Female First has rounded up the most attractive and grandest looking City Halls in Europe. With a variety of different styles, sizes and histories, here is a list of our favourites.
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Flickr, Macnolate
Opened in 1908, Belfast's City Hall is still relatively young. Its ‘Baroque’ style was first introduced in Italy in the 17th Century and has become synonymous with European architecture. It also draws connotations of Christianity after the style was encouraged by the Roman Catholic Church.
Madrid, Spain
Flickr, Iteijeiro
When opened in 1919, the building was originally used as a postal and communications centre, but became the City Hall in 2007. The design style is described as ‘eclectic’ which has come to describe something made with a general mix of styles. By far the biggest on the list, the building covers an area of 323,000 square feet.
Brussels, Belgium
The Town Hall in Brussels is the oldest on the list, designed and built in the early 15th Century. The whole structure took 18 years to build and was completed in 1420, although it has been restored over the years. Its tower stands at 310 ft tall and drips in Gothic architecture.
Hamburg, Germany
Flickr, Matthias Rhomberg
Finished three years before the 20th Century, Hamburg’s Rathaus is still used for local government purposes. Covering 183,000 square feet, the building houses 647 rooms. Built in a time of prosperity, the City Hall was designed to represent Hamburg’s affluence. Its 367 ft tower contains 436 steps, which is something of a trademark of its Neo-renaissance design.
Munich, Germany
Flickr, Jikatu
Finished in 1908, Munich’s governmental centre epitomises Gothic revival - an architectural style born in England in the 18th Century. The face of the building is covered in many different features and statues, most of which pay homage to the German state of Bavaria.
Vienna, Austria
Wikimedia Commons, Roman Klementschitz
Vienna's Rathaus was erected somewhere between 1872 and 1883. Restorations began in September of this year and are set to be complete by 2023 at a cost of €35 million. The gothic styled building is the workplace of over 2000 people.
London, England
Sneaking on to the list is London’s City Hall, which is not actually a City Hall and is not located in the City of London. Sitting on the south bank of the Thames, near to Tower Bridge, the building houses the Mayor of London and the London Assembly.
The building was designed by world renowned architect Norman Foster, but despite its modern designed has somewhat failed in its attempt to be an environmentally friendly, forward thinking building.
Female First @FemaleFirst_UK
James Mellan @jamesmellan1