Germany Guide
Central Bavaria
The Rathaus
Locals claim that Augsburg's Rathaus is the most significant secular Renaissance building north of the Alps, and surveying its tall, dignified elevations from the Rathausplatz – the square at the heart of the Altstadt which it dominates – it's hard to disagree. It was in 1614 that the city council decided to tear down the old Gothic town hall and replace it with something that better reflected the wealth and power of the imperial free city. They commissioned Elias Holl (1573–1646) to design its replacement. The architect – a contemporary of the early English classicist Inigo Jones – had travelled to northern Italy and it's often supposed that, like Jones, Holl was influenced by the work of Andrea Palladio. Certainly, the results anticipate the Baroque style that was to bloom after the Thirty Years' War. Work began on Holl's Rathaus in 1615; the first council meeting was held there in 1620. A little over three centuries later, on February 26, 1944, an air raid reduced it to a shell, but painstaking reconstruction over several decades has gradually restored it to its former glory.
The peak of that glory is the Goldener Saal (daily 10am–6pm; €2) on the third floor, a splendidly rich ceremonial hall 32.5m long and 14m high beneath a gilded walnut ceiling. The room fulfils the city council's 1614 design brief perfectly, though in its reconstructed form it wasn't fully restored to its original splendour until 1996 when the final touches were put on its re-created frescoes.
In front of the Rathaus, the Augustusbrunnen fountain is one of three splendid fountains in the Altstadt. It dates from 1588 to 1594 and honours the Roman emperor Augustus, founder of the city.