is
often referred to as the south side, the narrow sides as the west and
east side, and the north-east side, which is largely built on with the
new town hall, as the north side.
The first Romanesque town hall
The first Bremen town hall stood at
the southern end of the row of houses between Sögestraße,
Liebfrauenkirchhof and Obernstraße and extended with an archway over the
confluence with Sögestraße. It is mentioned in a document from 1229 as
domus theatralis and from 1251 as domus consulum. In his account of the
legal history of Bremen, Ferdinand Donandt (1803–1872) assumed that
before the emancipation of the citizens from the archbishop, it had
already served as a courthouse and had at least one open hall, since
courts were not held in closed rooms at that time could. The arch over
the Sögestraße and the repairs by a bricklayer indicate a stone building
whose age is in the Romanesque style. There is no clear description, but
two years before the city finally sold the building (or the building
complex), it was shown in a copper engraving of the market. It shows
three gables facing Obernstraße with a hall floor above a base. From the
time when it still served as the town hall, there are a number of
documents about the tabernae or boden of the wall cutters located there.
A contract dated March 29, 1382, is particularly detailed, giving the
wall tailors permission to sell wool fabrics freely during the two
annual fairs (Pentecost and Freimarkt). He distinguishes between three
groups of existing or yet to be erected wall tailor's booths, under the
town hall facing Obernstrasse, under the town hall facing the
chancellery, and under the chancellery itself. Already in the first half
of that century there were cloth tailors' stalls under the stairs that
led up to the upper floor of the town hall at the Liebfrauenkirchhof.
The staircase is also mentioned in connection with a street fight in
1366. Depending on whether you understand the preposition "sub"
("under") as "in the basement" or as "at your feet", there are very
different ideas about the shape and surroundings of the first town hall.
The office, called scriptoria in Latin, stood on a cross street between
Sögestraße and Liebfrauenkirchhof (today the property at Sögestraße 9a /
U.L.F. Kirchhof 21), which has now disappeared. In 1382, when new wall
tailor shops were built underneath it, it collapsed. In 1498 three
houses for the needy were built on the property. Assumptions that it
lasted until the 19th century are now outdated. After the construction
of the new town hall on the market square, the city kept the old town
hall for almost two centuries, although in 1483 it leased it to the
Krameramt (i.e. the guild of small traders), later as a warehouse to the
Hop Office. At that time, rent for “Bogen auf dem Hopfenhaus” was
collected from 10 people. Eventually, the former town hall was sold in
1598 and replaced or converted into two private houses.
The new,
today the old town hall
Around 1400, at the height of urban
development, a new town hall was planned. This old town hall was built
in 1405-1410 as a Gothic hall building. It was Mayor Johann Hemeling,
the councilors Friedrich Wigger and Hinrich von der Trupe, the master
builders Salomon and Martin and the stone sculptors Johannes and Henning
who were responsible for the realization of this Gothic town hall.
The decision to build the town hall was one of the few for which it
is known that the Bremen council obtained the consent of the meenheit,
the community as a whole of all men (if they were heads of household,
probably also women) with Bremen citizenship. They were summoned to the
Bürgerweide for this purpose, and the amount of space they needed was
also measured. This entire citizenry (in the original sense of the word)
could have gathered later in the upper town hall, standing crowded
together.
The location and shape of the building was a
demonstration of city self-confidence in relation to the archbishop's
authority. It now dominated the market square, which had been completed
about a hundred years previously, more than the cathedral and the
archbishop's palace. Its halls were a few spans longer and wider than
the great hall on the ground floor of the Palatium. Even the entrances
were modeled after it – at the ends instead of facing the square.
This building contained the Ratskeller, the Lower Hall and the Upper
Hall, as well as individual rooms on the north side, which were later
changed several times. The arcade on the southern long side served as a
court arbor and was not allowed to be used for market purposes. Two
battlements with parapets crowned with battlements, one on the eaves and
one covered above the arcade, gave the building a somewhat martial
character. The battlements were not modified decoratively, even if the
four oriel-like corner turrets did not have defensive dimensions. On the
other hand, the walls were decorated with sculptures between the
windows. Since the time of construction, the figures of the emperor and
the seven electors have adorned the market square, depictions of
prophets and St. Peter on the east and west sides.
In the middle
of the north-east side, in front of the upper town hall hall, the house
had an extension supported by four wide columns. It was called ghevelen
("gable"), measured 21 m (width or length) in the longitudinal direction
of the house and projected 6 m (depth). It housed the old
Wittheitsstube, where the actual city council met. It is assumed, but
not proven, that like the main building it had a hipped roof and corner
turrets.
A covered wooden staircase led from the columned hall
under the extension to the main entrance of the upper town hall in the
western part of the wall. The part of the rear wall facing the palatium
to the east of the annex had neither windows nor doors. Not least
because of their crooked floor plans, it is assumed that the basement
rooms under the extension (today the Senate and Kaiserzimmer, Apostel-
and Rosekeller) come from the houses that previously stood on the
property.
In 1490 the columned hall under the old Wittheitsstube
was converted into the old chancellery. Also at the end of the 15th
century, an arbor was erected above the stairs to the Ratskeller, which
for a long time served as an arbor of proclamation, as the Knowledgeable
Scroll of Laetare was read out there every year on the 4th Sunday of
Lent.
After the uprising of 104 men and the restoration of
patrician rule in the following year, the outer portal of the upper hall
was walled up in 1532 and the outer staircase was demolished and
replaced by the spiral staircase from the lower to the upper hall, which
still exists today.
Between 1545 and 1550 a three-story extension was built on the
western part of the north wall, separated only by a narrow passage from
the Magdalen Chapel of the Palatium. It was called "nye dornßen" and
housed the second Wittheitsstube. One of the four corner towers was
removed. The Renaissance façade with bay windows harmonized better with
the Gothic east façade than the distorted contemporary depictions would
suggest.
Towards the end of the 16th century, the market side of
this Gothic town hall no longer met the Senate's need for
representation. The master builder Lüder von Bentheim, who came from
Rheda and is now Bremen, received the order. Two conversions were
carried out under his direction: In the first step, the ten windows of
the upper town hall facing the market were enlarged; the gray stone
required was bought in 1595, but the conversion of the windows was
probably not completed within the same year, because a depiction from
1596 still shows windows with pointed arches. The Senate allowed the
master builder to work temporarily in Leiden in 1596/1597, where he
oversaw the modernization of the town hall there. An engraving from 1603
then shows those wide windows with horizontal ends, eight of which still
exist today.
In the second step, Lüder von Bentheim drew up the
plan on the basis of which the southern façade was given its present
form in 1608. The central part with the Annunciation Arbor and the two
neighboring windows of the upper hall were demolished. A large windowed
central avant-corps emerged, crowned by a Flemish gable. The Gothic
corner towers were removed except for the northern one. The parapets of
the two battlement walks were replaced by decorative openwork
balustrades, the previously covered lower one was transformed into two
open balconies. The facade in the Weser Renaissance style shows
architectural elements based on models by masters of the Dutch
Renaissance such as Hans Vredeman de Vries, Hendrick Goltzius and Jacob
Floris. A rich façade decoration with figures and reliefs, bodies,
heads, angels and mythical creatures adorns the market square.
Baroque
On the pillars of the arbor in front of the entrance to the
Ratskeller, an extension with a vaulted roof was built in 1635, which
contained the so-called star chamber.
In 1682/83 the extension of
the old chancellery was extended to the north-west end of the town hall
and redesigned uniformly. It now took up almost two-thirds of the rear
wall and had a pent roof, which continued the hipped roof of the main
building as a cantilever roof. The longitudinal wall initially had large
window areas on both floors, which were only interrupted by narrow
sandstone supports. The ground floor had two rows of windows on either
side of a full-height brick area in the middle. There was a portal that
was a hundred years older (relocated to the north-west wall of the New
Town Hall after 1909), with a classic attic and an archway made of
faceted stones. The frieze under the attic contains the coats of arms of
the four mayors in office at the time of completion. In 1826 the upper
row of windows was replaced by twelve individual windows with segmental
arches, the window sills of which were or are somewhat lower than the
original ledge. This was the view from the back of the town hall until
the middle and northern part of the extension were demolished in 1909 to
make way for the new town hall. Apart from the portal, the long side was
kept extremely simple. Only the two single windows on the ground floor
on the narrow side received lintels with baroque decor, possibly later,
which have survived to this day. The rest of the extension houses the
new (third) Wittheitsstube and today the town office of the Ratskeller.
19th century
As a result of the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss of
1803, the neighboring Archbishop's Palatium fell to the city of Bremen.
It was immediately used for purposes that had previously had to be
accommodated in the town hall. In 1818/19, the town house was built on
its foundations and using considerable parts of the wall, which mainly
housed offices.
In 1824 it was decided to increase the height of
the small Palatium and to design it like the town hall, to structurally
connect the town hall, town hall and small Palatium with one another.
Even before this work had started, at the beginning of 1826 considerable
damage was discovered in the building structure of the town hall, the
repair of which could not be delayed. The market side was renovated
while preserving the historical appearance. The replacement of the
Renaissance gable of the Nye Dornßen with a plain facade had already
been decided in 1825. The office annex from the baroque period got a
non-uniform appearance, as the upper row of windows was replaced by
today's lower-lying individual windows, but the lower rows of windows
were preserved. The arbor above the Ratskeller entrance including the
star chamber was demolished. Because of the unexpected costs, the small
Palatium was not expanded.
It was not until 1830 that a partition
wall that had divided the upper town hall for over a hundred years was
removed. Since the citizens' conventions, which were previously only
rarely convened separately according to districts, have been meeting
more and more regularly and as a plenum since the beginning of the
century, the spaciousness of the hall was needed (again).
In
1877, the twelve dormer windows (six on the market side and three each
on the eastern and western narrow side) were removed on the erroneous
assumption that these were later additions that would not fit
architecturally with the Renaissance building, as they had the shape of
late Gothic keel arches. In fact, however, they were an integral part of
Lüder von Bentheim's plan. The dormers on the market side had their
counterpart in the keel arch dormers on the sloping roof of the
Schütting, possibly also designed by Lüder von Bentheim.
Extension building
Around 1900, the
discreet classical town house no longer met the spatial and
representative requirements of the growing city. A competition was
announced for the new building in 1904 with the aim of bringing the old
building and the extension together to form a harmonious overall
picture, but the result was not yet convincing. In 1907, after a second,
limited competition, the Munich architect Gabriel von Seidl was awarded
the planning contract. The old town hall was demolished in 1909 and from
1909 to 1913 the old town hall was extended by a rear extension that was
three times larger but not dominant. Its clinker facades facing the
Domshof and the market square are in the Neo-Renaissance style, while
the facades facing the Liebfrauenkirchhof and Schoppensteel are more Art
Nouveau. Like the old one, this new town hall has a copper roof.
Second World War
Thanks to the cladding of the outer walls and
courageous fire guards in the wooden roof truss area, the town hall and
Roland survived the 173 air raids on Bremen in the Second World War, in
which almost 65,000 Bremen apartments were destroyed, largely undamaged.
It has been restored several times, most recently in 2003.
Old Town Hall
The Old Town Hall is over 41 meters long and around
16 meters wide. In addition, there is the three meter deep Gothic arcade
with 11 bays. The Renaissance facade with the central projection made of
glazed and unglazed bricks and the copper-covered hipped roof are
characteristic. The building is based on a council cellar as a
three-aisled hall with cap vault.
Facade
On the market facade, between the windows under canopies and on
consoles, you can see the eight figures of the old Gothic facade,
consisting of the emperor and next to him (from left) the seven electors
of the empire: Mainz, Trier, Cologne, Bohemia, Palatinate, Saxony and
Brandenburg. This emphasizes Bremen's connection to the Reich and the
claim to be a free imperial city. In 1961, the figures on the main
facade and on the side of our lady were replaced by copies for reasons
of conservation; the original electors are on display in the Focke
Museum. The material of the original statue is not Oberkirchen
sandstone, as is the case with today's copies, but fossil-rich limestone
from Lindener Berg in Hanover.
The meaning of the figural
consoles under the statues of the main facade is uncertain, some authors
assume that they were sponsors and donors of the town hall building.
On the south-east and north-west facades there are other figures,
which in addition to the city saint St. Peter originally represent seven
prophets, who also belong to the fixed program of bourgeois city
self-portrayal in other medieval city halls as an expression of justice
and political wisdom. Their naming is disputed and cannot be reliably
derived from the console motifs. The figures on the north-west facade
carry banners, originally with Low German proverbs of wisdom that were
used in the 16th and 17th centuries. Century in the sense of a
reinterpretation of these prophet figures were painted over to ancient
philosophers. They are interpreted as: Ezekiel/Plato,
Jeremiah/Aristotle, Isaiah (with vine or root)/Demosthenes and Daniel or
David (with lion and bear)/Marcus Tullius Cicero. Outside of this range
of figures is the life-size carrying figure under the last Gothic corner
tower. As a result of the Priölken cultivation, his right arm is
incomplete today. As the illustration from 1603 shows, the Gothic town
hall also had such carrying figures under the market-side corner towers,
and originally probably at all four corners.
The figures from the
Old and New Testaments on the south-eastern façade also link Christian
and secular meanings: Peter (with a key), a prophet (Jonas? Daniel?, the
so-called "doctor") with a beret-like headgear, a wise man, probably
Moses, the legislator of the Old Testament (according to another
interpretation Job), and a prophet on a lion console, probably Solomon
(or Moses?). The figures could therefore symbolize as a whole: "Thus
speaks the Lord... And I will give you judges again as before and
councilors as at the beginning. Then you will be called a city of
righteousness and a faithful city” (Isa. 1:24-26).
The coats of
arms of another thirty princes and cities can be seen in the circular
panels under the battlements. The old council arbor as a proclamation
arbor above the sixth arcade arch had to give way to the new facade.
With the redesign of the Renaissance façade, some extensive
interventions were made on the Gothic town hall. The mighty central
avant-corps with its four-storey gable and the two smaller gable are
decisively new. The Güldenkammer is located behind the central
avant-corps. Hundreds of pictorial themes adorn the facade and leave
room for interpretation. The hen on the second arch is the most famous
allegory. According to a later interpretation, the hen and the chick are
associated with the founding of Bremen: fishermen who followed the hen
found a safe place to settle. In fact, she symbolizes the protective
hen, just as the council wished to offer protection to citizens, while
the rooster and dog, as a counter-group, are meant to embody vigilance.
The arcades and their highly symbolic figurative program consist of
22 female figures and the overlying frieze, decorated with figures
facing each other, representing different zodiac signs and the cardinal
virtues of faith, hope and love, as well as prudence, temperance,
strength and justice. In addition, the four coats of arms of the mayors
around 1612 can be seen under the Guild Chamber (Heinrich Zobel, Johann
Brand the Younger, Dietrich Hoyer and Arnold Gröning).
The date
stone made of sandstone, which is located under the second arcade arch
and is embedded in the exposed brickwork of the town hall facade at
about head height, bears the engraved numbers "28.9.1787". It
commemorates one of the last public executions in Bremen: on this day,
the Bremen man Nicolas Junge, who had robbed and fatally injured his
brother's widow, was executed at the Walle execution site. Shortly
before, on September 17, 1787, the city council had met on the Bremen
market square as an embarrassing court and had sentenced the
robber-murderer from Oberneuland to death by sword.
The heralds
on the eastern portal of the Old Town Hall are two equestrian figures
that were first erected in 1901. The Bremen merchant John H. Harjes saw
these figures created by the sculptor Rudolf Maison at the 1900 world
exhibition in Paris, bought them and gave them to the city. After the
Second World War, the riders have stood in the park of the Egestorff
Foundation in Osterholz since 1956. In 2007, after renovation, they were
put up again at the east portal.
Bremen Ratskeller
The Bremer
Ratskeller, with the largest collection of German wines, is a
traditional inn in the basement of Bremen City Hall. German wines have
been stored and sold there since it was built in 1405. With more than
600 years of existence, the Bremen Ratskeller is the oldest wine cellar
in Germany. The Ratskeller consists of a large hall, Hauffsaal, Apostle
and Rosekeller, Senate and Kaiserzimmer, Bacchuskeller as well as a
guild room and treasury.
Lower Town Hall
As one of the most
beautiful secular Gothic buildings, the lower town hall has remained
almost completely unchanged in its basic form. Unlike the Upper Hall,
this room is unadorned, with a stone floor, exposed wooden beams, and
whitewashed walls. The ceiling of the three-nave hall is supported by 2
x 10 octagonal oak supports. The hall has an ornate Gothic portal on
each end. One of the portals on the back wall has a late Gothic console
lintel. For a long time, the hall served as a market hall. Nowadays it
is mainly used for exhibitions.
On the back wall of the hall
there are five historically valuable portals, which, however, are
probably not all in their original place. Also, they are currently
without function. Between the fourth (made of dark gray wood) and the
fifth (late Gothic) are the connections between the entrance hall of the
(New) Town Hall and the lower town hall, used today, decorated in a
moderate Art Nouveau style.
The Upper Hall, the most important room in the town hall, was
originally used for council and court sessions, but today it is used
for celebrations, receptions and concerts. With its dimensions (41
meters long, 13 meters wide and 8 meters high) it is one of the
largest unsupported profane halls of the Middle Ages in Northern
Europe.
Before the conversion from 1608 to 1612, a Gothic
barrel vault presumably spanned the hall. Since then, a flat,
ornamentally painted wooden ceiling has moved in here, held up by an
artistic construction made of mighty oak trunks. 33 imperial
medallions, from Karl to Sigismund, but painted over in 1857, adorn
the richly ornamented ceiling and thus propagate the status of a
city directly subject to the empire. Models of orlog ships (warships
that accompanied the merchant convoys) from the years 1545 (?),
1650, 1770 and 1779 hang from the ceiling. The miniature cannons of
some ships were even fired at festivals in the past. Three of the
models hung in the Schütting until 1811. The chandelier with the
double-headed eagle was also a gift from the Schütting in 1869.
There are two large murals on the walls, which are attributed to
the Lower Rhine master Bartholomäus Bruyn. One, dated 1532, shows
Emperor Charlemagne and Bishop Willehad, who were regarded as the
"founders" of the city. Between the two stands Bremen Cathedral,
similar to the city seal of 1366 - but in its form from 1532. A long
text field next to it reports on the founding of the city, on "Kaerl
de grothe and Wilhaed, the first Bisschup in desser stad", also that
Willehad was sent to Bremen, "umb dit landt tho bekeren" and claims
that one took part in the Crusades with "schepen" "to sail in dat
hilly lands".
The painter's other mural, further to the right
at the east end of the north wall, above the site of the former
council stalls, admonished good justice with a depiction of
Solomon's judgment. It is flanked by six half-length pictures of
ancient and biblical leading figures (Moses, David, Josaphat, Cato,
Caesar and Cicero), which also provide examples of justice with
their Latin sentences.
A large depiction of the Hanseatic
office built in Antwerp in 1563/58 is reminiscent of the Hanseatic
period. However, the largest painting in the room is now the Great
Whale Painting by Franz Wulfhagen from 1669, which is over nine
meters wide.
In 2012, after almost 50 years in the
Überseemuseum Bremen, the historical fish painting returned to its
original place on the north wall of the upper hall, to the right of
the mural of Emperor Karl and Bishop Willehad. The 2.43 by 3.70
meter natural history painting "The Swordfish" created by the
painter Paul Wohlers in 1696 has been restored. Above the tail fin
of the fish caught in the Weser in 1696, the silhouette of Bremen
can be seen on the horizon to the left.
The portals: The
easternmost columned portal on the north wall led to the former nye
dornßen or New Wittheitsstube, part of an earlier extension from
1490 or 1545 between the town hall and the Palatium. It was built
around 1550 in the High Renaissance style and today connects the
staircase between the old and new town hall. The second portal from
the right contains the panel from 1491, which lists twelve rules for
wise and just government, framed by Poppe around 1900 in a cartilage
style. The third portal from 1660 is crowned by the Bremen coat of
arms and three lions. It once led to the New Rhederkammer, where the
councilors and administrators responsible for accounting for income
and expenditure worked. The fourth portal from the right, the
Brunswick Portal of 1573, is a gift from Duke Julius of
Brunswick-Lüneburg and was created by Adam Liquier. The alabaster
portal carries a relief framed by lions and pilasters with
allegorical figures for wisdom, peace and justice on Corinthian
columns. It originally led to the so-called collection chamber, the
former tax authority of Bremen. In the far west, directly below the
mural depicting Charlemagne and Willehad, there is a simple,
neoclassical double portal that today leads to the festival hall and
the Wittheitsstube.
Until 1811, the council stalls, created
around 1410, stood in the north-east corner of the hall, offering
four rows of seats for 24 councillors. It was richly decorated with
colored carvings and inscriptions. Peter, Paul, Charlemagne and
Bishop Willehad are depicted on the four surviving side panels
(today in the Focke Museum). A new council chair built between 1901
and 1904 based on designs by Johann Georg Poppe was largely removed
around 1955 and thrown away.
Originally, an outside staircase
led to the upper hall. It was only supposed to allow controlled
access to the council chamber, but was demolished in 1532 as being
too unsafe. A new spiral staircase was built inside for this
purpose. A wooden Hercules as a Roman warrior from the Renaissance
guards the entrance.
Glass coats of arms of the mayors,
councilors and parents (speakers of the merchants) from the 16th to
18th centuries are in the windows of the market facade, those from
the 19th century in the east window on the cathedral side.
Guild chamber
The spacious Güldenkammer
was built into the upper hall as early as 1605, probably based on
plans by Lüder von Bentheim. The "nye utlucht" was furnished with
valuable furniture, stained glass and gilded leather wallpaper. The
name Güldenkammer is already documented for 1688. The old interior
has been lost. The Güldenkammer was and is used for special events
and greetings with distinguished guests. The gallery has been the
council library since 1629, later the council archive and then room
for musicians (erbaren Rades Spellüde) and currently for press and
camera people. The baroque portal to the Güldenkammer is a work by
the Bremen wood sculptors Evert Lange and Servas Hoppenstede from
the first quarter of the 17th century. The S.P.Q.B. (Senatus
Populusque Bremensis) above the portal is an indication that the
Senate once met here. On the outside, i.e. towards the hall, panel
paintings are embedded in the carvings, which in turn depict
exemplary examples of justice.
The carved, baroque spiral
staircase to the upper room of the Güldenkammer comes from council
carpenter Stolling and his servant Ronnich, to whom the figures on
the banister, which were based on Dutch copper engraving templates,
are attributed. At the beginning of the 19th century the room was
very neglected. The old chairs were disposed of as junk.
In
1905, the interior of the now almost bare Güldenkammer was
completely designed by Johann Heinrich Vogeler in pure Art Nouveau
with many nature motifs. He wrote about this: “I had the capitals of
the flat pilasters made of gilded bronze in flat plastic form. I
designed all the decorative motifs in the form of fantastic herons
with billowing plumage, as well as the embossed brass lighting
fixtures. The upper part of the walls above the paneling was covered
with a rich leather wallpaper according to my design.” The Worpswede
artist’s ornamental, imaginative and harmonious design encompassed
all the details: gilded leather wallpaper, paneling, inlays, door
handles, grate, chandeliers, carpets, furniture; in short: one of
the few Art Nouveau room ensembles that are so completely preserved
and so elegantly formed.
new town hall
The New Town Hall
was handed over to its purpose on January 16, 1913.
foyer
In the lobby on the ground floor there is an oil painting by
Alexander Kircher depicting the first east-west flight across the
Atlantic with the Junkers W 33 Bremen in 1928.
fixed
staircase
The fixed staircase with its anterooms is located on
the site of the former nye dornßen and connects the lower hall, the
upper hall and the foyer on the upper floor. You can see the town
hall chimney with an inscription that was built in in 1896.
This richly decorated room leads to the mayor's rooms on the
cathedral side. The marble statue of Mayor Johann Smidt comes from the
sculptor Carl Steinhäuser. The bust of Reich President Friedrich Ebert
refers to his activities in Bremen from 1891 to 1905. It comes from the
sculptor Georg Kolbe. Other busts of the Federal Presidents Theodor
Heuss and Karl Carstens as well as Mayor Wilhelm Kaisen can be seen.
Ballroom
The ballroom is used for large
receptions. The Bremen Parliament met here from 1946 to 1966. Above the
paneling are four corner paintings depicting the Ansgaritor, the bride,
the kennel and the High Gate by the painter F. Jakobsen. A painting by
the painter Carl Vinnen depicts the city of Bremen in the 17th century.
You can watch the festivities from a gallery.
Senate Chamber
The Senate of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen meets in the Senate
Hall. The carpets are from Rudolf Alexander Schröder. Silk-covered
walls, mahogany doors, stucco ceilings and crystal chandeliers are other
design elements. A wall clock by Schröder and the pictures of the
emperor decorate the room.
fireplace hall
The fireplace hall
is the room for receptions. The eponymous fireplace is made of French
marble. A white stucco ceiling, dark red damask wallpaper, dark parquet
floor, large portraits from the 17th century and crystal chandeliers
characterize the room.
Hansa room
The room, furnished by the
steamship company "Hansa", is used for representative receptions by the
mayor.
Tapestry room
It owes its
name to the two large French tapestries from the first half of the 17th
century, which depict the return of Zeus' daughter Artemis to Olympus
and the death of Otos.
Silver
collection
For the representational silver of the town hall kept here.
The day trips of the Hanseatic League in the 15th century as a solemn
greeting for the representatives
The Schaffermahlzeit, hosted by Haus
Seefahrt, is the oldest surviving annual feast in the world, and this
tradition endures as a keeper of ancient lore and as a link between
shipping and the merchants, "that it may be kept firm and unbreakable
for everlasting days." , as formulated by the Council of the Hanseatic
City of Bremen as early as 1545.
The big receptions and banquets
include:
1580: Entry of Heinrich III. of Saxe-Lauenburg as the first
Protestant archbishop
1676: For the imperial envoy Count von
Windisch-Graetz
1757: For the Duke of Richelieu as Commander-in-Chief
of the French Army in the Seven Years' War
1869: For King Wilhelm of
Prussia as patron of the North German Confederation together with Otto
von Bismarck, Helmuth von Moltke, Albrecht von Roon
1926: For Reich
President Paul von Hindenburg
1928: For the Atlantic pilots Hermann
Köhl, Ehrenfried Günther Freiherr von Hünefeld and James Fitzmaurice
1930: For the Prussian Prime Minister Otto Braun