Essen City Hall
Essen City Hall is located in the downtown area of the city of Essen and since 1979 the seat of the city administration of Essen.
Today's Town Hall
The first sod of the present Town Hall, according to the plans of the Darmstadt architect Theodor Seifert, took place on 1 July 1975. The topping out ceremony was exactly two years later, on 1 July 1977, celebrated the official opening took place with a first Council meeting on 7 November 1979. The town hall has a height of 106 meters. From the 22nd floor of visitors from about 100 meters in height, a panoramic view of the city and part of the Ruhr area.
In 330,000 cubic meters of enclosed space, 69,000 square feet of office space, a classroom area, about 700 parking spaces in a multi-story parking garage, a studio theater and function rooms for art are housed. The City Council provides around 1,900 jobs.
Based on the previous building are also located here in the entrance area the sandstone figures of Essen city cartridges and Saints Cosmas and Damian. The sculptor Henry Kroger created them for the old town hall.
For the construction of 189 million DM expensive building was needed 60,000 cubic meters of concrete, 6,500 tons of structural steel and over 360 kilometers of power cable. They installed 15,000 fluorescent lamps and built a 3,285 windows and 2,100 doors.
The new city hall was the first of the city, got a new location in the east of the city center on the Porscheplatz, which was named in 1951 after the recently deceased Ferdinand Porsche. The name Porscheplatz also wore the local public transport stops. As part of the schedule change, the Essenes transport company in December 2009, the bus and subway stops were renamed on the Porscheplatz in town hall food. With a plate over the Schützenbahn, on the 1979, the City Center Mall food came, the town hall was connected to the city center. This City Center was reopened after several years of reconstruction on 25 March 2010 as Rathausgalerie food. In order for the Town Hall received a new covered main entrance.
An early 1980s mounted on the roof of the Town Hall laser beam ( first briefly red, green later ) then waved over the city. Because of the susceptibility and high cost of the then relatively new technology, the unit was, however, soon dismantled. The University of Essen then took it for research purposes.
1991 was opened the privately run theater in the town hall on the ground floor of the Town Hall.
Prehistory
Already in 1272 an Essene City Council is the first time explicitly mentioned, from which one can infer the existence of a town hall.
Had food oldest proven Town Hall from the 15th century its function over four centuries until the early 19th century. It was a massive stone building with stepped gables high to west and east, on the facade, the stone-carved figures of patron saints Cosmas and Damian were.
1840-1842 was a classicist building by architect Carl Wilhelm Theodor Freyse, brother of the architect Heinrich Johann Freyse been built on its ground floor there was a police station. This town hall was in the course of the onset of industrialization and the rapidly growing town quickly became too small.
Then was the predecessor of the present Town Hall, a representative neo-Gothic building designed by the architect Peter Zindel, built in 1878-1888 and was heavily damaged in World War II, especially during an air raid on March 5, 1943, with particularly the distinctive tower hit had. In the years 1964/1965 it was demolished after Reconstruction, after the land was sold to a department store group.
Town Hall 1888-1964
Town Hall 1888-1964, east side
All three old town halls were on the same grounds opposite the Market Church, on the south side of the old flat market. From the 13th to the 19th century this was the political and economic center of the city. After the demolition of the third Essen City Hall 1964/1965 here was the back to 1986, laid down the Wertheim department store. This was followed by the current commercial building.
Before the opening of the present town hall at the new location, the Porsche Platz, Essen had for 15 years, from 1964 to 1979, no town hall. Transitional used to the old town hall of formerly independent city Kray; the mayor and the city manager to reside at the Amerika Haus Ruhr, now the Europa House Stratmanns Theater at the Kennedy space. This little house was called in those 15 years by the citizens as Rathäuschen and is now also for other reasons listed building.