Altes Rathaus

The improbable Old Town Hall straddling the Regnitz on a bridge

The most photographed building in Bamberg: a half-timbered tower and Baroque core sitting on an artificial island in the middle of the Regnitz River, accessed by bridges on either side. Built in the fourteenth century after a property dispute with the prince-bishop made it impossible for the town to find dry ground for a town hall — so they made their own.

The exterior frescoes (Johann Anwander, 1755) include one famous detail: a putto whose stucco leg projects three-dimensionally out of the painted wall. Inside is the Sammlung Ludwig porcelain collection.

things to do landmark
A story
Bamberg's bishop refused to give the burghers land for a town hall, so the story goes — they responded by driving piles into the middle of the Regnitz and building one on its own artificial island, neither in the bishop's territory nor outside it. The current building dates from the 14th century onward.