Additions by Salvisberg later removed.

Berne suffered a large fire in 1405; the oldest part of the Rathaus dates from immediately after the fire (ground-floor lobby with sculptures, ca. 1406). The building was built 1406-1415 in late Gothic style under Henry of Gengenbach and Hans Hetzel, a carpenter from Rottweil. From 1865 to 1868, there was a Neo-Gothic reconstruction under Frederick Salvisberg. A further alteration in 1940-1942 by Robert Grimm stripped away some of the Neo-Gothic ornamentation.