City Hall

The City Hall in Haarlem is the seat of the town's government. It turned into built within the 14th century replacing the Count's fort. Around 1100 a wooden building turned into built at the place of the modern day Gravenzaal of the City Hall. Traces of this building have been located in 1955. After large fires in 1347 and 1351, William II, Count of Holland donated the remains of the Gravenzaal to the metropolis's municipality. A new building become constructed there.

The significant rectangular building dates from the Middle Ages, however the one of a kind façade of the building become designed with the aid of architect Lieven de Key and built from 1602 to 1604. The manner it in the beginning appeared can be visible in a painting from 1460 with the aid of the Master of Bellaert. Originally the city hall changed into simply the the front of the building, and the rear cloister belonged to the Dominican brotherhood. After the Protestant Reformation this came into the ownership of the city council and it is now a huge complicated with places of work and meeting rooms. Both the Frans Hals Museum and the Haarlem Public Library firstly were placed within the city hall.