Old Technical Town Hall

The Old Technical Town Hall stands in Munich’s historic centre, south of the Sendlinger Tor near the Altstadtring. It is a twelve-storey brick building with a plain base, eight main floors and four upper storeys including an attic. The city council chose the design in 1921 after a competition won by Hermann Leitenstorfer. Its height of forty-five metres was kept below the Frauenkirche towers so the skyline would not be dominated. The building once housed all of Munich’s technical departments after the First World War. By 1929 it was finished and ready for use, creating a new kind of municipal workplace. Later the departments moved to a larger site in Berg am Laim, leaving the old tower as a city landmark. The paternoster lift inside became famous and was saved from closure after public protests in 2015. Visitors find a simple brick façade with ribbon windows and flat buttresses. The attic shows strong console stones that echo the Frauenkirche style. Inside, the paternoster lift still runs between floors. The building’s three-part structure—base, main floors and attic—can be seen clearly from outside.