Bensberg Town Hall (Rathaus Bensberg)

Bensberg's old castle (Altes Schloss) goes back to the 12th century. By the mid-13th century at the latest it belonged to the counts of Berg and served as the administrative seat and revenue office of a district (Amt) of the Berg territory. It is an irregular fortress whose curtain wall survives in large part and whose moat lives on in the street that bears its name; the keep, at the north-west corner, is among the oldest buildings of the ruin.

In 1964 Gottfried Böhm set about converting the old castle into Bensberg's new town hall, keeping what remained of the fortress; the town of Bensberg was the client. The administrative wing was built from 1965 to 1967, followed by the council-chamber wing from 1969 to 1971. The building is entered on the city's list of monuments.

The town hall stands at the top of a terrace step that slopes gently to the south, about 120 metres above the Rhine plain. Böhm built the surviving wall remains and towers into the new building, forming an ensemble in which old and new become one. The building takes up the plan of the fortress and encloses its medieval walls; the former castle courtyard becomes the town hall square.

The new work is in exposed concrete. An office wing leans against the old fortress; with set-back upper floors and a cascade of terraces, Böhm reduced its apparent bulk. Horizontal bands of windows over 1.70 m parapets, dark-tinted, give the façade its rhythm and a castle-like character. On the courtyard side the ground floor, glazed to its full height, gives views into the council chamber, which opens onto the courtyard through a glass wall and leans against the back wall of the castle.

The courtyard is dominated by the polygonal, sculptural stair tower attached to the office wing, a modern answer to the old towers. Small-sized paving leads without a step into the entrance, from which the stair rises in a spiral to the upper floors; outside, the concrete parapet bands wind like a screw thread up to the top of the tower, and the windows follow the rise of the steps. Its functionless spire has become the emblem of the town hall. Together with the towers of the New Castle and of St Nicholas' church, Böhm's building marks the skyline of Bensberg.

Since the municipal reorganisation of 1975 it has been the town hall of Bergisch Gladbach. City departments are based here, such as the building authority. The dark window bands make the courtyard an intimate space that can host open-air events.

The way in is through the former castle courtyard. The city of Bergisch Gladbach offers town hall tours for groups, a guided route on Gottfried Böhm's architecture that includes this building, and a walking audio guide through Bensberg that starts from the town hall.