Tours · Düsseldorf · square
Marktplatz & Rathaus
The dignified heart of the Altstadt, where a bronze horseman guards a Renaissance town hall that has stood for nearly 450 years.
About this place
After the beery bustle of the surrounding old-town lanes, the Marktplatz opens as a calm, ceremonial square framed by centuries of history. At its center rears the equestrian statue of Jan Wellem, the art-loving Elector Palatine whom the people of Düsseldorf adored, cast in bronze in 1711 by Gabriel de Grupello and often called one of the finest such monuments north of the Alps. Behind him stands the Altes Rathaus, the red-brick Renaissance Old Town Hall completed in 1573, with its curved gables and octagonal stair tower. Both survived the bombing of the Second World War almost untouched, and together they form the historic and civic core of the city, still hosting council meetings and, each December, the glow of the Christmas market.
Key facts
- 1573 year — The Renaissance Altes Rathaus was completed on the north side of the market square by architect Heinrich Tussmann
- 1711 year — Gabriel de Grupello unveiled the bronze Jan Wellem equestrian statue at the square's center
- 8 sides — The town hall's octagonal stair tower rises in stacked levels beside its curved gables
📍 Marktplatz 12, 40213, Düsseldorf