Osnabrück Town Hall

The Treaty of Westphalia was negotiated and signed by the combatants of the Thirty Years' War at the town halls of Osnabrück and Münster in 1648.

From 1643 to 1648 part of the delegations sent by the combatants in the Thirty Years' War sat in Osnabrück's town hall to negotiate a peace settlement.

In addition there are three portraits of the rulers of the main combatant nations: Christina, Queen of Sweden, Louis XIV of France, and German Emperor Ferdinand III.

On 13 September 1944 the town hall of Osnabrück was struck numerous times by Allied (especially British) bombs during air raids and severely damaged.

As almost all of the historic furnishings of the town hall had been placed in storage some time earlier on account of the local population's expectation of eventual destruction, the majority of the interior decorations were saved.

On 24 October 1948 – just in time for the 300th anniversary celebrations of the Peace of Westphalia – the restored town hall, along with its historic furnishings, was officially reopened for business.

The frontal view is characterised by an 18-metre-high hipped roof, whose height is almost equal to that of the rest of the building from the foundation slab to the eaves.