Aldermen’s house

The place where the town hall was located was part of the core city from 1200 onwards. In the thirteenth century, the Broodhuis or Bread Hall served as the first aldermen’s house from the fourteenth century onwards. The building soon proved too small and after 1406, it was demolished to make way for the Aldermen’s House. This town hall is almost exclusively known to us thanks to a sixteenth-century painting by the artist Gillis Mostaert, called “A passion play in Grote Markt”. The painting depicts a Gothic building with corner turrets and an accolade arch. By 1550, the Aldermen’s house was so derelict that the city decided to commission the new (present-day) town hall.