The Leiden town hall stood on Breestraat as early as the Middle Ages. In 1595/96 it was given a new facade in Renaissance style. The city government wanted to show the city’s new prosperity. In 1574 Leiden had been besieged by the Spanish. Many citizens died of hunger and plague. Nonetheless Leiden withstood the siege. The city was relieved on 3 October 1574. Several parts of the town hall facade commemorate this Siege and Relief of Leiden.

It is commemorated, for example, in a poem on the black stone to the left of the steps. The number of capital letters equals the number of days of the siege. The gold letters form the year 1574 in Roman numerals. The half moons on the cornice allude to the ‘Sea Beggars’ slogan ‘Better Turkish than Catholic’. They had played an important part in the relief of the city. To the left of the poem there is the town crier’s platform, from which announcements were made.

The town hall was largely lost during a devastating fire in 1929. The façade was rebuilt, but the building behind was completely new.