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After the fire
It took almost 44 years to replace the city hall burned in 1842
After the old city hall was destroyed in the great fire of 1842, it took almost 44 years to build a new one. The present building was designed by a group of seven architects led by Martin Haller. Construction started in 1886 and it was inaugurated in 1897.
647 rooms
A room was found by accident in 1971
In 1971 a room in the tower was discovered accidentally during a search for a document that had fallen behind a filing cabinet. The city hall has 647 rooms, so there may be more. It is a common misconception that it has more rooms than Buckingham Palace, which has 775.
The motto
Its Latin motto speaks of a freedom won by earlier generations
Above the balcony is a mosaic of Hamburg's patron goddess Hammonia, the city's coat of arms and the city's motto in Latin. The building was meant to express the wealth and independence of the State of Hamburg and Hamburg's republican traditions.
“The freedom won by our elders, may posterity strive to preserve it in dignity.”
The Latin motto on the city hall balcony, in English
Cholera
A fountain in the courtyard remembers the cholera epidemic
The courtyard is decorated with a Hygieia fountain. Hygieia was the goddess of health and hygiene in Greek mythology. The fountain was built in remembrance of the cholera epidemic of 1892, and its former technical purpose was air cooling in the city hall.
Day 3, afternoon
It comes after Planten un Blomen. Then Binnenalster.
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The words are a retelling of the Wikipedia article Hamburg City Hall, and are shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. They are checked against those articles, and a fact that is not in them is left out.