It stands in a densely built-up area. The three-storey building has a basement and modest architectural detail. The presented feature is an important element in the spatial layout of Zielona Góra.

History

Stary Rynek Street (German: Ring) marks the area of the oldest preserved buildings of the old town. The town was demarcated and planned with the award of municipal rights in the first half of the 13th century. The layout of Zielona Góra is based on a regularly shaped market square, around which plots for residential buildings were demarcated. Its frontages were formed by four blocks of houses. The market square included a network of streets running outwards from the market square to the former town gates. The legible, medieval spatial layout of the town has survived until today. In the second half of the 15th century, the seat of town authorities was built in the middle of the market square - the town hall. The area where the building in consideration can be found is located in the very centre, within former defensive walls of the town. The first buildings erected on that street are wooden houses with roof gables set perpendicularly to the street, typically two-storey and three-axial. Market square buildings, many a time destroyed by fires and attacks of hostile armies, were reconstructed in a new form, on the relics of the former buildings. Only at a later time, wealthy owners started to build bigger houses using brick. The buildings on the market were all that time related to trade and craftsmanship. Doctors, craftsmen, or winemakers had their houses there. All the buildings were shaped mainly in the second half of the 19th century and in early 20th century. The surviving buildings are mainly three- or four-storey tenement houses erected in the style of late Classicism, Historicism, and Art Nouveau.

Incomplete archival records on the tenement house described here have been preserved. Neither do we know the exact date of the building construction, nor the name of the designer or contractor. The tenement house was erected in the 18th century. From that time, the surviving double barrel vaults in the basements originate. In the 1930s, the gable of the building was redesigned; its form was simplified. In 1933, the building was owned by widow Ella Winderlich. On the ground floor, there was a store offering a diversified product range. Hostilities of the Second World War did not lead to major damage to the building. After the war, the local government took over ownership of the building and since that time it has been used for residential purposes. In the post-war period, the building was subjected to minor renovations. In the 1990s, the ground floor was redesigned in connection with the extension of the commercial premises and replacement of display windows. The building has retained the form given to it at that time until today. No major alterations have been made to the structure. At present, it houses service and residential premises. The structure is one of the most representative buildings in the city.

Description

The tenement house, located in Stary Rynek Street, is a part of the dense development. It is situated in the very centre of Zielona Góra, to the west from the town hall. Stary Rynek Street is a part of the strict monument protection zone.

The building is located on a small plot of land and its front façade faces the town hall. Its plan resembles the shape of a rectangle. The building has basements underneath. It is made of brick; its walls are plastered on both sides. The three-storey building is topped with a gable roof. The front façade is two-axial and topped with a triangular gable adorned with a profiled strip. In the gable plane, there is a window allowing light to the attic. On the ground floor of the building, there is a surviving composition of two display windows with an entrance in the middle. The tenement house’s front façade features modest architectural detail. The first and the second storey are pierced with rectangular window openings. The windows are framed by surrounds. The architectural form of the building is harmoniously integrated into the other buildings on the market square. Part of the original window woodwork has been preserved. The body of the building has been preserved in its original state without major changes.

The tenement house is a monument owned by local government and private entities. Due to the fact that it houses service premises and flats, the building is not widely available to the public.

compiled by Krzysztof Słowiński, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Zielona Góra, 17-04-2015.

Bibliography

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• Stanisław Kowalski, Miasta Środkowego Nadodrza, Zbigniew Bujakiewicz, Krajobraz materialny i społeczny Zielonej Góry od końca XVIII do połowy XX wieku, Zielona Góra 2003
• Zielona Góra, Przeszłość i teraźniejszość, pod red. M Szczanieckiego, Poznań 1962
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