It was erected, following the Great fire of Tartu, between 1782 and 1789 to designs by the German architect Johann Heinrich Bartholomäus Walther.

From the outset, the building was designed to house a number of tenants in addition to the city government; a prison and a storage for weighs and measures were included already in the original drawings.

The town hall has always suffered from a lack of space, and to this day a pharmacy is located in parts of the premises.

[1] The architect and mason, J. H. B. Walther, also worked on the Von Bock House which was across the square and was being completed at the same time as the town hall was constructed.

[2] The town hall is built in an early Neoclassical style, with Rococo and Baroque details, such as the steeple containing the carillon (which is still played daily).