The
Town Hall of Viljandi is one of the four old stone houses in the town. The
building was constructed during 1768-1774 and it originally belonged to the
lawyer and bürgermeister of justice, Johann Nicolaus Otto. In 1783 the building
was rented to house the new magistrate and the district revenue office. The
building has a hipped roof. It belonged, like other stone houses, to late
baroque style. The clock tower was added to the building in 1838 by which time
it was legally in the possession of town. In 1931 extensive rebuilding was
carried out (arch. Joh. Fuks, eng. Erich Otting). Only the walls of the ground
floor remained from the original building. An electric clock bought from the
German company Siemens, was placed in the new clock tower to strike for the
first time at Midsummer night in 1932.
