The oldest house on the square is the city hall from 1435. The once two-story building was extended by one floor in 1508. The astronomical clock built in 1511 by Johannes Stöffler, the first professor of mathematics and astronomy in Tübingen, dates from this extension phase. The original 1511 clock face with the signs of the zodiac is now in the city museum. In 1849, the clock was moved to the ornamental gable crowned with a wooden tower, where, in addition to the hour clock, the astronomical dial with three hands (sun, moon and dragon) reliably shows the date, the phases of the moon and certain celestial events such as solar and lunar eclipses to this day.
At the southeast corner of the city hall, the figure of a Bacchante, a follower of the wine god Bacchus, refers to the importance of Tübingen's viticulture in earlier times - drunkenly throwing her clothes behind her. The facade, redesigned in 1877 on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of the university with sgraffito painting in the neo-Renaissance style, shows the great names of the city.
In the Middle Ages, the first floor housed the municipal salt warehouse, a
and an open arcade hall where bakers and butchers sold their goods.
sold their goods. The former wooden pillars were replaced in the 1970's
replaced by less successful concrete pillars. In the Great Hall of the first
floor, which served as a sales room for the tanners, still preserves the
wooden decorations of the 15th century can be admired. The court and the City met on the second floor. The "Öhrn" there, once a reception room, shows "Gerechtigkeitsbilder" from 1596. Since 1514, the
court of Württemberg, the highest judicial authority in the state,
had its seat on the third floor.
