The house was originally designed as the seat of the alderman (starosta) of the Bytom and Tarnowskie Góry region. The house presents a substantial artistic, historical and research value, making it a historical monument of regional importance. According to various historical sources, it was here that the Polish king John III Sobieski stopped over on his way towards Vienna, as did kings August II and August III. In addition, the house, known today as the Sedlaczek House, retains strong links to a family of Bohemian merchants who maintained their shop and winery at the house as far back as the 18th century. The business continues to operate to this day, having left an indelible imprint on the consciousness of both the local residents and tourists throughout the years.

History

In the 16th century, as the formation of the town of Tarnowskie Góry was nearing completion, the site of the future market square was finally chosen, leading to the rapid growth of the Old Town district in the years 1550-82. The house standing along the market square, known traditionally as the Sedlaczek House, was originally erected in 1526 and was intended to serve as the seat of the alderman (starosta) of the Bytom and Tarnowskie Góry region. According to the available sources, in the years 1743-1818, the townhouse serve as the seat of the successive aldermen of Bytom, as evidenced by the 1786 stucco decorations adorning the main entrance, with a heraldic cartouche incorporating the eagle of the Kingdom of Prussia in its centre. In the 1950s, this symbol was removed and replaced by the coat of arms of the town. The building changed ownership on several occasions, beginning with the donation of land made to countess Cosel by King August II; later on, the owners of the townhouse included the Paczyński, Reiswitz and Donnersmarck families. Among the eminent persons who had at one time visited the house, one should mention King John III Sobieski, King August II, King August III, Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz and Johann Wolfgang Goethe. However, it was Jan Sedlaczek, a Bohemian-born merchant, who made the greatest impression in collective consciousness when he bought the house in 1805 and founded a winery there - one that still exists to this day and which had remained in the hands of the same family - the son and later he grandson of its founder - until 1922. It is after this man that the building was named and continues to be known as the Sedlaczek house to this very day. Among the significant functions performed by the house, one should also mention the municipal museum on the first floor - established in 1958 and still active today. The ground-floor level and the basement still operate as a winery and restaurant, its name being, of course, Sedlaczek. The house underwent renovation works on numerous occasions throughout the years, with the most recent comprehensive restoration taking place in the years 1993-1995, followed by the refurbishment of the winery interiors in the years 2012-2014.

Description

The building forms part of the tight cluster of houses making up the southern frontage of the market square. The front façade of the house at Rynek 1 (1 Market Square) faces the nearby road. The Sedlaczek House is situated in the south-western corner of the square, standing in one line with the town hall which forms the eastern termination of the entire frontage.

Initially conceived as a public building, the house is designed in the Renaissance style, its western annex also bearing the hallmarks of Baroque design. It was erected on a roughly rectangular floor plan and features a quadrangular inner courtyard. Its compact, two-storey main body with a habitable attic forms a harmonious part of the frontage. The house is a masonry structure made mostly of split stone, its walls covered with plaster. The front section features a hip roof with a wall dormer on the western side, whereas the annexes are covered with lowered gable roofs. The asymmetrical, four-axial front façade features a centrally positioned entrance accentuated by a semi-circular portal surmounted with sumptuous plasterwork decorations in the form of a drapery supported by a pair of putti in the corners. The second storey is separated by a plain, contrasting band of plaster, with a profiled cornice running beneath the eaves across the entire width of the façade. The remaining façades are similarly disposed, their asymmetrical arrangement accentuated by the use of stone window surrounds framing the rectangular windows, with entrances accentuated with stone portals of varying design. Another decorative flourish is the slightly truncated corner adorned with a sculpted Hussar’s head at the top. The interior follows a three-bay layout, with the central vestibule featuring a vaulted ceiling of the barrel type, adorned with a lavishly designed arrangement of ribs which make the entire design reminiscent of a lierne vault. The individual rooms of the house likewise feature barrel vaults (some with lunettes) and sail vaults supported by structural arches, although neither of them are as lavishly decorated as the vestibule ceiling. Some of the rooms come equipped with brick infill ceilings which were constructed at a later date. The most representational rooms in the house feature preserved 17th and 18th century wooden ceilings adorned with foliate decorations - a stylistic nod to the art of the Renaissance period. Most of the floors are covered with marble or terracotta. No information is available on the original interior fixtures and fittings.

The building can be viewed from the outside; the interiors serving as public spaces can likewise be accessed (the Tarnowskie Góry Museum, the Sedlaczek restaurant and winery). Information on admission prices and opening hours is available online.

compiled by Agata Mucha, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Katowice, 21-04-2015.

Bibliography

• Record sheet of monuments of architecture and urban design. Budynek Starostwa, tzw. ‘’Dom Sedlaczka’’, prepared by Kwiecień A., 1996 (Archive of the Regional Monuments Protection Office in Katowice)
• Record sheet of monuments of architecture and urban design (the so-called green record sheet). Dom mieszkalny Rynek nr. 1, tzw. “Sedlaczek’’, prepared by Chodkowski, 1968 (Archive of the Regional Monuments Protection Office in Katowice)
• Nowak J., Kronika miasta i powiatu Tarnowskie Góry, Tarnowskie Góry, 1927, pp. 85-86
• In vino veritas: tradycje restauratorskie w Tarnowskich Górach: 220 lat winiarni "Sedlaczek", exhibition catalogue, prepared by Krzysztof Gwóźdź, Zofia Krzykowska, Teresa Nogaj, Tarnowskie Góry, 2005
• Katalog Zabytków Sztuki w Polsce, vol. VI woj. katowickie, I. Rejduch-Samkowa, J. Samka (eds.), issue 12 Powiat Tarnogórski, prepared by I. Płazak i J. Przała, Warsaw 1968, p. 23
• Tarnowskie Góry: architektura, prepared by S. Rosenbaum (text), J. Renka (photos), Tarnowskie Góry, 2014, pp. 16-17