Old City Hall and St Sebastian Parish Church

The Old City Hall and St Sebastian Parish Church are the oldest buildings still standing in Mannheim. They were built in the early 18th century under Prince-Elector Johann Wilhelm. An almost 60-metre-tall tower connects the city hall and the church. This model of two buildings with a tower in between was employed on several occasions in Mannheim. The City Hall stands to the left of the tower. The first council meeting took place there in 1705. Some 200 years later, the city council moved to a bigger building. The right part of the building was earmarked by the Prince-Elector for the Catholic parish, though this was not unproblematic as the city would have rather built a weighing-house there instead. Yet Johann Wilhelm got his way, and St Sebastian’s became the first Catholic church in Protestant Mannheim. Inside you can still see some of the furnishings from the 18th century. Particularly noteworthy is the left side altar, which is consecrated to St Theodore. Peter Anton von Verschaffelt, court sculptor to the Elector Palatine, created an impressive Madonna figure for it. The gravestones under the gallery also go back to this period...