The Basel Town Hall (German: Rathaus Basel, locally known as Roothuus) is a 500-year-old building dominating the Marktplatz in Basel, Switzerland.
The Town Hall houses the meetings of the Cantonal Parliament as well as the Cantonal Government of the canton of Basel-Stadt.
The Great Council Chamber at one time featured a series of frescoes painted in 1522 by Hans Holbein the Younger, which have been lost.[1] [2] Fragments of the work as well as some of the initial drawings are kept in the Kunstmuseum.[3]
The German term "Rathaus" literally means "council house" while the local Basel German dialect term "Roothus" means both "council house" but also sounds like "red house", a pun with reference to the red sandstone facade of the building.