Historic Town Hall

The historic "Rathhaus" is considered a remarkable monument of the city's economic heyday. It is a two-story late Gothic rubble stone building that was constructed between 1545 and 1547. The magnificent Renaissance gable is the result of a "modernization" in the 1580s; the staircase extension was added in 1859/60.

The town hall was used for administrative and representative purposes as well as for council meetings and court proceedings. In the originally three taverns in the basement and the large council chamber on the upper floor, festive receptions and celebrations (including weddings) also took place. Last but not least, the town hall also served as storage for firefighting equipment and hand firearms for the defense of the city. The flags of the marksmen's guild, as well as the shops of the guilds and trades, were also housed here.

On the upper floor, the "Leggemeister" collected, inspected, and stored the linen produced in the city. Furthermore, the tithe grain was deposited on the town hall floor in the attic. All of that is long past.

Today, the town hall houses the registry office. The three taverns in the basement have been replaced by "the" one "Ratskeller." The city council has been meeting since 1977 in the new town hall on Rudolph-Brandes-Allee, which became necessary after the municipal restructuring (carried out on January 1, 1969). Since then, the "old" salt town of Bad Salzuflen, along with the former industrial town of Schötmar and ten other formerly independent village communities, forms the large community of Bad Salzuflen.