Historical Merchants' Hall, Renaissance trading building in Münsterplatz, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany.
The Historical Merchants' Hall is a dark red Renaissance building with four ground-level arcades and decorative corner turrets. Its roof features stepped gables and two attic stories set beneath the roofline.
Freiburg's first municipal merchants' hall, a customs and goods-transfer building, stood in the Schusterstraße and was first recorded in 1378. From 1520 the present building was raised north of it, facing the Minster, and was completed around 1532. Its architect is not documented; the design is attributed, tentatively, to Lienhart Müller of Ettlingen, one of the master builders then working on Freiburg Minster. From 1946 to 1952 it housed Baden's advisory assembly and then the South Baden parliament.
The Emperors' Hall displays portraits of Habsburg rulers and recalls Wilhelm I's visit in 1876. The rooms tell the story of when this building stood at the heart of the city's trade.
The building contains three event rooms of varying sizes for different occasions. Its location on Münsterplatz makes it easy to find and access from the town center.
The statues of Maximilian I, Philip the Fair, Charles V and Ferdinand I on the facade are replicas; the originals are kept in the Basler Hof. The courtyard, reached through a small door framed with the coats of arms of Freiburg and Austria, is only open on special occasions.
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