Cologne's City Hall is Germany's oldest known city hall, with a predecessor building on this site recorded as far back as the 12th century. The tower that defines it today was completed in 1414, after seven years of construction. It has become a symbol of one of the medieval period's great civic power struggles.

For centuries, the Archbishop of Cologne ruled the city as both its spiritual and secular lord. The turning point came in 1288 at the Battle of Worringen, when the citizens sided against the archbishop and won. He was expelled, and the City Hall became the seat of an independent civic government that lasted until 1796.
Buried directly beneath the building is the Roman Praetorium, the palace of the Roman governor of Lower Germania.

VoiceMap's self-guided audio tours use the City Hall to connect these two eras, tracing Cologne's journey from Roman provincial capital to self-governing medieval republic.