Justice was dispensed in the town hall arbour. Long-distance traders bought their goods here.
In the following six centuries, the town hall changed its appearance. In the 18th century, a clock tower was added, which characterised the building until the Second World War. Then the bombs fell and the town hall was destroyed apart from the Gothic arbour and vaulted cellar.
Between 1951 and 1957, the building was rebuilt in a simplified form with the stepped gable facing the Scharn according to plans by Werner March. Today, the historic town hall mainly houses representative rooms such as the Small and Large Town Hall.
The actual administration is located in the attached new town hall, which was built at the end of the 1970s according to designs by Münster architect Harald Deilmann.