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The Römer (German surname, "Roman") is a medieval building in the Altstadt of Frankfurt am Main, Germany, and one of the city's most important landmarks. The Römer is located opposite the Old St. Nicholas church and has been the city hall (''Rathaus'') of Frankfurt for over 600 years. The Römer merchant family sold it together with a second building, the ''Goldener Schwan'' (Golden Swan), to the city council on March 11, 1405 and it was converted for use as the city hall. The ''Haus Römer'' is actually the middle building of a set of three located in the ''Römerberg'' (a plaza). The ''Römer'' is not a museum as it is occasionally used by the city for various purposes, for example as a ''Standesamt'' or civil registration office; the wedding rooms are located in the first and second floor of the ''Haus Löwenstein''. The former old town quarter between the Römer and St. Bartholomew's Cathedral will be redeveloped as the Dom-Römer Quarter until 2016, including several reconstructions of historical buildings that were destroyed during World War II. ==Extensions== The building complex has been continuously extended over the years, with eventually eleven houses connected to each other, resulting in a rather confusing interior. At the beginning of the 19th century, Frankfurt historian Anton Kirschner remarked that the Frankfurt city hall had "stairs, yards, halls and rooms in a labyrinthian mixture". In 1435, the city bought the ''Frauenrode'' house, in 1510 the ''Viole'' house and in 1542 the ''Schwarzenfels'' house, which were all architecturally connected to the main complex. Then, in 1596 the city council bought the ''Wanebach'' house, which stood next to the ''Goldener Schwan'', as well as the building to the left of the ''Haus Römer'', the ''Haus Löwenstein'', and had both of them connected to the ''Römer''. These construction projects were very complicated, since the floor heights of ''Löwenstein'' and ''Römer'' were radically different. In 1843, the ''Frauenstein'' house and the ''Salzhaus'' were added. Finally, in 1878 the city bought the ''Alt-Limpurg'' house to the right of the ''Haus Römer'' for 214,000 marks. The current neogothic front with a balcony was built from 1896 to 1900. It was initially planned to be much more imposing, but mayor Franz Adickes decided against Kaiser Wilhelm's suggestion and had the front designed in a more welcoming manner. At the same time, the houses ''Frauenrode'' and ''Viole'' were demolished to make way for streets through the city centre. They were replaced by a newly erected building to the east. This new building is divided into two wings by the ''Braubachstrasse''. These two wings (the north wing and south wing) are connected by a bridge. The Frankfurt citizens, who paid their taxes in the north wing, named the covered bridge the ''Seufzerbrücke'' (the "Bridge of Sighs") in reference to the other Bridge of Sighs in Venice. The two towers in the south wing attracted nicknames as well: the larger one was called ''Langer Franz'' (Tall Franz) in homage to the city's tall mayor and the smaller one the ''Kleiner Cohen'' (Small Cohen) after a popular song of the time. On the night of March 22, 1944, the ''Römer'', along with the rest of the centre of Frankfurt, was largely destroyed in one of the heaviest Allied bombing attacks of the Second World War. When the building was rebuilt after the war, the ''Alt-Limpurg'', the ''Römer'', and the ''Löwenstein'' houses, whose roof structure had in part withstood the attack, were restored in a simplified form. The completely destroyed houses ''Frauenstein'' and ''Salzhaus'' were rebuilt in a simplified style. The ''Löwenstein'' house has an open stairwell. The ''Römer'' was re-inaugurated in 1955 by president Theodor Heuss. In the following decades the façade was restored two additional times, in the years 1974 and 2005, and the houses on the ''Römerberg'' regained the neogothic look of 1900. The interior has also been redesigned. In 1988 the renovated city council meeting hall was completed. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Römer」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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