The City Hall was constructed between 1861 and 1869 in Renaissance style according to plans of the architect Hermann Friedrich Waesemann.
With its 94 meter high tower, the City Hall used to be regarded as symbol for the self-confidence of Berlin's citizenry.
Due to its colour, it still is also called "Rotes Rathaus" (Red City Hall).
Like many other buildings, the City Hall was seriously destroyed during the Second World War. In the reconstruction by Fritz Meinhardt, the original design of the exterior of the City Hall was kept, but the interior was changed to some extent.
During the period when the city was partitioned between East an West Berlin until the reunification in 1990, the City Hall was the seat of the magistrate of East Berlin. Since 1991, the City Hall has been the seat of the governing mayor as well as of the government of Berlin, the "Berliner Senat".
