#rathaus

one a day 366/296

Market Square and Town Hall in Beckum Markt Rathaus Germany

Altes Rathaus (Old Town Hall), 15th century with 18th century renovations.

Ansichtskarte

Weißbach Kr. Zschopau 1 Kindergarten 2 Teilansicht 3 Rathaus 4 Am Park

Reichenbach (Vogtl): BILD UND HEIMAT REICHENBACH (VOGTL) (A 1/B 238/83 IV-14-483 01 14 20 491)

Foto: Karpf, Oelsnitz (Erzgeb.)

GENERAL — 61/262 — Rathouse and Town Hall

The Town Hall is the seat of the Bailiff and the Council. Originally it was an ordinary town house, gradually transforming into the local government office or Town Hall. In Bohemia the first Town Hall was established at the end of the 14th century. The buildings were usually of brick, at least the lower floors, with many rooms having vaulted ceilings. The ground floor of the municipal building hosted shops, a tavern, the site of the public scales, a sentry room and an armoury. The room housing the public scales (which set the standard for all other scales in shops) had a cubit length measure set in the wall and samples of other small measures and weights, which were universally valid throughout the town’s administrative domain. On the first floor of the Town Hall was the Council Hall, the chapel (in an oriel), the scribe’s study and residential chambers. The upper floors served as a granary or warehouse. In the cellar there was a jail and a goods store. The Council Hall hosted the meetings of the City Council and its cabinets contained documents, deeds, charters and privileges and the town archive.

TRIVIA

— In many medieval towns the public scales were not only places to weigh goods, but official functions housed in dedicated buildings adjacent to the town hall or market square. Initially, towns that built their town halls early housed the official municipal scales inside these buildings, in rooms specially designated for this purpose. If the town hall building was too small and prevented the local authorities from correctly conducting their responsibilities, additional premises were often added to secure the needs resulting from the operation of the municipal scales — these buildings were called weigh houses. Apart from the scales, the weigh houses also housed standards of other measures, for example, korzec – a unit of volume and units of length (pręt, łokieć, stopa).