History

The house was built after a fire in 1598, on the site formerly occupied by a wooden or wattle-and-daub dwelling, similarly as the neighbouring tenement houses no. 3 and 4. In 1685 a fire destroyed the roof and interior of the building. Its reconstruction was completed in 1689. Subsequent renovations did not alter the interior layout, appearance of the building and facade decorations. The owners of the building are unknown. However, it is certain that they belong to the local patrician families, which is indicated by the location of the structure and its lavish facade decorations. In 1945, the building was abandoned and remained unused for many years. Since 1970, after complete renovation it is the seat of a local museum. As part of the revitalisation of the Old Town in 2012, the facades of tenement house no. 2 and two neighbouring buildings underwent renovation.

Description

The house is situated in the Old Town, within the ramparts, on the southern side of Zamkowy Square, in a densely built-up area (the third one as seen from the east). It is an example of the Renaissance residential buildings. It was built of brick, has multiple storeys, a usable loft and a basement. The structure features an elongated rectangular floor plan. Its compact body is covered with a gable roof made of ceramic tiles. The basements feature barrel vaults. The rooms on the ground floor are covered with barrel, groin and segmental vaults; one room with a beamed ceiling. The rooms on the first floor are topped with wooden ceilings; two rooms with beam ceilings, in the Baroque style. The interior layout features two and a half bay with a wide hallway. The most representative component of the building is the front facade topped with a lavishly decorated gable end, which consists of three axis, featuring a varied arrangement of the axes on each storey. Ornamented with architectural detail in the form of window surrounds, with decorative side sections on the ground floor, horizontal pediments surmounting the windows, cornices, panels, pilasters and volutes flanking the two-storey section of the gable. The windows on the first floor are decorated with motifs of stylised foliate scrollwork beneath the sills and motifs of putti and flower motif in the panel over the windows. The date ‘1689’ is inscribed beneath the crowning cornice. Artefacts include original painted profiled beamed ceilings from the Baroque period, with one beam bearing the date ‘1687’. The original decorations also include ornamental wall arcades on the ground floor and first floor.

Limited access to the monument.

Compiled by Marta Kłaczkowska, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Zielona Góra, 19-09-2014 r.

Bibliography

• Kowalski S., Zabytki architektury województwa lubuskiego, Zielona Góra 2010, s. 416.