The old town hall of Podgórze is a sign of the past, a memorial of municipal authorities of a town which does not exist today.

History

The tenement house was build in the place of an older, residential building in the early 19th century for the needs of the magistrate of Podgórze. The so-called Old Town Hall was transferred from the neighbouring building Under Black Eagle (Pod Czarnym Orłem (13 Rynek Podgórski), where it was located from 1784. After the construction of the new (1844-1815), more spectacular building of the new town hall (1 Rynek Podgórski), the magistrate abandoned the old seat. The so-called Old Town Hall was transformed, in approx. 1851, as a result of conversion, into a manor house-inn “Under White Eagle”. During the Nazi occupation, the house was located on the Ghetto side. Since 1947, the building has been housing the Stained Glass and Glazing Works of Paczka Brothers. Apart from stained glass windows, the workshop also made glazing, and operated a glass polishing plant and a mirror manufacture. In this difficult period of Stalinist 1950s, the brothers were forced to divide the workshop and create two cooperating companies. With time, the old masters were replaced by new ones. In 1973 Andrzej Cwilewicz, son-in-law of Mieczysław, and in 1983 Krzysztof Paczka, son of Karol, started to work in the company. Both workshops have their seat at 13 Rynek Podgórski, and they have been operating since 1992 under the name of Stained Glass Workshop Krzysztof Paczka, Andrzej Cwilewicz. During more than 80 years of operation, the works made many stained glass windows to sacred and secular buildings in Poland and abroad. The company cooperated with numerous renown artists such as: Adam Bunsch, Józef Mehoffer, Wacław Taranczewski, Danuta, and Witold Urbanowiczowie or Wiktor Zin.

The building is made of brick and was provided with 6. late classicist features in around 1851 as a result of conversion of the first town hall of Podgórze, built in the early 19th century to replace an earlier building in this location. The manor house-inn “Under White Eagle”, covered by a stepped roof. was converted in the 19th and the 20th century. It was named after a spectacular stucco coat of arms eagle, placed on the tympanum over the entrance. It needed renovation in 1829, when fire in the inns “Under Deer” (Polish: “Pod Jeleniem”) and “Under Black Eagle” (Polish: “Pod Czarnym Orłem”) destroyed 10 houses “towards the bridge on Vistula”, and the inn “Pod Białym Orłem” (Polish: “Pod Białym Orłem”) survived with a damaged roof and weakened common wall. After 1947, the building was adapted for the needs of stained glass workshops.

Description

Private building, not accessible for visitors. Only premises at the ground floor level can be accessed in the opening hours of the shops; also the customers of the stained glass workshop can access the building.

compiled by Roman Marcinek, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Krakow, 20-03-2015.

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