City Hall of Tilburg

During World War II the palace was used as an observation post for detecting allied aeroplanes.

In 1835 the Prince of Orange bought these houses behind the church of Saint Denis from a family called Frankenhoff and had them rebuilt into a sober palace.

When William succeeded his father as king of the Netherlands in 1840 the palace didn’t have the royal quality befitting his new status.

According to legend King William II made the first sketches for the palace himself, following the neo-gothic building style he knew from his childhood in England.

On top of the basement sits the piano nobile, the most important and impressive floor of the building, primarily used for receiving guests.

It was meant for middle class youth who didn't need an academic education, but required a broad general knowledge to fulfil important positions in trade and industry.

As the city couldn't afford a new building, it was suggested that King William II's palace be used for the new school.

On 30 November 1863 the city council sent a letter to the secretary of the royal family, requesting the palace's use as a school building.

One of its first students would also become its most famous alumni: Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh, then 13 years old, attended classes in 1866 and left the school for unknown reasons in 1868.

Initially the school offered tuition to boys only; in 1894 the first girl was signed up – Maria Bes, daughter of the mathematics teacher.

Oscar Leeuw [nl], an architect from Nijmegen, was commissioned by Tilburg city council to alter the decrepit school into a representative Palace-Council House.

On 1 August 1936 mayor Frans Vonk de Both [nl] reopened the reconstructed Palace-City Hall.

With a similar half circular extension, a new and elegant stairwell was made, which contains a broad marble spiral staircase.

The circular extension have stained glass windows made by stained-glass artist Joep Nicolas.

The scenes in the stained glass express the virtues of a number of administrators and figures from classical antiquity.

The Paleis-Raadhuis, the city hall of municipality Tilburg.
Lithography by Wilhelmus Cornelius Chimaer van Oudendorp [ nl ] (1822-1873) of the New Royal Palace in Tilburg in 1849. In the drawing there's a mistake. The artist drew in the façade of the palace only six of the original eight windows on both sides of the entrance adjoining series of windows.
Façade of the palace on a draft of the palace around 1845.
Vincent van Gogh in 1873.
Survey of the Rijks-HBS Koning Willem II in 1866. Also the surrounding of the school is on the map, like the Saint Denis church. The buildings around the palace like the gym and the laboratory, which are both in one building, the art school and the caretaker's house were all demolished later. [ 1 ]
Stained glass windows in the half circular stairwell, made by Joep Nicolas .