The Historical Town Hall with the Spy Tower(Historisches Rathaus mit Spionturm) is the oldest of the three town halls. Itwas built in the XIV century. According to legend, when the troops of theEmperor of the Holy Roman Empire laid siege to the rebellious Aalen, anordinary Swabian came to their camp and said that he had come to count theirguns. The soldiers were so amazed by the courage and ingenuousness of the Aalenresident, that they turned back and the emperor pardoned the city. Since then, Aalen’sresidents honor their patron saint and placed the spy figure in the Town Hall’stower in his honor.
The PrehistoricMuseum has been working in the Town Hall building since 1977. It includes thebiggest paleontological and geological collections in the territory of theState of Baden-Württemberg. The two floors of the museum include veryinteresting exhibits: the remains of prehistoric sea lilies, squid and fish,huge ammonites (extinct shellfishes), corals and other fossils from thecollection of Fritz Sauter, and, most importantly, the skeletons of dinosaursand ichthyosaurs! That's why children come here with pleasure.