Local governments

Local governments include sub-national administrative bodies, including state, county, city and ethnic community councils. These can at times have monumental buildings for assembly, representation, or administration. Some of these buildings have or have had a function in the legal system; see history of justice.

Destinations

As there are thousands of local governments around the world, this list includes buildings with organized hospitality (guided tours, exhibitions etc), international recognition for their architecture, or some other distinction which makes them a travel destination in their own right.

Europe
  • 🌍 Town Hall (Raekoda), Raekoja plats 1 (Tallinn). Tallinn Town Hall, built at the turn of the 14th and 15th centuries, is the oldest town hall in the Nordic countries and Baltic states. Its heavy stone structure dominates the square. Nowadays it's used as a museum where smaller concerts are held. The weather vane on top of the spire is called Vana Toomas ("Old Thomas") and it has become a symbol of the city. 
  • 🌍 Hôtel de Ville (Town Hall), Place de la Hôtel de Ville (Paris/4th arrondissement, France). The present Hôtel de Ville replaced the 16th century original which was burned down during the Commune in 1871. A pastiche of its predecessor, but on a far larger scale, it was designed by the architects Ballu and Deperthes, chosen after a competition, and was mostly completed by 1882. 
  • 🌍 New City Hall (Neues Rathaus), Trammplatz 2 (Hanover, Germany). See the models of Hanover at four different points in history: 1689, 1939, 1945, and 2000, and then take a sloped elevator to the dome for a beautiful view of the city. 
  • 🌍 Rathaus, Rathausplatz 2 (Augsburg, Germany). The city hall built in 1615–1624 by Elias Holl is a major example of Renaissance architecture in Germany. The Golden Hall (Goldener Saal, carefully reconstructed after WW II destruction) is located in the 2nd story and has a small entrance fee. 
  • 🌍 Oslo City Hall (Rådhuset) (Oslo/Sentrum). A monumental functionalist building in red brick. Opinions are divided about the buildings aesthetics, but it is certainly imposing. The austere facade has a surprising number of fine details. Open to the public, with a spectacular main hall featuring huge murals with typical Nordic social democratic themes. Other rooms are also decorated with a variety of art. There are also some displays of historical artefacts in the side rooms upstairs. This is where the Nobel Peace Prize is presented every year. 
  • 🌍 The Sami parliament (Sámediggi), Ávjovárgeaidnu 50 (Karasjok). The elected representatives of the Sami people in Norway. (updated Jun 2017)
  • 🌍 Stockholm City Hall (Stadshuset), Hantverkargatan 1 (Stockholm/Kungsholmen, Sweden). The city hall, where the Nobel Prize Banquet takes place every year, is an imposing brick building in the city centre. Guided tours are held daily, and allow you to see the impressive halls used for the Nobel festivities, the Blue Hall and the Golden Hall. The tower offers a great view of the Old Town and can be climbed (optionally, a lift can take you half the way). 

Asia
  • 🌍 Tokyo Metropolitan Government Center (都庁 tochō), 2-8-1 Nishi-Shinjuku (Tokyo/Shinjuku, Japan). The two enormous buildings of this giant hive of bureaucracy are an Orwellian architectural masterpiece designed by noted architect Kenzo Tange, and a landmark famous from anime and manga. The main reasons to come here, though, are the twin observatories. At a height of 202 m on the 45th floor, they have some of the best views of Tokyo. 
  • 🌍 Penang City Hall (George Town). A colonial building built by the British in 1903 to relieve pressure off the adjacent Town Hall, it today houses the Penang Island City Council. Part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Malacca and George Town. 
  • 🌍 Yangon City Hall (Yangon). Built by the British in 1936 in a fusion of British colonial and traditional Burmese architectural styles. Today it houses the Yangon City Development Committee, the city's administrative body. 
  • 🌍 Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Head Office (Ho Chi Minh City). The city hall of Ho Chi Minh City, a beautiful colonial building originally built by the French in 1908, and called the Hôtel de Ville in the French language. Not open to the public, but the plaza in front with a statue of Ho Chi Minh is a popular spot for photographs. 
  • 🌍 Municipal Corporation Building, 5, Mahapalika Marg, Dhobi Talao (Mumbai). The V-shaped building built in Victorian Gothic style houses the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM). The building came up in 1893 and ever since it is the headquarters of the civic body. The building is dominated by a 255 ft (78 m) tall tower, which is crowned with a massive dome. The pediment of the building is crowned with a statue of a Winged allegorical figure representing the urbs prima in Indis. (updated Jan 2023)

North America
  • 🌍 Hôtel de Ville (Town Hall), 275, rue Notre-Dame Est (Montreal/Old Montreal). Canada's first purpose-built municipal hall, it is one of the best surviving examples of the French Second Empire architectural style in Canada. 
  • 🌍 Philadelphia City Hall, 1 Penn Square (Philadelphia/Center City East, United States). An architectural masterpiece, built out of stone in the Second Empire style. The building is 548 ft (167 m) tall, topped by a 36 ft (11 m) bronze statue of William Penn. It remained the tallest building in the city from its construction in 1901 until 1987. 
  • 🌍 Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St (Dallas/Downtown), ☏ +1 214-670-3111. Constructed in the early 1970s, the City Hall of Dallas is a unique architectural monument, shaped by its architect I.M. Pei as an inverted pyramid placed in the centre of a large open plot of land. While constructed of uncovered concrete, the building is not obnoxiously brutalist, as the colour of the concrete was carefully chosen to match the earth tones of the surrounding grounds. Unusual when constructed, it now provides a unique retrofuturistic vibe, which lent it to star, e.g. in Robocop as a dystopian corporate headquarters. 
  • 🌍 Milwaukee City Hall, 200 E Wells St (Milwaukee). Possibly city's most important landmark before the completion of the Calatrava addition to the museum. The architecture is heavily German influenced, and is a symbol of Milwaukee's large German immigrant population at the turn of the century. 

See also
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