Download File - UNESCO World Heritage

Criterion vi: The iconology of the Bremen Town Hall is
based primarily on late medieval and Humanist avowals of
faith which serve as the foundation for the system and
sense of justice still prevailing today. It furthermore
documents the city’s and council’s claim to being the first
free imperial city in the empire. The self-conception of the
senate is documented with particular exemplariness by the
New Town Hall of 1909–1913, where letters ‘SPQB’,
Senatus Populusque Bremensis, occasioned during the era
of the German Empire and inscribed on the portal leading
into the senate hall, recall the republican roots of this
body’s constitution.
3. ICOMOS EVALUATION
Actions by ICOMOS
An ICOMOS expert mission visited Bremen in August
2002. ICOMOS has also consulted architectural historians
in Central Europe and the Netherlands, as well as its
International Scientific Committee on Historic Towns and
Villages and architectural historians.
Conservation
Conservation history:
The nominated property has been under preservation order
since 1909 (Old Town Hall) and 1973 (New Town Hall).
Since its construction, the town hall has undergone repair
and maintenance. The main gable was stabilised in 1928-
1930. The statues of the south and west façades were
replaced with copies in 1959-1963. There was a
comprehensive restoration of the exterior and the Upper
Hall in 1964-1968. The representative rooms were restored
or renovated in 1985-98. Modern lifts were also installed.
Maintenance work is currently going on in the façades,
including re-pointing the joints and consolidating the stone
parts. The copper roof is currently under repair.
State of conservation:
At the conclusion of the repair work, the Old Town Hall is
expected to be in a good state of conservation. The façades
of the New Town Hall are dirty and show effects of
exposure to weather, but restoration is not considered
necessary.
Management:
The management and care of the property is well
organized.
Risk analysis:
There are no risks foreseen.
Authenticity and integrity
Authenticity:
The town hall of Bremen has had various phases in its
history, starting with the first construction in Gothic style,
in the early 15 th century, and the substantial renovation in
the Baroque period in the early 17 th century. Furthermore,
there have been various transformations and additions in
the subsequent centuries, including the construction of the
41
new town hall in the early 20 th century. Taking into
account this historic evolution, the town hall can be
conceived as having historical authenticity in its form and
material in respect to the various periods. It has also
retained its historically established spatial relationship with
the neighbouring historic buildings and market squares.
The Bremen Roland is considered to be one of the oldest
still standing of such statues in Germany. Nevertheless, it
has been repaired and restored numerous times, and much
of the original material has been replaced, therefore
loosing part of its authenticity.
Integrity:
While the immediate surroundings of the town hall have
survived reasonably well, the rest of the historic town of
Bremen suffered serious destruction during the Second
World War, and was rebuilt after the war.
Comparative evaluation
Architecturally, the town hall of Bremen is considered to
have been strongly influenced by Dutch examples, mixed
with North-German features. It is further noted that the
Bremen town hall was built by Dutch masters. Also the
decoration repeated symbols of Dutch origin, related to the
so-called Weser Renaissance, which was diffused in a part
of northern Germany and northern Netherlands.
In the Netherlands, most towns had their separate town hall
in the fifteenth century. Some early examples were built in
Gothic style (eg Middelburg, Gouda), which lasted to the
early 16 th century, when the Renaissance style took over.
In Utrecht, the town hall was designed in imitation of the
Italian palazzo; in The Hague (1564) instead the building
was basically of a medieval type with steep pitched roofs,
but the ornamentation was in Renaissance style. The most
important of the Dutch Renaissance town halls is
considered to be the mannerist building in Antwerp,
designed by Cornelis Floris de Vriendt (1561). The climax
in the development was the Amsterdam town hall (1648-
1665), which later became the royal palace. The closest
example to Bremen is the town hall of Leiden, which had
been renovated by the same masters in the late 16 th
century, before they undertook the work at Bremen.
In Germany as well as in the Netherlands, the town hall
came to symbolise the civic pride. It contained the meeting
rooms and offices of the burgomaster and the city council.
In architectural terms, the Dutch town halls have been seen
as a parallel phenomenon to English country houses and
French castles. In Northern Germany and the Baltic States,
the town hall was an expression of the autonomous
municipalities and free cities, which formed the Hanseatic
League from the 13 th to the 15 th centuries. Several
Hanseatic cities have already been inscribed on the World
Heritage List, including Stralsund and Wismar in 2002.
These last two towns have preserved their integrity
exceptionally well even though they there were damages
during the Second World War.
The Roland statue has been a common symbol in many
central-European towns and villages since the Middle
Ages. The Bremen Roland is considered to be one of the
oldest still standing even though part of its original
material has been lost.