Meldahl City Hall

Meldahls Rådhus is a former town hall in Fredericia and is named after the architect Ferdinand Meldahl. It was inaugurated in 1860 (of course July 6th!). The architect has also designed the Marble Church in Copenhagen and the Courthouses in Aalborg and Randers.

Fortunately, the new beautiful town hall survived the Prussian bombings of the 1864 war, just a few years after its inauguration. Today, the town hall stands out as a historical gem and a fine example of Danish building heritage. The building dates from a period in Denmark, where inspiration was taken from the rest of Europe. The impressive building represents at the same time the northern Italian medieval and Byzantine style, and it is considered one of Meldahl's main works. When the town hall also functioned as a jail, it meant that the mayor's office was just approx. 4-6 meters from the 10 prison cells!

In the square in front of the town hall, cast iron fields have been laid down with the laws and privileges that Frederik the 3rd offered people, if they in turn would settle in his new, but empty fortress town. The king lured, among other things, with religious freedom, tax freedom, impunity for criminals, free building land, customs freedom and several other things.

Meldahl's Town Hall was the town's fourth town hall. The first town hall was on the corner of Kongensgade and Oldenborggade, the second was in Prinsessegade opposite the current theater. The third town hall was diagonally opposite Meldahl's Town Hall. The fifth town hall is the current one - built in 1965.
Fredericia's city coat of arms with the electoral language “Pro pace armatus” (“The weapon of peace”), quite accurately expresses Fredericia's historical significance as a defense facility.

Updated by: Destination Triangle - VisitFredericia | turisme@fredericia.dk