Town hall of the City of Emden (Emder Rathaus) in East Frisia, Lower Saxony
Emden Town Hall

Emden's town hall presenting an exhibit about freemasonry in East Frisia (Winter 2016/17)
The city or town hall of Emden, the Emder Rathaus, in northwest Germany was rebuilt in the early 1960s. The precursor building was destroyed in Word War II. The modern building houses administrative offices and the Ostfriesisches Landesmuseum Emden, a museum featuring regional history. The yellow-purple banner at the center of the building's frontside—with the title “Geheimbünde?”—invites you to see a special exhibit dedicated to the tradition of freemasonry in East Frisia (Nov. 27, 2016 - April 23, 2017).

The 3D bronze relief next to the historic harbor gate shows the town hall within Emden's cityscape in miniature. The town hall is located at the end of an articial harbor basin, called Ratsdelft. The Ratsdelft dead-end and the town hall frontside build two sides of the Rathausplatz—the town hall square, adjoining the Stadtgarten. The masculine German noun Rat means advice or counsel. In the compositum Rathaus (Haus means house), the word Rat refers to citizens meeting, working and planning for the city: Ratsherren (town-councillors, aldermen or senators). The name of the harbor basin, Ratsdelft, refers to its location near the Rathaus. The Dutch word delft derives from delven, easily recognized to mean “to delve” and reminding us that this harbor basin was constructed by digging it out. Not surprisingly, the town hall is also called Rathaus am Delft (town hall at the delft).
Axeleratio
Visiting Emden
▶ Emder Rathaus
▶ Rathaus - Politik und Verwaltung
▶ Miniature city model of Emden: section with city hall
▶ Stadtrundgang mit dem Finger
▶ Kunsthalle Emden
▶ Seehafenstadt Emden: Kunsthalle Emden
▶ Gerhart Schreiter's Myrra
▶ A historic steam locomotive: Denkmallok 043 903-4