According to wikipedia:
"The former city hall of Waalwijk was built in the period 1929-1932 to a historicizing design by Alexander Jacobus Kropholler. The buildings around the Raadhuisplein in Waalwijk were almost entirely designed by Kropholler in the period 1931-1936 and consist of several other buildings in addition to the town hall. Until 2010, the building functioned as the town hall of the municipality of Waalwijk. The building has a stepped gable at the front and rear. In 1986 the town hall complex was expanded in a style that matches the existing part. In 2010, municipal administrators and civil servants moved into a new town hall on Winterdijk, after which the characteristic Kropholler town hall was given a new social function in the following years as the 'Huis van Waalwijk'.
Exterior
The building consists of large, hand-formed warm red facing bricks in light gray joints. The dimensions of the building are 24 meters long, 18 meters wide and 35 meters high and it is covered with Norwegian slates. The stepped gable is impressive, partly because of the Waalwijk coat of arms (3.5 m by 3.5 m), and the loggia surmounted by a clock on a tile panel. A sandstone cow and an ox are at the top of the granite steps from the landing to the main entrance and are the work of sculptor Lambertus Zijl. These images express the relationship with the leather and shoe industry, which gave Waalwijk great prosperity in the 19th and the first half of the 20th century.
Two lions with the coats of arms of the Netherlands and the province of North Brabant, a gable needle and three heavy, red lead-colored anchors complete the picture. The windows are covered with neu-antique glass, which can only be seen from the inside. All doors are made of Java teak and finished with hand-forged handles, door handles and foot plates. Furthermore, iron bars and railings, bronze door fittings, masonry, chamfered negatives Kropholler show exceptional craftsmanship.
Interior
The harmonious architectural style of Kropholler can also be found inside the town hall. The walls of the hall, the stairwell and connecting rooms and corridors are made of different, colorful stone types, combined with matching glazed panelling. Sandstone columns, masonry arches with extensions and the toured vault make the interior lively and graceful. The whole is also rich in exclusive types of wood processed in the ceiling, doors and furniture.
Artistic details are everywhere and a large number of artifacts by visual artists are on display, such as:
Lambertus Zijl: made a name for himself by providing the Beurs van Berlage (Amsterdam) with images from the outside. He made a sandstone relief of Queen Wilhelmina for the Waalwijk town hall; the sandstone cow and ox at the top of the stairs, and all the bird and animal figures.
Cephas Stauthamer: made the mosaic with the name 'Commerce', referring to the Chamber of Commerce that was housed at the start.
Felix Timmermans: he designed the tile tableau 'St. Crispinus and St. Crispinianus', patron saints of shoemakers and tanners;
Julie Kropholler: sister of the architect: her stained glass windows in the exterior facades, decorated with the 12 zodiac signs and images of the planets Venus and Mars, provide a wonderful incidence of light.
Veerle Dupont: Flemish artist, made the tapestry in the wedding hall.
Eduard Speyart van Woerden: bronze plaque in wooden frame of Queen Beatrix.
Theo van Delft: Waalwijk visual artist, his work is the bronze cast bust of Queen Juliana; the sandstone statue of Duke John II of Brabant; a sandstone relief of the old town hall (destroyed by fire in 1824); the mural in the wedding hall after Biblical motifs. He painted Adam and Eve in paradise, but also provided Waalwijk landmarks, such as the old church tower of Baardwijk. Because the wall had to remain recognizable, he did not use perspective. Inspiring Bible texts endorse the whole. The painted portrait of former mayor E.J.C. mooning.
Throughout the building, philosophical and religious proverbs complete the beautiful ambiance. In the council chamber, the arms of Waalwijk and the former municipalities of Baardwijk and Besoyen refer to their separate status before the amalgamation in 1924."
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