Altes Rathaus, Klagenfurt, Baroque palace and former town hall on Alter Platz, Klagenfurt, Austria

The Altes Rathaus, also known as Palais Welzer, is a three-storey building on Alter Platz. Its 17th-century facade has a rusticated ground floor and a round-arched portal framed by Ionic capitals on vases with lion-head reliefs. A barrel-vaulted entrance leads to a 17th-century arcaded courtyard with star motifs in the spandrels.

The building was originally constructed as Palais Welzer in the 17th century before becoming the town hall in 1737. It served this civic function until 1918, when the city administration relocated to Palais Rosenberg.

The front wall displays a fresco by Josef Ferdinand Fromiller from 1739 showing Justitia surrounded by the coats of arms of Carinthia and Klagenfurt. This artistic choice reflected how civic buildings of that era were designed to showcase local power and identity.

The building stands on the south side of Alter Platz, its portal framed by a round arch and angular surround; the entrance leads through a barrel-vaulted passage into the arcaded courtyard. Look up at the gable clock and the 1739 fresco above the portal, both best seen in daylight.

The balustrade on the first floor is made of bricks set diagonally, a detail visible from the arcade courtyard. The building is not Renaissance but a 17th-century city palace, later remodeled in 1739.