Rathausplatz with Town Hall

Rathausplatz Kempten

Back when Kempten was split into a double town, the present Rathausplatz was the centre of the imperial town. It hosted the market and was the economic as well as social centre of the imperial town. Imposing patrician buildings based on late-medieval foundations stand on either side of the imperial town’s former Markstraße. In 1576 a fountain was set up in front of the Town Hall. It was later relocated and modified so that what we see today is a seventeenth-century fountain with its octagonal stone basin and bronze column. This square is particularly popular in the summer with its surrounding restaurants and tables and chairs outside on the square, enjoying a glorious view of the historic Town Hall.

Historic Town Hall

As early as 1368 a half-timbered house stood on the location of the present Town Hall, which was partly used as a Town Hall from 1382 onwards. Predominantly, though, it was a storage house for cereals, later replaced by a simple stone building in 1474. In the course of time this building has been modified several times, including when the imperial town and ecclesiastical town were unified and the town was given a mutual administrative council. The latest conversion of partitioning rooms as well as adjustments to the outside area took place between 1985 and 1987. To this day the lord mayor and the mayors still meet in this historic building on Kempten’s Rathausplatz, which also includes the registry office and meeting halls. The municipal administration’s remaining offices are spread across several buildings in town.