Today's Saalfeld Town Hall was built between 1529 and 1537 under the city government of mayors Jakob Kelz and Heinrich Glaser. As an expression of civic self-confidence and the powers acquired over time, one of the most beautiful town halls in Thuringia was built under the direction of the Saalfeld town council, which was also the first important early Renaissance municipal administrative building in the Saxon lands at the time.

The Annunciation Balcony is located above the town hall portal. It is crowned by the Saalfeld town coat of arms, which bears two fish, so-called barbels - an edible fish that was most commonly found in the Saale. The barbels symbolize the fishing rights that the town received from the Counts of Schwarzburg in 1346. To the left of the entrance is the Saalfeld cubit, an iron bar measuring 56.6 cm in length. The cubit was the common measure of length for the cloth trade. Anyone could publicly check here how accurate the merchants were with their measurements. In the courtyard of the town hall is a round building, popularly known as the "Hutschachtel" - the former Saalfeld prison. It was used from its completion in 1859 until the middle of the 20th century. Today, the round building houses the town archives.