Chronicle in Stone

Following a proposal by the chief architect, Hermann Friedrich Waesemann, additional decorative elements were added to the Red Town Hall façade in the 1870s. They tell the story of Berlin from the 12th to the 19th century.

Thirty-six terracotta panels on the balconies create a frieze encircling the building. Known collectively as the “Chronicle in Stone,” they are the work of sculptors Ludwig Brodwolf, Alexander Calandrelli, Otto Geyer, and Rudolf Schweinitz. The people of Berlin play the main roles in this account of the city. Half of the panels show Berlin life in the Middle Ages: bustling markets and trade, craftspeople, the legal system, and day-to-day life. The remaining panels depict the accomplishments of the Prussian monarchs and Berlin’s dramatic rise in the 19th century. Several panels highlight the city as a center of liberal thought where important scientists, scholars, and artists could leave their mark. To see the Chronicle in order, start on Grunerstraße (at the corner with Spandauer Straße) and walk counterclockwise toward Jüdenstraße. The front façade on Rathausstraße features the most panels; others can be found on the corners of the building and above the portals.

In the course of the Second World War, the Red Town Hall and the frieze suffered extensive damage during a bombing raid on March 18, 1945. When rebuilding work began in 1951, records of the frieze designs were incomplete, making reconstruction of the Chronicle in Stone difficult. Fortunately, members of the public shared their photos and drawings of the artworks.

The most important scenes in the Chronicle in Stone are: