Altes Stadthaus, Heritage monument in Bonn-Zentrum, Germany.
The Altes Stadthaus is a multi-storey corner building at Bottlerplatz, designed by German Bestelmeyer in 1922 and completed in 1924–25. It is grouped around two rectangular inner courtyards; the main section facing Mülheimer Platz has a mansard roof framed by four-storey corner turrets with bell roofs. A recessed part with the main entrance bridges Windeckstraße with two low arches, and the ground floor is banded with flat rustication.
The Altes Stadthaus was designed in 1922 by Munich architect German Bestelmeyer for the French occupation forces after World War I, and completed in 1924–25 as Bonn's Stadthaus. From 1949 to 1957 the Bundesministerium für gesamtdeutsche Fragen occupied part of the building, mainly in the now-demolished east wing. In 2006 sale plans sparked protests; the city council voted in January 2007 to convert it into a Haus der Bildung, which reopened on 21 August 2015.
Since 2015 the Altes Stadthaus has been the Haus der Bildung, bringing the Bonn city library, a community college (Volkshochschule), the Literaturhaus Bonn and a café under one roof. The name goes back to a citizens' initiative formed in late 2006 against the city's sale plans; the council voted for the conversion on 31 January 2007. The library had already opened in the building on 4 October 1980.
The Haus der Bildung at Bottlerplatz combines the Bonn city library, a community college, the Literaturhaus and a café; the library reopened in September 2015, with a youth library following in early 2016. The main entrance is on the southwest corner of Bottlerplatz, and the building bridges Windeckstraße with two low arches. Behind it, the former bastion is a public garden with a playground, reached from Florentiusgraben.
The east wing was demolished to make way for a C&A department store, so the building is shorter than Bestelmeyer's plan. The two inner courtyards were later roofed with a light ceiling and many walls replaced by columns when the library moved in, opened on 4 October 1980.
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