History

The building, the earliest mention of which was made in 1435, was the only structure to survive a fire in the town. During a fire in 1529 it was partially destroyed (the tower was one of the structures that survived). The town hall was reconstructed in 1556-1612. The new building was made of brick, has two storeys and a tall gable roof. In 1685, it was damaged again by fire, but soon it was rebuilt as a three-storey building featuring Baroque facade decoration. The present-day town hall is the result of the reconstruction done in the Gothic Revival style in 1860-1870.

Description

The town hall is located in the centre of a rectangular Old Town Market Square and occupies a significant part thereof. The building is extended on the north-south axis, with the facade facing the east, towards Zamkowy Square. The town hall, which is surrounded by a densely built-up area of the frontage on three sides, presents features of English Gothic architecture with elements of the Karl Friedrich Schinkel’s round-arch style. The structure was built of brick on a rectangular floor plan, has three storeys, and is covered with a gable roof with a shallow roof pitch. The compact body of the building is enlivened by faux avant-corps. The seven-storey tower in the north-western corner, turning into an octagon, with a polygonal openwork dome on the top, is a dominant feature of the monument. The old Gothic tower is incorporated in the body of the new building. The basements are covered with segmental vaults, whereas the upper storeys feature wooden beamed ceilings. A room designed in the Gothic style is the remnant of the original building featuring a net vaulting. One of the rooms on the first floor is covered with a decorative faceted ceiling adorned with plasterwork. The facades are clad in rusticated panels along their entire height, except for the smooth section of the plinth. Individual walls are pierced by windows terminating in segmental arches (ground floor) and in semi-circular arches, with profiled surrounds and pediments supported on corbels. The facade is crowned with an arcaded crenellation with pinnacles in the corners. The facade features a relief depicting the Coronation of Mary and a cartouche bearing the coat of arms of the town. The interior layout features two and a half bay. The original nineteenth-century joinery and the eclectic decor of the meeting room on the first floor have been preserved to this day.

Limited access to the monument.

Compiled by Marta Kłaczkowska, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Zielona Góra, 22-09-2014 r.

Bibliography

• Garbacz K., Przewodnik po zabytkach województwa lubuskiego, t. 2, Zielona Góra 2012, s. 311.
• Kowalski S., Zabytki architektury województwa lubuskiego, Zielona Góra 2010, s. 415.