Alsfeld berät!Alsfelds „Neues“ Rathaus

The New Town Hall, built between 1512 and approximately 1518 over the foundations of its predecessor, holds a special and prominent position as one of the most significant cultural monuments in Alsfeld. It was the first of its kind to be constructed starting in 1512 using the then-new early timber-frame technique (Rähmbauweise) over a stone base, which is opened as a hall with pointed-arch arcades still influenced by the Gothic style.

The exceptional carpentry work was commissioned to „Master Johan“ by the city council on May 15, 1514. Corresponding to the triad of the market-side arcades, the three floors place the structure in a balanced overall proportion. The perfectly formed architecture of the entire town hall building bears witness to great artistic creativity and a successful merging of different transitioning architectural styles. The upward-reaching timber-framed bay windows with their pointed spires soften the calm character of the timber-frame structure of the floors. Its imposing, slender form with its special timber construction and the „Alsfelder Strebe“ (Alsfeld strut) represents the transition phase from Late Gothic to Renaissance.

As a freestanding secular building of the Alsfeld citizenry, its special effect and dominance as a spatial conclusion to the marketplace are particularly noteworthy. The direct arrangement and alignment along the old, important trade route „Kurze Hessen“ leading across the marketplace made the location of the new town hall building a focal point and eye-catcher in the medieval city for traveling merchants and traders even back then. (JW)