noun
town hall, city hall
A2
Rathaus (n., das) means 'town hall' or 'city hall' — the municipal administrative building. Plural: Rathäuser (note the Umlaut ä and -er ending). Genitive: des Rathauses. Regular neuter noun otherwise; use article: das Rathaus, die Rathäuser. Often used with prepositions for location: im Rathaus, zum Rathaus.
Examples
Ich muss morgen zum Rathaus, um ein Formular abzugeben.
I have to go to the city hall tomorrow to hand in a form.
Das Rathaus ist im Zentrum der Stadt.
The town hall is in the city center.
Die Bürger demonstrierten vor dem Rathaus, weil die Entscheidung über den Bau plötzlich getroffen wurde.
The citizens demonstrated in front of the town hall because the decision about the construction was suddenly made.
Details
Mnemonics
Picture a large house with a sign 'RATHAUS' and a small mayor waving from the balcony — a civic building in the town center.
Rathaus sounds like 'rat house' — imagine a building (house) for the council (rats as a quirky council).
Ends with -haus (like Haus), which is neuter: 'das Haus' → so 'das Rathaus'.
Notes
Rathaus refers to the municipal building where local government offices and the mayor's office are located. Plural is irregular (Rathäuser). The word is a compound of 'Rat' (council) + 'Haus' (house).