Most people only go there to register after moving house, to apply for an ID card, because they want to get married or urgently need help in a social emergency. We are talking about Germany's town halls.

Erlangen has three of them - not including those in formerly independent districts. All three were extensively renovated between 1989 and 2010 and successfully converted to their current function as a city museum, library and gallery. Town halls are to a certain extent the secular heart of towns and municipalities, the powerhouses of municipal activity and at the same time the number one service provider for every citizen from birth to the last hour of their lives. And not only that. Nevertheless, the majority of people lack a direct connection to this, their institution, from which they come out wiser than when they went in - as the saying goes. Shouldn't that be an incentive to take a closer look at what's actually going on?

The town hall in June 2021 (Photo: Press office/Kristina Wind)

However, things are not always as dramatic as in the April days of 1945, when Erlangen's Lord Mayor Herbert Ohly and Wehrmacht Lieutenant Colonel Werner Lorleberg struggled to surrender the city to the advancing US Army without a fight - which fortunately was finally decided upon, preventing the destruction of the baroque planned city. But time and again, fundamental decisions also turn a town hall into a treasure house of local history - such as the establishment of the Bergkirchweih (Altstädter Rathaus), the decisions to expand the city during the Weimar period and in the 1960s (Palais Stutterheim) or political decisions such as the "definition" of Erlangen as an ecological or medical capital (Neues Rathaus).

Wedding room on the second floor in May 2022 (photo: registry office)

Time and again, it becomes clear that town halls are the home of the res publica, the community. The largest of them are therefore respectful architectural expressions of the claim to power of a self-confident citizenry - in the Hanseatic cities of Hamburg and Lübeck, for example, true palaces attest to this attitude. But even if they are not Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque or Classicist gems, they always embody the civic pride and self-image of a municipality - just like Erlangen's current town hall.

Jo Kaeser, CEO of Siemens AG from 2013 to 2021, in the council chamber in July 2013 (Photo: Press Office)

Especially after the refurbishment carried out a few years ago by Nuremberg architect Wolfgang Loebermann, it stands more than ever for clarity, objectivity and transparency in administrative action and local politics. A (modern) image of a town hall.

Peter Gertenbach
Former head of the municipal press office

Germany 1971: The signing of the transit traffic agreement between the Federal Republic of Germany and the former GDR was the big topic. This agreement made it easier for German citizens to travel to the former GDR.

Erlangen 1971: The focus was on moving into the new town hall on Rathausplatz - still the administrative center of the Huguenot city today. It took place in two phases: The first employees* moved into the new building between May 27 and August 13, 1971, with the rest following in February 1973. Since then, the town hall has been the first port of call for dealing with the most important services.

First plans in 1960

Why was a new town hall built? With the strong population growth in Erlangen after the Second World War, the municipal administration also grew. Palais Stutterheim - the city's town hall until 1971 and already extended by numerous annexes - was increasingly reaching its capacity limits. For this reason, plans had been developed since 1960 under Lord Mayor Dr. Heinrich Lades that envisaged the new town hall as part of a new administrative and business center on what would later become Neuer Markt: with a town hall, hotel (congress center), two shopping centers and multi-storey parking lot.

The building was constructed in two phases, between August 1969 and August 1971 and between April 1971 and February 1973 - under the direction of Hans-Georg Schulz, who was the building officer at the time. He was also significantly involved in the concept for the Neuer Markt. With its angular, unadorned concrete and glass body, the finished town hall, which was occupied by Dr. Dietmar Hahlwege, the new Lord Mayor for 24 years in spring 1972, was completely in keeping with the functional architecture of the early 1970s.

Designed with seating, green islands and a playground, among other things, the 11,000 square meter town hall square has been home to the city administration since 1971

Increase in the number of employees

It is not easy to determine the development of the number of employees with offices and desks in the town hall, as there have always been branch offices such as schools, daycare centers, the Schuhstraße administration building, the old town hall in Palais Stutterheim, the adult education center, leisure facilities and many more. However, it is clear that the development of employment figures has also changed as the tasks have grown.

If these figures are adjusted for the blue-collar sector and the municipal enterprises and for the nationalization of the police and the vocational school in the early 1970s, the following picture emerges:

1970s: 868

1980s: 1026

1990s: 1395

2000s: 1450

2010s: 1829

2020s: 2314

The Lord Mayor: He is the head of the city administration and thus the head of a large administrative apparatus. In the fifty years that the town hall on Rathausplatz has served as the administrative seat, there have been four of them.

The Lord Mayors at a glance:

Dr. Karl Heinrich Lades:
He was elected Lord Mayor in 1959. He was re-elected in the 1965 and 1971 elections. The move to the current town hall took place under his leadership in 1971. Lades died on August 4, 1990.

First "landlord" of the town hall, Heinrich Lades, at the topping-out ceremony on April 7, 1971 (Photo: Stadtarchiv)

Dr. Dietmar Hahlweg:
The regional reform in 1972 made it necessary to elect a new mayor. Dietmar Hahlweg was elected to the office for the first time. He was confirmed in office in the following three municipal elections. He did not stand for re-election in 1996.

Former Mayor Dietmar Hahlweg in July 2011 (Photo: Press office)

Dr. Siegfried Balleis:
He was first elected to the city leadership in the 1996 municipal elections. He was confirmed in office in 2002 and 2008. In 2014, Balleis was defeated by the current incumbent Florian Janik.

Former Mayor Siegfried Balleis in April 2001

Dr. Florian Janik:
In March 2014, the Erlangen native prevailed in a run-off election against Siegfried Balleis. Six years later, he was re-elected, also in a run-off. Janik's current term of office runs until 2026.

Mayor Florian Janik in December 2022 during his budget speech in the city council (Photo: Press office)

The town hall in April 2002 (Photo: Press office)

On October 6, 1971, the town hall and the Heinrich-Lades-Halle were inaugurated as part of the shopping, administration and congress center designed by Nuremberg architect Harald Loebermann. There were other town halls in the history of the city:

In a document dated July 7, 1398, King Wenceslas granted Erlangen the town charter of Auerbach and at the same time authorized the construction of a "department store". The first floor was to house the meat and bread stands, i.e. the bakers' and butchers' stalls, with the town hall above. It probably stood on the site of today's town museum. During the Thirty Years' War, most of the small town and the town hall were completely destroyed in 1632. It was not until 50 years later that a new building was to be erected.

Even before the building that now houses the town museum was erected, there was a town hall on Altstädter Markt (now Martin-Luther-Platz). The first one, probably built at the beginning of the 15th century, fell victim to the destruction of the town during the Thirty Years' War. It was not rebuilt until 1680. As with the previous building, the bakers' and butchers' stalls (the so-called meat and bread benches) were located in the basement. However, the new building was not destined to exist for long. On August 14, 1706, a Saturday, a fire broke out between the Goldene Krone and Rotes Ross inns at 4 p.m. when a spark from a defective chimney set fire to a cart carrying hay. In a panic, the oxen pulling the hay cart ran into a barn already full of straw and hay and the disaster took its course. Together with the old town church and the town hall, 50 buildings fell victim to the flames. Medieval Erlangen was destroyed.

On August 14, 1706, a fire broke out between the Rotes Roß and Goldene Krone inns, almost completely destroying medieval Erlangen. The Old Town Hall, located at the north-western corner of Martin-Luther-Platz, also had to be rebuilt. However, 27 years were to pass until then. Initially, the Gasthaus zum Goldenen Engel was built on the site of today's town museum. Demolished in the early 1730s, it eventually made way for the representative building that is still there today, which was used for a variety of purposes. The town scales were housed on the first floor and the council offices were on the second floor. Goods could be stored in the courtyard and the fire department had its equipment shed there. It lost its function as a town hall in 1812 when the town halls of the old and new towns were merged. Over the following 150 years, the building was used for numerous purposes (including as a toll booth, a pawnshop, a people's house and a Siemens office) until it finally became the home of the town museum in 1963.

The former Old Town Hall on Martin-Luther-Platz, around 1915.
Photo: StadtAE XIII.6.Y.29 (Source: Stadtarchiv)

With the establishment of the new town of Erlangen by the settlement of Huguenots from 1686, the structure of the double town with independent administrations was created, which lasted until 1812. For many years, the focus in the Neustadt was on the construction of residential buildings, so the magistrate probably initially met in the homes of the individual members. After briefly housing the administration in the basement of Palais Stutterheim between 1737 and 1740, the council and citizens acquired the Richt- und Eckhaus Hauptstraße 30 from Christian-Erlang. The first floor housed the guardroom of the main and university guard, while council meetings were held on the second floor. An originally planned new town hall building on the neighboring property remained unfinished. The building was owned by the city until 1836 and served as Neustadt Town Hall with only a few interruptions. Today, the building houses a jeweler, the address is Schloßplatz 7.

With the end of Napoleonic rule in 1810, Erlangen, together with the Principality of Bayreuth, became part of the Kingdom of Bavaria and in 1812 the Old and New Towns were united to form a single town. Initially administered by a state police commissioner, a town magistrate was formed in 1818. After interim stops in the Orangerie, the old university building (part of the Knights' Academy) and a brief return to Hauptstraße 30, the town moved to the prestigious Palais Stutterheim in 1836. Built in 1728 by Christian Hieronymus von Stutterheim, the aristocratic palace had become the property of court councillor Johann Gottfried Groß in 1755 and served as the residence of the margrave's widow Sophie Caroline Marie after the palace fire from 1814 to 1817. After being purchased by the town, the building was extended in two stages and served as the seat of the town council until it was moved to the current town hall in 1971. In November 1938, it became the scene of the persecution of Jews by the National Socialists, when Jewish women, men and children from Erlangen, Forth and Baiersdorf were taken into "protective custody" on Pogrom Night and forced to stand in the inner courtyard for hours while the SA destroyed and looted their homes and businesses.

After 1945, Erlangen's population grew by leaps and bounds and the city spread, particularly to the south. Palais Stutterheim had reached the limits of its capacity as a town hall, even though it had been extended by a number of additions. From 1960, it was therefore decided to create the "Neuer Platz" to the south of the historic city center and to build a new administrative and business center there. The project, designed by architect Harald Loebermann, included department stores, a hotel, a town hall and what was now Erlangen's sixth town hall. It was built in two phases between 1969 and 1973 and, once completed, fully embodied the functional architecture of the 1970s. At the beginning of the 2000s, extensive refurbishment measures became necessary, which were not only due to material fatigue in the concrete façade, but were also primarily intended to improve fire protection measures. The general refurbishment was officially completed in September 2006. Even though the most important services for citizens are still centered at Rathausplatz 1 and the city council is based here, the city administration with its approximately 2,300 employees has grown far beyond these boundaries and is spread across many locations.

Text: City archive