Bonn's "parlor"

The historic Old Town Hall, Bonn's "parlor", is located on the market square. The building with its ornate rococo façade houses, among other things, the representative rooms where brides and grooms can get married on selected dates.

Exterior view of the Old Town Hall on the market square

During the Bonn capital era, the city of Bonn received numerous state guests and crowned heads of state in the Gobelin Room, who signed the city's Golden Book and greeted the people on the market from the steps.

Golden book

Old Town Hall Association

Since 2009, the Old Town Hall Association has set itself the task of preserving and maintaining the building as a listed building. This has enabled the restoration of tapestries and oil paintings, the coat of arms, the banisters on the market square and the purchase of lights in the state rooms to be financed.

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Marriage in a rococo ambience

The history of the building

Oil painting by the court architect Michel Leveilly

Court architect Michel Leveilly designed the town hall based on the Brühl model.

It was a very special day for Bonn, April 24, 1737: the entire court and representatives of the city had gathered on the market square, a parade of the citizen's guard marched across the square - and twelve gunshots echoed through the air: Elector Clemens August solemnly laid the foundation stone for Bonn's town hall.

This ceremony took place more than 275 years ago. The previous building, probably dating from the late Middle Ages, had stood on the same site, but had obviously not been satisfactorily rebuilt after the destruction of the city in 1689.

Court architect Michel Leveilly was responsible for today's magnificent Rococo-style house, which was built between 1737 and 1738. However, the building was still far from finished when the family moved in in 1738. There was a lack of money, so the façade was not completed until 1779. The French architect Leveilly based the design of the Old Town Hall on Augustusburg Palace in Brühl, which had been redesigned in 1735.

A "freedom tree" erected in 1794

On October 12, 1794, four days after the city was taken by French revolutionary troops, a "tree of liberty" was erected in front of the town hall - decorated with a Jacobin cap and tricolor flag. The Old Town Hall also played a role in connection with the March Revolution: on March 20, 1848, a parade ended on the town hall steps. Gottfried Kinkel gave an inspiring speech with a black, red and gold flag in his hand, which he then handed over to Mayor of Bonn Joseph Oppenhoff.

To this day, Bonn's "parlor", as the Old Town Hall is affectionately known, is the scene of important events. In the past, personalities from all over the world appeared before the people of Bonn on the imposing flight of steps.

Burnt down to the outer walls in 1944

Especially in Bonn's time as the federal capital, hardly a month went by without the Old Town Hall - on October 18, 1944, it was burnt down to its outer walls after an air raid; in 1949, the people of Bonn began rebuilding it, which was completed in 1950 - being featured in the daily newspapers and on television. French President Charles de Gaulle, US President J.F. Kennedy and Soviet head of state and party leader Michael Gorbachev, to name just three of the many, many personalities from all over the world, signed the city's Golden Book in the Old Town Hall during their state visits to Germany.

The fact that the Old Town Hall on the market square - a popular photo motif - shines again today is thanks to the extensive renovation work carried out in 2010 and 2011. A total of 5.8 million euros was invested, mainly with funds from the German government's second economic stimulus package.

The magnificent rococo building will continue to be a jewel and a flagship of the city in the future. The Old Town Hall Association, founded in 2009, and the city are working together to achieve this.

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