Basel Town Hall at Market Square

The famous Town Hall, with its red walls, overlooks the town centre's Market Square. Its oldest parts are five hundred years old.

A prestigious public building became necessary when Basel joined the Swiss Confederation in 1501. The Town Hall, dominating the Market Square in the town centre, was built from 1504 to 1514 to the design of Ruman Faesch. The façade of its oldest parts still presents the visitor with Gothic and Renaissance elements, and comprises the three arched entrances, clock, and golden turret; the chancery was added from 1606 to 1608. From 1898 to 1904, when the Market Square was deplaned, the oriel tower was added and crowned, as a symbol of the citizenry's claim to power, by the bartizan. Largely Hans Bock did the trompe l’oeil - and murals, the rich interior features are from the 16th to 20th centuries.