Freiburg’s New Town Hall is older than its Old Town Hall. On Rathausplatz (Town Hall Square), the New Town Hall began as two university houses in the early 1500s, later joined by a middle building with three arches and a balcony. The city only moved in during 1901, so the name stuck.

Next door, the Old Town Hall dates from 1557 and now houses the tourist information office. Its façade was once richly painted, but after the Second World War it simply got red paint. The coats of arms survived the rebuilding. They name the powers that ruled here, from the Habsburgs to France, and the people of Baden rarely ruled themselves.

VoiceMap’s Old Town Freiburg tour starts on the square. It explains the swapped names, introduces the monk who invented gunpowder, and tells the legend of the little canal in the cobbles: trip into it, and you will marry someone from Freiburg.