Perhaps you have overlooked this building’s complex past. The Stadthaus Offenbach stands here. It is more than just a building. Its history twists and turns through centuries of Offenbach’s story.
Let’s journey back to the mid-18th century. The city was expanding westward along Frankfurter Straße. In 1759, Prince Wolfgang Ernst II chose to live in a comfortable “Stadthaus” on Frankfurter Straße. This was opposite Aliceplatz.
From his windows, the Prince looked upon the “Frankfurter Tor”. This gate marked the city’s western edge. It wasn’t until 1768 that they tore it down. North of the house was a courtyard and garden. Yet, it couldn’t become a Stadthof until 1858. The city bought the princely property to house the mayor’s office there. The princely family no longer needed it. They had been disempowered in 1816. Offenbach became part of the Grand Duchy of Hesse.
Until 1921, the mayor’s office operated at Frankfurter Straße 31. The city paid 35,000 guilders for it. It was then officially named “Stadthaus”. Above the entrance, the Offenbach coat of arms featured an oak tree. Inside, the municipal savings bank was on the left. The city treasury was on the right. The mayor’s office was on the first floor. The poor relief office was at the very top. The police station, registration office, and commercial court were in two side buildings.
On the north side of the princely garden, they built the fire station. It had a hose tower. The fire department stayed there until 1962. They then moved to a new station on Rhönstraße. This was said to be in the city’s exact center. The air raid shelter outlasted the move for years. It was built next to the fire station during the war. Rescue operations were managed from there during air raids.
The Oberrealschule was built on the west side of the Stadthof in 1873. City councilors could meet in its auditorium. In 1884, it became a gymnasium. Later, it evolved into the Leibnizschule and the Rudolf-Koch-School. In 1957, the Chamber of Industry and Commerce built a representative building on the school’s former location. The building still stands. Its address is now Platz der deutschen Einheit. The former school was called “Oberrealschule am Stadthof”.
During World War II, air raids left many Offenbach residents homeless. The city administration was among those “bombed out”. Both the old Stadthaus and the Büsing Palais were destroyed by bombs. The administration sought refuge in the Oberrealschule. However, it too was destroyed after three months.
The surviving administration moved into the fire station. Strangely, it had survived the war. They remained there until 1950. Then, they used the former hospital at Kaiserstraße 18 as their office. The Stadthof became a spacious and popular parking lot. People parked for free in the shade of old trees.
In 1971, the city administration returned to where it had begun. Scattered offices came together in a new town hall. When they inaugurated it on July 10, 1971, Hessian Prime Minister Albert Osswald congratulated them. 15,000 Offenbach residents celebrated a public festival on the newly designed Stadthof.
Today, the Stadthaus Offenbach stands as a testament to the city’s resilience. It also symbolizes its continuous evolution. It shows us that even the most ordinary-looking places often hold extraordinary stories.