Town hall Göppingen
At the heart of the neoclassical city layout stands the Town Hall, which is right in front of us. It was rebuilt as the last building between 1784 and 1786 after the great city fire of 1782. On August 25, 1782, lightning struck a house in what is now Langen Street. The ensuing fire reduced Göppingen to almost complete ruins. Overnight, 347 buildings were destroyed, leaving 496 families homeless and without possessions.
The sovereign, Duke Karl Eugen of Württemberg, personally spearheaded the swift reconstruction of Göppingen. The regularly designed city layout, drawn up by his chief architect Johann Adam Groß, still characterizes the old town of Göppingen to this day.
As part of this reconstruction, the square in front of the Town Hall was planned as a marketplace. Due to the damp subsoil in this area, the Town Hall itself had to be set on a special foundation: 398 oak piles and 903 fir piles were driven into the ground, and oak wood grids were placed on top, upon which the building was constructed.
Until 2003, the area was a major traffic artery through the old town – around 24,000 vehicles crossed the square in front of the Town Hall daily. Today, it presents itself as a traffic-calmed “New Center” and invites people to linger.
Copyright: Stadtmarketing Göppingen