Rotes Rathaus is located near the Alexanderplatz in Berlin’s Mitte district and occupies an entire city block. The moniker “red” was inspired by the town hall’s red brick facade and not by the political leanings of its occupants. Although during the Cold War, many associated East Berlin’s Red City Hall with Communism.
Pre-WWII History of Rotes Rathaus
Berlin’s Red City Hall was constructed in the second half of the nineteenth century. The neo-renaissance building was designed as a multi-winged complex with three inner courtyards and a just under 250-foot tower. The architecture of the tower is reminiscent of the cathedral tower of Notre Dame. The building was heavily damaged by Allied bombing in World War II. Until 1948, the Neues Stadthaus, which survived the bombing, served as a temporary city hall for the post-war city government for all four sectors of Berlin. After 1948, and until the completion of the reconstruction of the Rotes Rathaus, the Neues Stadthaus housed only the city government of the Soviet sector.
Post-WWII History of Rotes Rathaus
Between 1951 and 1956, the Rotes Rathaus was reconstructed to the original plans. Due to the division of Berlin, Red City Hall was located in the Soviet sector, and the East Berlin magistrate held its sessions there. Meanwhile, the Rathaus Schoeneberg, where John F. Kennedy spoke in 1963, served as the town hall for West Berlin, where the West Berlin senate met. Since the German Reunification, Rotes Rathaus is the seat of Berlin’s governing mayor and Berlin’s city government of the entire city of Berlin.
Berlin’s Rotes Rathaus as seen from the television tower. Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2019. www.walled-in-Berlin.com
Also Of Historic Interest
The Rotes Rathaus contains many rooms of historic interest. State visitors are generally received in the armorial hall, which is decorated with the emblems of Berlin’s districts. Equally impressive are the great ceremonial hall and the 30-foot high pillared hall with its orange rib-vaulted ceiling and busts of famous people. The gallery on the third floor holds the portraits of honorary citizens of Berlin.
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Walled-In is my story of growing up in Berlin during the Cold War. Juxtaposing the events that engulfed Berlin during the Berlin Blockade, the Berlin Airlift, the Berlin Wall and Kennedy’s Berlin visit with the struggle against my equally insurmountable parental walls, Walled-In is about freedom vs. conformity, conflict vs. harmony, domination vs. submission, loyalty vs. betrayal.
