Paderborn, 1 hôtel

A church has stood on the site of the current cathedral since 799. However each of these earlier buildings was destroyed. The outline of the existing cathedral can be traced back to the 13th century. Their are clear echoes of a French influence in design elements including the west tower, the church hall and the east choir. Over the centuries, the the cathedral witnessed both the 30 Years’ War and World War Two. Following both events, it needed to be rebuilt. Today, the cathedral is among the city’s most important landmarks and a popular tourist attraction. Guided tours take place every Wednesday and Saturday.

Located beside the cathedral, the Rathaus is another of the city’s most important landmarks. In building the Rathaus after the Weser Rennaissance style, master builder Hermann Baumhauer echoed its earlier iterations. The original Rathaus was completely destroyed in 1945. The restoration began the following year and took until 1954 to complete. The sculptor Josefthomas Brinkschröder made an instrumental contribution to the final design. Today, the registry office is located in this building and the city council uses some of the rooms for meetings and representative functions.