More Brick Gothic: Stralsund, Germany Main landmark of Stralsund is its extraordinary Brick Gothic city hall from Hanseatic times. This building from 1278 features a remarkable show façade that serves the sole purpose of displaying wealth of the city. Together with St. Nicholas’ Church, the town hall forms one of the most impressive urban heritage sites in northern Germany. The town hall is first mentioned in city records dating to the period between 1271 and 1280; the sources concentrate overwhelmingly on the leasing of the town halls cellar. Building work at the site probably began shortly after 1310; by 1350 the building was largely completed. The cellar is one of the biggest vaulted cellar complexes in the Hanseatic region: the ground floor used to accommodate 40 shops accessible from the street. In the mid-15th century, a ceiling over the vault was installed and the space put to different uses. During the epoch, the northern section of the town hall housed the town council chambers, now referred to as the Löwen Hall (where the Peace of Stralsund was signed in 1370). The upper floors served as storage space, and the roof space under the ridged roofs as storage lofts. Seven hundred years of usages have left their trace. Amongst the most notable renovations on site included the addition of a gallery in 1720 and a Baroque portal leading on to the Ossenreverstraße in 1743. City master builder Ernst von Haselberg restored the magnificent principal facade in the Gothic style in 1881/82, replacing a Baroque-style facade. The coats-of-arms of the German Hanseatic city recall the high period of the Hanseatic League.
Posted on: Fri, 15 Aug 2014 01:42:05 +0000
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