Photo: architectural monuments, museums and exhibitions, Old Town Hall , Bavaria

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Old Town Hall and European Parliament with a torture chamber

Architectural Monuments • Museums and Exhibitions

The Old Town Hall of Regensburg is a monument to the past greatness and importance of the imperial city. In the XVII-XIX centuries the Old Town Hall of Regensburg was the seat of Reichstag – the all-German parliament, the assembly of representatives of the German states. Construction of this building started in the middle of the XIV century by Emperor Charles IV. The construction place was chosen for a reason. It is believed that there was the house of patricians of the Roman colony Castra Regina there in ancient times.

Construction of the Town Hall lasted long, and in a few decades after completion it turned out that it was destined to a higher purpose than to be a meeting place of the city government. The fact is that at the end of the Thirty Years’ War a permanent assembly was created to regulate the relations of numerous German states. So the Reichstag originated, which existed until the formation of the German Empire in 1871 and sat just in the building of the Town Hall, although until 1806. Now it is a Reichstag museum. For many people it is attractive as the first inter-state union of Post-Medieval Europe - the prototype of the European Parliament. And some are curious about the medieval prison and the torture chamber located in cellar of the building.

Old Town Hall and European Parliament with a torture chamber

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