Dinghuis (Ding House), Maastricht

Erected circa 1470, Het Dinghuis or the Ding House was the highest building in Maastricht at the time of its construction. Presiding over the administrative heart of the city, at the intersection of the Kleine Staat, the Grote Staat, the Muntstraat and the Jodenstraat, its soaring roof with the late Baroque ridge turret is still a distinguished part of Maastricht's skyline, especially if looked at from the Wyck neighborhood on the eastern bank of the Maas river.

The half-timbered Gothic façade on the north side was filled in with bricks only in 1699, while the main façade was built of Namur stone (Belgian marble) and marl right away, topped with a neoclassical pediment spanning the full width of the property, and containing a grand clock with a bell. This clock, albeit only with one hand, is still operational. At the top of the steeply sloped roof is a tower that was once used as a lookout.

The name «Dinghuis» (ding being the Dutch word for judicial assembly) is derived from the legal function – a courthouse – that this building had served originally and for a long time. Over the years, Het Dinghuis had also housed a prison (in its basement), and in 1713, for a while, functioned as a theater.

In 1860, the Dinghuis narrowly escaped demolition when the city council adopted plan to build a new street to link the Grote Staat to the Sint Servaasbrug. In the end, this plan was abandoned and the Maastrichter Brugstraat was widened instead.

After a 1974 restoration, the Maastricht Tourist Office took over the building and has remained here ever since.