Regensburg’s Old Town Hall is more than a striking tower on a medieval square. Its rooms once housed the city’s council and administration, courts and prison, and from 1663 to 1806 the Perpetual Diet of the Holy Roman Empire. The building is part of the UNESCO-listed Old Town of Regensburg with Stadtamhof, inscribed in 2006 for its evidence of trade, political influence and centuries of urban development. A guided visit brings these histories into close focus, linking a ceremonial hall with the less comfortable workings of justice below it.
Regensburg Tourism dates the creation of the Old Town Hall to 1245, when Regensburg became a Free Imperial City. The oldest part is its 55-metre tower, while the Reichssaal building was added around 1320–1330. The hall was originally intended as a dance room, a reminder that civic buildings served social as well as administrative purposes. Over time, the complex became the place where the city’s council and officials worked and where the local court operated.
