Town Hall

Asten did not get its first town hall until 1801. Before that time, the council met in the church choir. The town hall is a multi-purpose building housing a council chamber, a detention room, a butter weighhouse and a fire engine. Above the entrance to the building stands a statue of the Virgin of Liberty, symbolising the district court housed within the same building. This was later replaced by the municipal coat of arms. Adjacent to the town hall stands Hotel De Arend. Legend has it that municipal secretary Raaijmakers would sometimes hang a ‘do not disturb’ sign on his office door and then climb out through the open window, landing directly on the veranda of the neighbouring hotel. This allowed him to enjoy a drink unnoticed with Antje Verdijsseldonck van Hoek, the owner of De Arend.

The old town hall became too small, and as early as 1910 there was an attempt to build a new one. In the late 1930s, A.J. Kropholler and C. Roffelsen designed a new town hall. The town hall dating from 1801 was demolished, along with Hotel De Arend, to make way for it. The first meeting in the new building took place at the end of 1941.

After the war, the administrative staff grew rapidly and the building once again became too small. In 1987, a wing was added at the rear. This gave Asten its current town hall, with its main entrance on Koningsplein. The old entrance on the Markt is now used only for wedding parties and their guests. The old part of the town hall is a listed building.