Gewandhaus, Gothic and Renaissance guild house on Altstadtmarkt, Braunschweig, Germany.

The Gewandhaus on Altstadtmarkt is a tall stone building whose grey facade rises to a stepped gable topped by a crest. Carved columns divide the front vertically and ledges divide it into rows of windows, taller below and smaller square openings at the top. Three large round-arched openings mark the ground level, where two restaurants occupy the Gothic hall and adjoining vaults; the upper floor has housed the Braunschweig Chamber of Commerce since 1910.

The Gewandhaus existed before 1268, when the city council began keeping written records, and it is first documented in 1307. Built as a warehouse, sales hall and guild house for the cloth merchants, it gained a wine cellar in 1329 and a pouring licence in 1352. Hans Lampe supervised the 1588–1592 rebuild, and the Renaissance east gable was carved in 1590–1591 by Balthasar Kircher and Jürgen Röttger.

The name Gewandhaus comes from the folded cloth the Wandschneider bought and sold in sections at the Wandbuden. The Braunschweiger Elle, a standardised measure of 57.07 cm, is fixed to the second pillar of the Altstadtrathaus opposite the building. The vaulted cellar received a wine cellar in 1329 and a pouring licence in 1352, making it the oldest gastronomic cellar in Lower Saxony, where beer, wine and Braunschweiger Mumme were served.

The building sits centrally on Altstadtmarkt and is easily reached from all main streets of the old town center. Since restaurants and shops are located here, visitors can easily have a meal or take a walk in the surrounding area.

The east gable, carved in 1590–1591 by sculptors Balthasar Kircher and Jürgen Röttger, is counted among the foremost works of Renaissance architecture in Lower Saxony. After the 1944 fire only the east facade stood; the upper part of the gable collapsed in a storm in 1946 before rebuilding began.