Germany Guide
North Rhine-Westphalia
The Rathaus
Address: Markt
Opening time: Daily 10am–1pm & 2–5pm
Price: €2
A short stroll north of the Dom and scarcely less imposing, Aachen's Gothic Rathaus looms over the Markt, the city's central square. Dating from the early fourteenth century, the building incorporates surviving sections of Charlemagne's palace, including twenty metres of the Granus tower on the east side, plus later accretions. The side facing the Markt is decorated with statues of fifty German emperors with another four on the east facade; 31 of them were crowned in Aachen. Above the main entrance, Charlemagne is to the right of Christ with a model of the Dom, with Pope Leo III – who consecrated it – to the left. Inside, the splendid Krönungssaal on the first floor is where newly crowned emperors held their coronation banquets. Today it's where the Charlemagne Prize for services to European unification is awarded, and on the stairs you'll see photo portraits of past winners; more improbable recipients include Tony Blair and Henry Kissinger. The hall is decorated with mid-nineteenth-century frescoes on themes from Charlemagne's life by Aachen-born painter Alfred Rethel. Of the original eight frescoes, only five survived wartime damage. Copies of the imperial crown jewels are also on view; the originals are in Vienna.