Old Town

Szczecinek is one of the cities whose entire Old Town has been listed as a historic site. Among the sights to be admired there is the St. Nicholas Church Tower—a 16th-century structure and the only remnant of the late-Gothic St. Nicholas Church, which was demolished in 1909. Since 1958, the building has belonged to the Regional Museum. The museum houses the following collections: archaeological (including a stone statue of a Slavic deity, pottery, jewelry, and tools), goldsmithing works and regional artifacts (paintings, sculptures, etc., related to the town and region), and hunting artifacts (over 130 items related to hunting: firearms and bladed weapons, hunting gear, accessories, and furnishings from hunting lodges). The most valuable items in this category date from the 18th century. The Regional Museum in Szczecinek currently features six permanent exhibitions. The first of these is: “From the History of the City and Region”—paintings, sculptures, blacksmithing and goldsmithing works, etc., related to the city’s history from the Middle Ages to the present day. The Nobles’ Hall displays objects of material culture associated with the Pomeranian nobility: the Golz family of Siemczyn, the Herzberg family of Lotynia, and the Podewils family of Krąg. The museum also features: antique silverware (over one hundred items crafted from the 18th to the early 20th century in European goldsmith workshops), a hunting salon, the Szczecinek garrison, and 18th–20th-century European goldsmith workshops.

In Szczecinec’s Old Town, next to the late-Gothic tower of a church that no longer exists, the second religious monument is the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (on 3 Maja Street). It is a Neo-Gothic church (modeled after North German Gothic architecture) that was built between 1905 and 1908. Its imposing and majestic structure is characterized by a sense of lightness, achieved through the use of soaring windows as well as the pointed-arch ornamentation on the gables of the transept. The main body of the church, supported on the outside by tall buttresses, is enclosed on the east side by a hexagonal chancel flanked by low annexes, while on the west side stands a slender church tower 78 m high. The church contains some furnishings transferred from the old St. Nicholas Church, including a limestone epitaph from 1621 for Dorota A. Westreglen, wife of Piotr Somnitz, the starost of Szczecinek, as well as six brass spider chandeliers from the first half of the 17th century in the galleries. The church’s main altar features a cabinet-style design. The church organ, located in the choir loft, is equipped with 1,670 pipes.

Another historic site that can be seen while strolling through Szczecinek’s Old Town is the south wing of the Castle of the Pomeranian Dukes (2A Adama Mickiewicza St.). It dates back to the first half of the 14th century and was built on the site of an earlier Slavic settlement. Originally, the castle was located on an island in Lake Trzesiecko, but after the water level dropped, it came to lie on a peninsula. At the foot of the castle lies the historic City Park, established between 1875 and 1903. In the late 18th century, a belt-making workshop was established in the castle buildings; subsequently, from the early 19th century onward, it housed a hospital and a shelter. After the war, the castle was occupied by the military and later served as a tourist lodge. In April 1996, it was sold; today, the castle has been converted into an office building, and access to the courtyard for outsiders is practically impossible. The castle (as the headquarters of the ZAMEK Conference Center) has taken on new functions; from now on, you can organize a conference for 150 people here, dine in an atmospheric restaurant, spend the night in the White Lady’s Chamber, and perhaps encounter the castle’s (friendly) ghost, as well as enjoy a feast in the cellar pub or view an exhibition of contemporary art in the gallery.

In Szczecinek’s Old Town, you can also admire the Holy Trinity Orthodox parish church (6 Szkolna St.), which was formerly a synagogue and was built in 1824. It survived the war due to its peripheral location and unassuming appearance and was adapted for Orthodox liturgical use in 1952. It is currently a brick building with a tiled roof, situated at an angle to the street. The facade is unadorned, with semicircular windows and a side entrance. Inside, there is a modern iconostasis.

One of the most important landmarks of Szczecinek’s Old Town is the town hall, located on Plac Wolności. The first building to house the Szczecinek town hall was constructed in the heart of the town. Its oldest depiction appeared in 1612 on the famous map by Lubinus.  A later depiction of the town hall, by Professor Karl Tümpl—a German expert on the history of Szczecinek—dates from 1792. Over time, it was expanded to include rooms for the city guard, a fire station, and the city scales. The building’s condition at the end of the 18th century, coupled with the significant costs of renovation, led the municipal authorities of the time to decide to construct a new building; funds for this purpose were obtained from the sale of the municipal estate in Godzimierz. The new town hall was erected in 1852 on the northern side of the market square, based on a design by building inspector Blaurock of Białogard. It was built on a rectangular plan in an eclectic style with a predominance of Neo-Romanesque elements. The building, set on massive stone foundations, has two stories and basements. On the ground floor on the west side, there were originally two rooms for merchants with an entrance from what is now 1 Maja Street, as well as rooms for the city guard. It features large, distinctive windows. The town hall’s roof is hipped and covered with red roof tiles. It currently serves as the seat of the municipal government. Adjacent to the main facade is a projection that transitions into a tower. On top of it stands a four-sided tower bearing the date of the town hall’s construction. The gable walls of the building and the tower feature a crenellated attic supported by an arcaded cornice. Polygonal turrets with lanterns are situated at the corners of the town hall. In 1936, a wing was added to the Neo-Romanesque building; on the first floor of this wing, there is an auditorium featuring fabulous stained-glass windows.

To the right of the hallway were the city treasury and a room used for court deposits. On the front side was an infirmary with an office and a kitchen, which also served as living quarters for the staff. On the first floor on the west side was the boardroom, featuring a large bronze bust of King Frederick William. Next to it were the mayor’s office and the police station. The mayor’s small apartment was also located there; in the tower, on the third and fourth floors, there were prison cells, and higher up were the rooms housing the clock mechanism, crafted by Hilli, a craftsman from Chojnice. The stone coat of arms of the city, carved by Aronsfeld of Białogard, was placed on the tower’s facade. The clock bells, funded by the townspeople in 1801 and cast by the Szczecinek bellmakers Meyer and Schumacher, were moved from the old town hall. In 1853, stables and a fire station were built in the town hall courtyard. In the 1930s, the town hall building was expanded on the north side with a modernist wing designed by Szczecinek architect Walter Liczkow. A meeting hall was located on the first floor of this section. Stained-glass windows, designed by Berlin artist Carl Buch, were installed in the windows; they depict a procession of representatives from various professions and were funded by the Szczecinek craft guilds and the owner of the local brewery, H. Riemer. The stained-glass windows in the western windows, featuring genre scenes related to nationalist ideology, were created by Max Lüder from Piła. Recently, the town hall’s facades underwent restoration using sandblasting, thanks to which it regained its former splendor.

At the beginning of the 20th century, two single-story houses (with two-story gables) located behind the town hall were demolished. They housed small shops. The town owned them, and the rental income went to the town treasury. Right next to the town hall and the monument to Emperor Wilhelm I, which stood on its axis, was the so-called meteorological column. The column, which had a square cross-section, was about 4 meters high. It was topped with a small roof featuring triangular projections. Just below it, in a glass display case, was a clock face, with other instruments placed beneath it. The column still stood in the 1920s.

In 2013, two renovated historic townhouses were connected to the town hall building, and a roof was installed over the courtyard, skillfully blending the modernity of the polyurethane structure with the historic form of the building.

While strolling through Szczecinek’s Old Town, you’re sure to notice the building of the former middle school. The structure was built in the eclectic style between 1879 and 1880. The building is located in the city center, northwest of the former town square (Plac Wolności), on the northern side of Szkolna Street 1. The second building of the former Princess Jadwiga Middle School is the Principals’ House—a Neo-Gothic structure built between 1872 and 1873. It is located in Szczecinek at the corner of Piotra Skargi Street and Księżnej Elżbiety Street—in the city center. Today, it is a two-story red-brick building with an attic and tall stepped gables featuring pinnacles and blind windows. Buttresses are visible at the corners. Initially, the building served educational and reading purposes (library, classrooms, and laboratories). An apartment for the principals was set up on the first floor, hence the name of the entire building. A second building was constructed next to it, housing the janitor’s quarters. In 1913, the secondary school moved to a new building in the city park. From then on, the Principals’ House also served as a dormitory for other teachers and female students from the school. After World War II, the Red Army held German prisoners of war in the building. Later, the Cooperative High School operated here. Since 1978, the building has housed a preschool.

Another historic landmark in this part of town is the granary (4 Gen. Józef Sowiński Square). The current granary was built around 1850. The lower sections of the walls, facing Niezdobna Street, are made of fieldstone; the upper sections—with the exception of the gable walls—are half-timbered with brick infill. While here, it is also worth noting the second granary (Junacka Street), the former county office building (3 Maja Street 2), and the Church of the Holy Spirit. The church was built in 1923 in the Neo-Romanesque style according to a design by engineer K. Kuhn, through the efforts of Catholics known as the Polish Church. On December 20, 1923, the church was consecrated by Cardinal Adolf Bertram of Wrocław. Until 1945, it was the only Catholic church in the city. From 1945 to 1973, it served as a rectory church; since 1973, it has once again been a parish church. In 2002, the church was renovated according to a design by Joanna Sapiecha-Kopicka and her husband. A Redemptorist monastery is located next to the church. The church is located at 23 Klasztorna Street. Greek Catholic services are also held there, celebrated by the pastor of the Wałcz parish.

Szczecinek City Park is situated along Lake Trzesiecko. Its most significant section was established between 1875 and 1903 on land previously flooded by the lake. The oldest part of the park is located near the Castle of the Pomeranian Dukes. The park stretches the entire length of the town. It contains approximately 2,000 trees that are over 100 years old. Among the most valuable specimens are 150-year-old English oaks. In addition to common tree species, there are also numerous exotic trees: Japanese pagoda tree, blue spruce, white pine, Douglas fir, arborvitae, Caucasian fir, cypress, and Canadian hemlock. Inspired by the park’s charm, the German composer Richard Strauss wrote the opera “Daphne” (1934).

Speaking of nature, it’s worth noting that as late as the early 1980s, Wolności Square was literally awash with roses. Aside from the park, it was the most flower-filled place in Szczecinek. Today’s Wolności Square—formerly the Market Square—is limited to its historic boundaries, but as recently as 20 years ago, it stretched all the way to Niezdobna Street. At that time, the roundabout occupied a central position. A small parking lot was squeezed into the corner between City Hall and the “Poranek” milk bar. The remaining open space, apart from the sidewalks, was reserved for greenery, whose primary purpose was to quite effectively mask the industrial surroundings along Zamkowa Street. Hidden behind a tall hedge was a public restroom, and behind it lay the grounds of the Local Industry Plant, marked by a tall, brick factory chimney. The eastern edge of the square (clearly visible in a postcard from the 1970s) was occupied by greenery with rose beds, a taxi stand, and the ever-present green phone booth. In 1992, a massive apartment building was completed on this site, standing precisely within the historic boundaries of the former Market Square. Until 1945, the eastern frontage consisted of three two-story townhouses. Each had a flat roof and a richly decorated facade. The corner house on what is now 9 Maja Street was famous for the fact that King Frederick William III and Queen Louise spent the night within its walls during their journey from Königsberg on the night of December 19–20, 1809. According to legend, it was here that the queen lost her engagement ring. The middle townhouse was famous for housing the city’s oldest pharmacy on its ground floor. It was called the “Old Pharmacy.” In 1945, this entire block of buildings was burned down.