On a tour through Kelheim's beautiful city center, Kelheim's monumental town halls on Ludwigsplatz attract everyone's attention because of their artistically and historically valuable facades. One may even begin to envy the clerks working in supposedly majestic chambers.
Kelheim’s original town hall, however, was torn down in 1824 because of building reforms that had gained influence after 1812. As a possible location for the new town hall, the opulent Renaissance building, which dated back to 1598 and had been extended in 1700, came into focus. For a long time, the town clerk's office was located on its premises. It was not until 1824 that it was converted into the town hall. To this day, the building houses part of the city administration.
Today, the elaborately designed facade still dominates the square and fascinates with its alternating segmental arched and triangular gables. One of the building’s other main attractions is the imposing entrance gate that leads into a picturesque inner courtyard with a beautiful fountain, which unfortunately can’t be visited.
Since the early 19th century, the town’s administration suffered under a severe lack of space, since both the town hall and the town clerks’ office were limited to one building. For this reason, the neighboring town house was acquired and converted into the “new town hall” for Kelheim’s administration. When the building was redesigned in 1912, the facade was adorned with a decorative tail gable based on the neighboring old town hall; the gable now shows the fresco “Citizens and Peasants Paying Homage to the Liberation Hall” – in the German original this reads as “Bürger- und Bauernschaft huldigen der Befreiungshalle”. In the course of the last major renovation, which took place in 1936, both town halls were connected with a passage on the upper floor.
Today, the two Kelheim town halls are spectacular buildings that combine history and present and are certainly worth a closer look.
