Rathouse and Town Hall General

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The Town Hall is the seat of the Bailiff and the Council.
Originally it was an ordinary town house, gradually transforming into the local government office or Town Hall. In Bohemia the first Town Hall was established at the end of the 14th century.
The buildings were usually of brick, at least the lower floors, with many rooms having vaulted ceilings. The ground floor of the municipal building hosted shops, a tavern, the site of the public scales, a sentry room and an armoury.
The room housing the public scales (which set the standard for all other scales in shops) had a cubit length measure set in the wall and samples of other small measures and weights, which were universally valid throughout the town’s administrative domain.
On the first floor of the Town Hall was the Council Hall, the chapel (in an oriel), the scribe’s study and residential chambers. The upper floors served as a granary or warehouse. In the cellar there was a jail and storage for goods.
The Council Hall hosted the meetings of the City Council and its cabinets contained documents, deeds, charters, privileges and the town archive.

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