The Lower Market Square () is the central square in the historic town of
Görlitz
Görlitz (; ; ; ; ; Lusatian dialects, East Lusatian: , , ) is a town in the Germany, German state of Saxony. It is on the river Lusatian Neisse and is the largest town in Upper Lusatia, the second-largest town in the region of Lusatia after ...
. The
city's town hall and thus most of the administration have been located on this square since 1350. Many of the city's
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
-styled buildings were built here.
History
Görlitz
Görlitz (; ; ; ; ; Lusatian dialects, East Lusatian: , , ) is a town in the Germany, German state of Saxony. It is on the river Lusatian Neisse and is the largest town in Upper Lusatia, the second-largest town in the region of Lusatia after ...
is first mentioned in 1071. At that time, merchants settled around the Nikolai Church and along the
Via Regia
The Via Regia (Royal Highway) is a European Cultural Route following the route of the Historic roads, historic road of the Middle Ages. There were many such ''viae regiae'' associated with the king in the medieval Holy Roman Empire.
History ...
. Around 1200, the Lower Market Square was created and the
Via Regia
The Via Regia (Royal Highway) is a European Cultural Route following the route of the Historic roads, historic road of the Middle Ages. There were many such ''viae regiae'' associated with the king in the medieval Holy Roman Empire.
History ...
was passed through it. In 1250 the
Upper Market Square was laid out. Since then the selling farmers stood mainly on this market, while the craftsmen stood on the Lower Market Square.
In the center of the Lower Market is the so-called ''Zeile'' (Row). Over the centuries, this was repeatedly changed structurally and today consists of a coherent block of houses. At that time, it housed merchants and grocers and offered space under the arcades to offer goods. The once half-timbered part on the northern side of the row was replaced in 1706 by a new administrative building, the so-called ''Börse''. Merchants held their weekly meetings there.
The building is now used as a hotel.
Buildings
Town Hall
The
town hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...
has been the place of the cities administration and jurisdictions since 1350. It utilises several buildings of different epoches on the Lower Market Square 6–8.
The tower dates back to 1378 (lower cubic part) and was raised in the 16th century to its present height. A lion (the heraldic animal of
Bohemia
Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...
) is located on top of two clocks in a gothic arch. The clocks were added 1584 by ''Bartholomäus Scultetus''. In the corner between the tower and the ''Brüderstraße'' (Brethren Street) a
renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
-styled
staircase
A stairwell or stair room is a room in a building where a stair is located, and is used to connect walkways between floors so that one can move in height. Collectively, a set of stairs and a stairwell is referred to as a staircase or stairway ...
was erected in 1537 by
Wendel Roskopf. On the second floor in the
building next to the tower is the seat of the mayor. In 1903 construction began for another building complex. The
new town hall is a reminiscence of the 17th century
Görlitz
Görlitz (; ; ; ; ; Lusatian dialects, East Lusatian: , , ) is a town in the Germany, German state of Saxony. It is on the river Lusatian Neisse and is the largest town in Upper Lusatia, the second-largest town in the region of Lusatia after ...
residential houses. The structure looks imposing and it displayed the spirit of the emerging city.
Brown Deer
The ''Brauner Hirsch'' (Brown Deer) is first mentioned in 1403. It was for a long time one of the most distinguished inns and breweries of the city.
In the 16th century the building underwent several reconstructions which are documented, among others, by one of the keystones of the portico vaults (Michel Schmid - 1539) and remains of a painted wooden beam ceiling on the 1st floor (1593). However much of the building burned down in city fire 1717 and was reconstructed in 1722,
thus the
baroque
The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
exterior. The pharmacist Leopold Pape made many changes inside the building in 1818. The building was still used for accomondating affluent visitors, including
Jérôme Bonaparte
Jérôme Bonaparte (born Girolamo Buonaparte; 15 November 1784 – 24 June 1860) was the youngest brother of Napoleon, Napoleon I and reigned as Jerome Napoleon I (formally Hieronymus Napoleon in German), Kingdom of Westphalia, King of Westphal ...
(1812),
Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher
Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher (; 21 December 1742 – 12 September 1819), ''Graf'' (count), later elevated to ''Fürst'' (prince) von Wahlstatt, was a Kingdom of Prussia, Prussian ''Generalfeldmarschall'' (field marshal). He earned his greatest ...
(3 and 4 September 1813),
Frederick William III of Prussia
Frederick William III (; 3 August 1770 – 7 June 1840) was King of Prussia from 16 November 1797 until his death in 1840. He was concurrently Elector of Brandenburg in the Holy Roman Empire until 6 August 1806, when the empire was dissolved ...
(1835),
Frederick William IV of Prussia
Frederick William IV (; 15 October 1795 – 2 January 1861), the eldest son and successor of Frederick William III of Prussia, was King of Prussia from 7 June 1840 until his death on 2 January 1861. Also referred to as the "romanticist on the th ...
(1831, 1833, 1840,1844),
Nicholas I of Russia
Nicholas I, group=pron (Russian language, Russian: Николай I Павлович; – ) was Emperor of Russia, List of rulers of Partitioned Poland#Kings of the Kingdom of Poland, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 18 ...
(1838),
Alexander II of Russia
Alexander II ( rus, Алекса́ндр II Никола́евич, Aleksándr II Nikoláyevich, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ftɐˈroj nʲɪkɐˈlajɪvʲɪtɕ; 29 April 181813 March 1881) was Emperor of Russia, Congress Poland, King of Poland and Grand Du ...
(1840),
Archduke John of Austria
Archduke John of Austria (, ; (or simply ''Nadvojvoda Janez''); 20 January 1782 – 11 May 1859), a member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, was an Austrian field marshal and imperial regent (''Reichsverweser'') of the short-lived German Emp ...
(1848), the
German Emperor William I (1819),
Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia (1866, got his headquarters here during the war).
[
]
Frenzelhof
The Frenzelhof is one of the typical Görlitz hall houses. First mentioned in the 15th century, it was bought in 1500 by the influential merchant Hans Frenzel. He had a fireproof and painted vault built. The vault has been preserved until today. In the two central halls extending over two floors, goods were presented in daylight and protected from rain. In the following centuries, the owners and uses changed and construction work was carried out. Between 1760 and 1813 the building was in a poor shape and probably unoccupied. After 1813 the gothic gable and the baroque
The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
facade has been replaced. Today the building is used as a hotel.
Council Pharmacy
The ''Ratsapotheke'' (Council Pharmacy or Town Hall Pharmacy) is a building from 1453 and was modernized in 1550 to 1553 by the son of Wendel Roskopf to follow the Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
style. ''Zacharias Scultetus'', the brother of the mathematician Bartholomäus Scultetus added an astronomical drawing and the sundial above the first floor during this time. Inside the building several painted wooden beam ceilings are preserved. The name ''Ratsapotheke'' can be derived from two similar meanings. The pharmacy in Görlitz
Görlitz (; ; ; ; ; Lusatian dialects, East Lusatian: , , ) is a town in the Germany, German state of Saxony. It is on the river Lusatian Neisse and is the largest town in Upper Lusatia, the second-largest town in the region of Lusatia after ...
was first mentioned in 1305 and belonged to a member of a council (''Ratsmitglied'') and was located inside the cities town hall. Therefore, the name ''Ratsapotheke'' (councils pharmacy). The other interpretation is, that the pharmacist Christian August Struve bought this building and relocated his pharmacy from the town hall into this building. Therefore, the name shortened over time from ''Rathausapotheke'' (town hall pharmacy) to ''Ratsapotheke''. Until 1832 it was the only pharmacy in the city.[ During restoration works in 1999 the bricked ]Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
portal was revealed again with some fragments of the original colours.[ Since 2000 a cafe, the ''Ratscafe'' (Councils Cafe), is inside the building.
]
Scales
The ''Waage'' (Scales) was the building in the town where all incoming goods were weighted and cleared. The ground-floor probably dates back to 1453. The rest of the building was constructed by Jonas Roskopf, the son of Wendel Roskopf in Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
-style in 1600. The building kept its function to collect Octroi
Octroi (; , to grant, authorize; Lat. ''auctor'') is a local tax collected on various articles brought into a district for consumption.
Antiquity
The word itself is of French origin. Octroi taxes have a respectable antiquity, being known in R ...
until 1823. After that the trade association, founded in 1830, met in the premises and used them for exhibitions until they moved to the Humboldt House, completed in 1871. The building was refurbished in the 1980s and is currently unused.
Schönhof
The Schönhof was the first Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
-building in the city built the year after a devastating town fire in 1525 by Wendel Roskopf. Being opposite to the town hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...
, close to merchant houses and on the trade route Via Regia
The Via Regia (Royal Highway) is a European Cultural Route following the route of the Historic roads, historic road of the Middle Ages. There were many such ''viae regiae'' associated with the king in the medieval Holy Roman Empire.
History ...
, it was specifically built to serve as a royal guesthouse. It accomondated Elector of Saxony
The Electorate of Saxony, also known as Electoral Saxony ( or ), was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire from 1356 to 1806 initially centred on Wittenberg that came to include areas around the cities of Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz. It was a ...
John George II and King of Bohemia Wenceslaus IV
Wenceslaus IV (also ''Wenceslas''; ; , nicknamed "the Idle"; 26 February 136116 August 1419), also known as Wenceslaus of Luxembourg, was King of Bohemia from 1378 until his death and King of Germany from 1376 until he was deposed in 1400. As he ...
. A central hall inside the building extends over all floors, thus the house corresponds to the type of a Görlitz hall house. Since 2006 the Silesian Museum uses the premises of building.
Barockhaus
The Barockhaus (''House of Baroque
The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
'') located on the corner between Handwerk street and Neisse street was built shortly after the town fire in 1726 in baroque
The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
-style. The owner ''Johann Christian Ameiß'' was a linen
Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant.
Linen is very strong and absorbent, and it dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. Lin ...
and damask
Damask (; ) is a woven, Reversible garment, reversible patterned Textile, fabric. Damasks are woven by periodically reversing the action of the warp and weft threads. The pattern is most commonly created with a warp-faced satin weave and the gro ...
trader from Zittau
Zittau (; ; ; ; ; Lusatian dialects, Upper Lusatian dialect: ''Sitte''; ) is the southeasternmost city in the Germany, German state of Saxony, and belongs to the Görlitz (district), district of Görlitz, Germany's easternmost Districts of Germ ...
. Powered by the ideas of enlightenment ''Adolf Traugott von Gersdorff'' and ''Karl Gottlob Anton'' founded the ''Upper Lusatian Society of Science'' and bought the house in 1804 to move their Upper Lusatian Library of Sciences into the building. The society had their headquarters in this building until 1945. Since 1951 the city of Görlitz
Görlitz (; ; ; ; ; Lusatian dialects, East Lusatian: , , ) is a town in the Germany, German state of Saxony. It is on the river Lusatian Neisse and is the largest town in Upper Lusatia, the second-largest town in the region of Lusatia after ...
is the owner of the building and uses it to this day to make the library available for public.
Gallery
Görlitz, Neißstraße 30.jpg, Barockhaus (House of Baroque) containing the Upper Lusatian Library of Sciences since 1804
Goerlitz-Neues Rathaus von Osten-20110626.jpg, New Town hall
Hotel boerse goerlitz.jpg, Hotel Börse
Görlitz Untermarkt 22 Flüsterbogen.jpg, Flüsterbogen ('Whispering Arch')
Goerlitz-Rathaus-07.IV.07-094.jpg, Town Hall Staircase with Lady Justice
Lady Justice () is an allegorical personification of the moral force in judicial systems. Her attributes are scales, a sword and sometimes a blindfold. She often appears as a pair with Prudentia.
Lady Justice originates from the personificat ...
Görlitz - Untermarkt 11 ies.jpg, Zeile ('The Row') with Neptune
Neptune is the eighth and farthest known planet from the Sun. It is the List of Solar System objects by size, fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17 t ...
fountain
Görlitz, Untermarkt 1 - Weberstraße.jpg, Hotel Emmerich
Goldener baum goerlitz.JPG, Goldener Baum ('Golden Tree'), Frenzelhof and Silesian Museum
References
{{Reflist
Squares in Germany
Görlitz