In Anno 1800, maximizing efficiency in your city’s production and economy is crucial for long-term success. Among the most important buildings that influence your industrial and social infrastructure are the Trade Union, Harbormaster’s Office, and Town Hall. These structures allow you to apply powerful bonuses through items and characters, optimizing everything from factory output to the well-being of your citizens. In this guide, we will explore how these buildings function, where to place them for the best results, and what items and characters to look out for.

The Trade Union: A Game-Changer for Production

The Trade Union becomes available once you upgrade your Farmers into Workers. While it is expensive to build and maintain, its ability to boost production makes it an invaluable asset if used correctly.

Understanding Its Function and Influence

Once constructed, the Trade Union provides three free slots, where you can place items or characters obtained from traders, pirate loot, or other sources. These items grant significant bonuses to nearby production buildings, but they only take effect if at least 50% of the building’s structure falls within the Trade Union’s circular influence range.

A strategic layout is essential. You should cluster production buildings that benefit from the same set of items and characters around a single Trade Union. For instance, if you have an item that boosts pig farms, it would be beneficial to also have a character that enhances slaughterhouses or soap production within the same influence area. This ensures that every building in the production chain is optimized under the same Trade Union.

Placement Strategy

• Keep your most essential production buildings, such as farms or factories, inside the Trade Union’s range.
• Farms should be placed at the edge of the influence zone, allowing fields to spread beyond the radius while still benefiting from bonuses.
• If multiple production chains are linked (e.g., pigs → slaughterhouse → soap factory), keep them clustered under one Trade Union to maximize synergy.

If you want more details on advanced placement strategies, you can check out our guide dedicated to optimal production building layouts.

The Harbormaster’s Office: Maritime Efficiency

The Harbormaster’s Office functions similarly to the Trade Union, except it influences coastal buildings. Its primary role is to boost harbor defenses, coastal production rates, and trading efficiency.

How It Works

Like the Trade Union, the Harbormaster’s Office has a circular range, but since it is placed on the shoreline, its influence is limited by the narrow land-to-sea transition. This makes proper placement essential.

Items and characters placed in the Harbormaster’s Office can:

• Improve coastal industries, such as fisheries, pearl farms, and oil refineries.
• Enhance harbor defenses, making cannons more effective against enemy ships.
• Alter trade rates, increasing the value of goods exchanged at the trading post.

Placement Considerations

• Since shorelines are usually linear, you may need to shift your coastal production and harbor defenses to fit within the effective range.
• Prioritize essential industries—if an item benefits oil refineries, ensure they are inside the influence zone before worrying about lesser-used coastal buildings.
• Adapt your placement as you obtain better items; shifting your harbor layout is a common strategy in advanced play.

A great way to get new items for the Harbormaster’s Office is by defeating pirates. Destroying pirate ships often yields rare loot, which can provide powerful bonuses to your coastal operations.

The Town Hall: Citizen Influence

Unlike the Trade Union and Harbormaster’s Office, which affect production and trade, the Town Hall is focused on influencing citizens and service buildings. It becomes available when you reach Artisans and is a key structure for improving city life.

What It Influences

The Town Hall boosts service buildings such as:

• Pubs
• Churches
• Schools
• Hospitals

It can also be used to modify the population’s needs and taxes, making it a powerful tool for economic and social management.

Best Placement Practices

• Dense residential zones: Place the Town Hall where it can reach the maximum number of houses.
• Service hubs: If using it to boost service buildings, make sure it affects multiple essential services at once.
• Marketplace replacement: Since Artisans do not require a Marketplace, you can replace a Marketplace with a Town Hall to free up space while improving citizen satisfaction.

If you struggle to reach the Artisan level, there are step-by-step guides available that explain how to efficiently progress from Farmers to Artisans while managing NPC traders and pirates.

When to Invest in These Buildings

While all three of these structures offer major benefits, they are costly. Therefore, you should only construct them when you:

• Have the right items or characters to make the investment worthwhile.
• Can afford the maintenance costs without hurting your economy.
• Have planned an optimal layout, ensuring the area of effect covers key buildings.

If you acquire useful items but don’t yet have a place for them, simply store them in the trade post until you find the right moment to use them.

Pro Tip: Use Free Building Movement

When starting a new game, enable the free building movement setting. This allows you to adjust your layout at no cost, which is crucial as min-maxing in Anno 1800 requires constant adjustments to production chains and influence zones.

Final Thoughts

Understanding and properly utilizing the Trade Union, Harbormaster’s Office, and Town Hall is essential for mastering Anno 1800. Strategic placement and the right item combinations will ensure maximum efficiency, allowing you to thrive in both production and city management.

If you found this guide helpful, check out our other Anno 1800 articles, where we break down optimal building layouts, trade strategies, and advanced naval tactics. Happy gaming!