The Town Hall

In the southern part of the town at 15 Rynek Street there is a 15th-century town hall. The Gothic building was built in the 13th century as a merchants’ house. At the turn of the 14th and 15th century the structure was expanded, and in the 16th century Late Gothic decorative peaks, a cross and net vault were added. The town hall was built on the plan of a rectangle and it is made of red brick covered with plaster. The two-story building has a basement and a gable roof covered with ceramic tiles.

In some rooms there are cross - ribbed vaults, and in the former court room there is net vault with polychrome from the 16th century. Polychromes with floral and geometric motifs were revealed during maintenance works conducted in the 80’s of the 20th century.

Throughout the ages the building was renovated, reconstructed and restored many times. It changed its look frequently, but in the foundation of the town hall its oldest part was preserved. Fundamental renovation works were conducted after the Thirty Years' War and in the second half of the 17th century, at the turn of the 19th and 20th century. The last significant renovation was conducted at the turn of the 80’s and 90’s of the 20th century.

The town hall served many functions, and each story was used for different purposes depending on the needs of the residents. The rooms were used for trading, official, religious and judicial purposes. Up until the beginning of the 19th century on the ground floor there were markets, while after the war there was a detention cell and a police station. Currently the town hall serves the town administration. On the ground floor there are rooms of the town officials, on the first floor is the mayor's office and a large hall in which sessions of the Town Council take place and civil weddings are organized.