The old town hall of the city of Schwerte was built in 1548/49 and today houses the Ruhr Valley Museum and the city archive. The elongated stone building, with its formerly open arcade, which has been closed by glazing since 1997, is oriented towards the former market square on the representative front in the north. Today the glazed vestibule is used as a multifunctional room for exhibitions, lectures or small concerts.
The narrow sides of the building have unadorned stepped gables. The upper floor is broken up by stone cross windows, while the round windows in the basement are a 19th century addition. The plastered structure with ashlar structure was restored between 1952 and 1957.
The interior of Schwerte's old town hall is characterized by several renovations and additions. There are longitudinal beams on wooden supports on both floors; the ground floor was formerly divided by a half-timbered wall running along the longitudinal axis.
The Old Town Hall is a testimony to the heyday of Schwerte in the Middle Ages and early modern times. The building was later also used as a court, prison and grain scale.