Stadhuis van Utrecht (Utrecht City Hall), Utrecht

Utrecht City Hall, located on the Town Hall Bridge spanning the Oudegracht, is a complex of buildings that have undergone centuries of transformation. Its current form reflects a blend of medieval, Renaissance, neoclassical, and contemporary architectural influences.

The story of Utrecht City Hall begins in 1343 when the city's aldermen were forced to vacate their previous meeting place in the trading district of Stathe due to the expansion of the Buurkerk. They relocated to the Hasenberg building on the Oudegracht, at the site of the current town hall. In 1537, the city council moved into the twelfth-century Lichtenberg house next to Hasenberg, which still retains its original wharf cellar.

Between 1537 and 1547, under Emperor Charles V, the city council merged the Hasenberg and Lichtenberg buildings, adding a Renaissance façade to Hasenberg while Lichtenberg retained its medieval look. In 1547, the Huidenbrug and Broodbrug bridges were consolidated into the Town Hall Bridge. A bell tower with a carillon by Jacob van Eyck was added to Hasenberg in 1582. Later expansions included converting Keyserrijk into a weighhouse in 1614 and unifying structures on the Oudkerkhof with a classical side wall in 1643.

In 1826, architect Johannes van Embden replaced Hasenberg and Lichtenberg with a neoclassical building, completed in 1830 with a Bentheimer sandstone façade and four Doric columns. In 1957, Pieter d'Hont added a pediment sculpture symbolizing municipal functions. Expansions continued, including a uniform façade along the Oudegracht in 1934 and a Civil Affairs building by Johannes Izak Planjer in 1935.

In 1997, architect Enric Miralles was commissioned to renovate Utrecht City Hall, demolishing much of the Civil Affairs building and altering the neoclassical structure while preserving its outer walls and reception hall. The entrance moved to Korte Minrebroederstraat, and Queen Beatrix inaugurated the revamped hall on August 30, 2000. Today, the city hall reflects Utrecht’s evolving architectural history while remaining its administrative center.