The Old Town Hall (Altes Rathaus) serves today as a building for representative purposes for the city council in Munich. The Old Town Hall bounds the central square Marienplatz on its east side.
The building, documented for the first time in 1310, had its Grand Hall constructed in 1392/1394. The former Talburg Gate of the first city wall serves as spire. The Old Town Hall was re-designed in late-gothic style by Jörg von Halsbach 1470-1480. The Grand Hall was decorated by the Morris dancers, created by Erasmus Grasser. After alterations of the facade during the Renaissance and again in the Baroque the building was restored in neo-gothic style 1861-1864. In 1874 the municipality moved to the New Town Hall.
For the passage of increased road traffic the Old Town Hall was tunneled in 1877 with a drive-through and a separate pedestrian's passage, as well as once again in 1934/35, this time finally destroying the original ground floor. During World War II the building was severely damaged and the spire was reconstructed in 1971-1974. Parts of the neo-Gothic elements, especially the statues of Ludwig the Bavarian (west facade) and Henry the Lion (east facade) and the gable design are preserved.
The Grand Hall was the venue for the speech of Joseph Goebbels on November 9, 1938 which is known as the prelude for the Kristallnacht (Crystal Night, a pogrom against Jews).
References:Tyniec Benedictine abbey was founded by King Casimir the Restorer probably around 1044. Casimir decided to rebuild the newly established Kingdom of Poland, after a Pagan rebellion and a disastrous Czech raid of Duke Bretislaus I (1039). The Benedictines, invited to Tyniec by the King, were tasked with restoring order as well as cementing the position of the State and the Church. First Tyniec Abbot was Aaron, who became the Bishop of Kraków. Since there is no conclusive evidence to support the foundation date as 1040, some historians claim that the abbey was founded by Casimir the Restorer’ son, King Boleslaw II the Generous.
In the second half of the 11th century, a complex of Romanesque buildings was completed, consisting of a basilica and the abbey. In the 14th century, it was destroyed in Tatar and Czech raids, and in the 15th century it was rebuilt in Gothic style. Further remodelings took place in the 17th and 18th centuries, first in Baroque, then in Rococo style. The abbey was partly destroyed in the Swedish invasion of Poland, and soon afterwards was rebuilt, with a new library. Further destruction took place during the Bar Confederation, when Polish rebels turned the abbey into their fortress.
In 1816, Austrian authorities liquidated the abbey, and in 1821-1826, it was the seat of the Bishop of Tyniec, Grzegorz Tomasz Ziegler. The monks, however, did not return to the abbey until 1939, and in 1947, remodelling of the neglected complex was initiated. In 1968, the Church of St. Peter and Paul was once again named the seat of the abbot. The church itself consists of a Gothic presbytery and a Baroque main nave. Several altars were created by an 18th-century Italian sculptor Francesco Placidi. The church also has a late Baroque pulpit by Franciszek Jozef Mangoldt.