Basel Town Hall

The Basel Town Hall (German: Rathaus Basel, locally known as Roothuus) is a 500-year-old building dominating the Marktplatz in Basel, Switzerland.

The Basel Town Hall

The Town Hall houses the meetings of the Cantonal Parliament as well as the Cantonal Government of the canton of Basel-Stadt.

The Great Council Chamber at one time featured a series of frescoes painted in 1522 by Hans Holbein the Younger, which have been lost.^[1][2] Fragments of the work as well as some of the initial drawings are kept in the Kunstmuseum.^[3]

The German term "Rathaus" literally means "council house" while the local Basel German dialect term "Roothus" means both "council house" but also sounds like "red house", a pun with reference to the red sandstone facade of the building.

• 
  Samuel Cursing Saul, by Hans Holbein the Younger
• 
  Rehoboam's Insolence, by Hans Holbein the Younger
• 
  Fragment of Wall Painting from Basel Town Hall Council Chamber, by Hans Holbein the Younger
• 
  The Humiliation of Emperor Valerian by Shapur, King of Persia, by Hans Holbein the Younger
• 
  Interior courtyard of the building
• 
  A statue from 1580 by Hans Michel depicting Lucius Munatius Plancus in the city hall^[4]

See also

• Politics of Switzerland