The nickname of Berlin's city hall, "the red town hall" refers to the colour of the brick from which it is built rather than the city's politics! This neo-Romanesque building constructed between 1861 and 1869 by Hermann Friedrich Waesemann is now the seat of the city council (which has met here since 1870) and the Berlin Senate. Above the ground floor, note the frieze made up of 36 terracotta panels which depicts the history of Berlin, from its origins to the foundation of the Empire by Bismarck.