New Town Hall
The Neues Rathaus is Dresden's town hall, inaugurated on 1 October 1910 and crowned by the gilded figure of the Rathausmann.
What it is
The town hall is the seat of the city's council and of the mayor. The Stadtmuseum's English pages call it the New Town Hall.
The building is a complex with six courtyards and a tower. The heritage office records it as an example of both late historicism and post-war modernism.
The main entrance on Rathausplatz, the Goldene Pforte (Golden Gate), is flanked by two bronze lions holding shields. At the entrance to the Ratskeller stands a bronze of Bacchus riding a donkey by the sculptor Georg Wrba, from 1910.
History
The city council decided on a new town hall in 1888 and held an architectural competition in 1899. It was designed by Karl Roth, who developed his competition entry with the city architect Edmund Bräter; the two led the building work from 1905 to 1910.
The foundation stone was laid on 29 September 1905, and the town hall was inaugurated on 1 October 1910.
The tower
The figure on top of the tower, the Rathausmann, has stood there since 1908. It was made by the sculptor Richard Guhr, of copper sheet, and fire-gilded.