Rostock town hall, Brick Gothic town hall in Rostock, Germany.
Rostock town hall stands on the Neuer Markt and grew from two vaulted merchant houses of the first half of the 13th century, whose two parallel saddle roofs still shape the core. A monumental show wall of glazed coloured bricks faces the market, largely hidden since 1726 behind a Baroque porch by Zacharias Voigt. The vaulted cellar, still used as a council tavern, preserves the medieval state best.
The building began around 1270 as a two-story house with a vaulted cellar and grew over generations to meet the needs of a wealthy Hanseatic city. Multiple reconstructions shaped its appearance from the late medieval period through the early modern era.
The vaulted cellar beneath the hall served as a sales space for cloth merchants in the Middle Ages; when the cloth trade declined, it became a beer and wine cellar. It is still used as the Ratskeller tavern, and its medieval state is the best preserved part of the building. Under the arcades of the baroque porch, remains of a medieval wall painting show Christ as Judge of the World.
The location is central in Rostock and easy to reach on foot, with the red brick architecture visible from a distance. Visitors can explore the outer facades and the surrounding old town, which shows many other historic buildings.
The Ratskeller in the vaulted cellar keeps its medieval state better than any other part of the building; it served as a sales space for cloth merchants before becoming a beer and wine cellar. Under the baroque colonnade, remains of a medieval wall painting show Christ as Judge of the World.
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