The Güssing town hall is 65 years old, now the building on the main square has been completely renovated for the first time. The conversion lasted more than three years and ended with a celebration for the official opening.
“No Permanent Damage”
The work cost 3.1 million euros, including 730,000 euros in state and federal funding, Mayor Vinzenz Knor announced to the assembled crowd. All of the construction companies worked while officials continued to operate, but he suffered “no permanent damage,” according to official Gustav Glatter. The construction workers also had to take a break when a wedding was taking place in the house, as registry office manager Gilbert Lang noted.
On the site of the synagogue
Until 1939 the Jewish synagogue stood on the square of the town hall. A historical exhibition, which can be visited in the foyer until the end of August, commemorates them and the construction of the building in the 1950s. Two thirds of the masonry of the former cinema and now the town hall are still the walls of the synagogue.
On behalf of the state government, LH-Stv. Astrid Eisenkopf on the successful work. The ceremony was framed by the entire musical Güssing with the town band, the folk dance group Glasing, the town choir, the folk choir and the choir “Cantus Felix”.
Management in numbers
Around 1,500 weddings and 686 municipal council meetings have taken place in the town hall since 1957. Only two magistrates held office here at that time, and the number of mayors from 1945 to the present day is remarkably low at five.
Extensive remodeling
During the renovation, the room layout in the four-storey building remained unchanged, but a lift was installed and the information for citizens was redesigned. Windows, doors, floors, office equipment, electrical, sanitary and heating installations are completely new. Three institutions are also rented in the town hall: the tourism association, the registry office association and the Burgenland community.
The hallmark of the house is the new town hall, which was created in the former cinema. Future lectures, children’s theatre, seminars, readings and smaller concerts are to take place here.