Paintings and sculptures which adorned the official rooms in the old Nuremberg City Halls for decades, sometimes even centuries, are today grouped under the heading "City Hall Gallery". The basic stock of the City's Art Collection comprises "test pieces" which had to be submitted by any artist who wanted to be granted the permission to work in Nuremberg, paintings gifted to the Free Imperial City by visitors, paintings the City of the Empire purchased to furnish its official rooms, and copies of highly esteemed masterpieces commissioned by the City for its offices, as well as numerous donations and legacies by Nuremberg Patricians to their home town.
This includes works by Hans Baldung Grien, Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, Albrecht Dürer, Roelant Savery, Christian Wilhelm Ernst Dietrich and the valuable glass paintings from the historic City Halls. But mention must also be made of the famous Nuremberg Council Silverware with works by Peter Flötner, and the sculptures adorning the city hall with works by Peter Vischer the Elder and Christoph Jamnitzer and the famous group of sculptures of the Judgement Scene by Hans Schwarz.
This collection has been added to until the present day. Each Lord Mayor is portrayed by a renowned artist for the City Hall Gallery (recently Lord Mayor Dr. Peter Schönlein by Manfred Hürlimann, and Lord Mayor Ludwig Scholz by Michael Cleff III).