Town Hall, Halberstadt, Antique Steel Engraving after Carl Werner, circa 1877

An upright steel engraving of the Town Hall of Halberstadt with its Roland statue, after Carl Werner, in the original Cassell, Petter and Galpin issue.

The armored figure of Roland, sword in hand and shield on his breast, stands against the corner of the Gothic town hall at left. Behind him an oriel window juts from the wall above an arched passage, and a street of tall half timbered houses with carved fronts runs away into the town. Soldiers, townswomen and a covered wagon animate the cobbled square.

The plate is lettered "Carl Werner, Pinxt" and "F. Joubert, Sculpt", with the title "Town Hall, Halberstadt" in script and the imprint of Cassell, Petter and Galpin. The same plate appears in a later issue with the imprint of Cassell and Company, Limited; this is the earlier imprint, used by the firm for Picturesque Europe in the later 1870s, and it is dated circa 1877.

Roland statues were set up in German towns as symbols of civic freedom, and Halberstadt's dates from 1433. The town hall was destroyed in 1945, so views like this one preserve its appearance. Carl Werner was a German watercolorist known for architecture, and Ferdinand Joubert a French born engraver working in London.

Its tall format suits a narrow wall or a pair with another upright view. The engraved image measures about 22.5 by 16.2 cm (height by width), and the margins around it carry all the original lettering, which is worth keeping visible in the mat.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.