Altona Town Hall

Getting married in the station hall? Of course, if it is as magnificent and representative as the south wing of the Altona town hall, where the registry office is today. The building was actually intended as a station for the Altona-Kiel Railway Company, the first Danish railway line. Due to the attractive building and its location above the Elbe, it is a popular place for weddings.

Initially inaugurated as railway station of the Altona-Kieler Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft in 1844, the railway line was the first under Danish sovereignty. Altona was under Danish command from 1640 to 1864. On August 23, 1664 Altona were granted by the King of Denmark, Frederick III, the city rights and the now more independent Altona grew rapidly. In 1803, the neighboring city of Hamburg with 24,000 inhabitants was even the second largest city in Denmark - behind Copenhagen. Built in the mid-19th century station could no longer meet the now necessary capacity and so a few hundred meters north, approximately at the site of today's station, the Altona Central Station was built. The then became functionless construction on the Republic Square was then rebuilt to the city hall.

The Altona town hall, which was rebuilt in the Wilhelminian style, was first realized as a classicist building by the architect Emil Brandt. In the period from 1898 to 1938 it served the city administration. The collegiate hall for the city council meeting in the north wing and a service apartment for the mayor in the east wing were created alongside other premises. The collegiate hall was embellished in 1900 by several paintings by the artist Ludwig Dettman, which refer to the Danish background of Altona. In the following decades, the building was converted into a neoclassical building. Due to the Greater Hamburg Act in 1937/38 Altona was incorporated into the Hamburg city and lost thereby its independence.

hamburg.de/rathaus-altona

beautiful old building from the time when Altona was still an independent city.