The Old Town Hall (; ; ) is a historic

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...

and

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 ...

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 ...

building in

Szczecin Szczecin ( , , ; ; ; or ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the Poland-Germany border, German border, it is a major port, seaport, the la ...

, Poland. It is located at 8 Księcia Mściwoja II Street, next to the Hay Market Square and the New Market Square, within the

Old Town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins. In some cases, newer developments on t ...

neighbourhood of the

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

district. The building was constructed in the 15th century and served as the seat of the municipal government until 1897. It was destroyed in 1944, and rebuilt in 1975. Currently it houses the Szczecin History Museum, a branch of the Szczecin National Museum.

History

The

town hall was erected in the 15th century at the corner of the Hay Market Square. It was built in place of a wooden building from the 13th century, which housed the city council, courtroom, trade hall, and a jail.Roman Pawlak: ''Polska – Zabytkowe ratusze''. Warsaaw: Sport i Turystyka MUZA SA, 2003, p. 335–336. ISBN 83-7200-991-0. (in Polish) In 1570, from 5 to 13 December, the town hall housed the peace talks between

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, which led to the signing of the Treaty of Stettin, ending the

Northern Seven Years' War The Northern Seven Years' War (also known as the ''Nordic Seven Years' War'', the ''First Northern War,'' the ''Seven Years' War of the North'' or the ''Seven Years War in Scandinavia'') was fought between the Kingdom of Sweden (1523–1611), K ...

. The building was heavly damaged in the sieges in

1659 Events January–March * January 14 – In the Battle of the Lines of Elvas, fought near the small city of Elvas in Portugal during the Portuguese Restoration War, the Spanish Army under the command of Luis Méndez de Haro s ...

and 1677, during the

Northern War "Northern Wars" is a term used for a series of wars fought in northern and northeastern Europe from the 16th to the 18th century, primarily between the territorial rivals of the Swedish Empire, Tsardom of Russia, Poland–Lithuania, and Denmark ...

and

Scanian War The Scanian War (; ; ; ) was a part of the Northern Wars involving the union of Denmark–Norway, Electorate of Brandenburg, Brandenburg and Swedish Empire, Sweden. It was fought from 1675 to 1679 mainly on Scanian soil, in the former Danish ...

, and rebuilt afterwards, in the

style. It remained the seat of the municipal government until 1879, when it moved to the

Red Town Hall The Red Town Hall ( ) is the town hall of Berlin, Germany, located in the Mitte district on Rathausstraße near Alexanderplatz. It is the home to the governing mayor and the government (the Senate of Berlin) of the state of the city. History Th ...

. It was destroyed in 1944 during the aerial bombings during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. It was rebuilt between 1972 and 1975, as the building of the Szczecin History Museum, a branch of the Szczecin National Museum. It was mostly restored in the Gothic style, with one side of its façade retaining the Baroque ornamentation.

Architecture

The building mostly features

ornamentation, except the façade of its west wall, with a

design featuring a tall

volute A volute is a spiral, scroll-like ornament that forms the basis of the Ionic order, found in the capital of the Ionic column. It was later incorporated into Corinthian order and Composite column capitals. Four are normally to be found on an ...

gable top with a tall

arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated video, pinball, electro-mechanical, redemption, etc., game ** Arcade video game, a coin-operated video game ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade video game's hardware ** Arcad ...

. The eastern wall includes an

avant-corps An ''avant-corps'' ( or , plural , , ), a French term literally meaning "fore-body", is a part of a building, such as a porch or pavilion, that juts out from the ''corps de logis'', often taller than other parts of the building.Curl, James Stev ...

with an openwork wall of pinnacles connected with entablatures. Its walls are made from glazed red and green bricks, and the façade features window arches, arcades, and cornices. Its basements and two rooms on upper floors have Gothic lierne vaults. Currently, the building houses the Szczecin History Museum, a branch of the Szczecin National Museum. Its basement also features a restaurant. The building is part of the

European Route of Brick Gothic The European Route of Brick Gothic (EuRoB) is an association of cities, towns, regions, municipalities and institutions that have Brick Gothic buildings in their territory or have their headquarters in a Brick Gothic building. The network also incl ...

Gallery

File:Town hall in Szczecin, September 2022 02.jpg, The building as seen from the southwest. File:Town hall in Szczecin, September 2022 05.jpg, Baroque entrance at the north façade. File:Town hall in Szczecin, September 2022 03.jpg, Gothic entrance at the north façade. File:Town hall in Szczecin, September 2022 04.jpg, Gothic windows at the north façade. File:Town hall in Szczecin, September 2022 06.jpg, Arcades at the south façade.

References

External links

{{authority control Buildings and structures in Szczecin City and town halls in Poland Old Town, Szczecin Tourist attractions in West Pomeranian Voivodeship Former seats of local government Government buildings completed in the 15th century Buildings and structures demolished in 1944 Rebuilt buildings and structures in Poland Objects of cultural heritage in Poland Government buildings completed in 1975 1975 establishments in Poland Gothic architecture in Poland Baroque architecture in Poland History museums in Poland Museums established in 1975 City museums Buildings and structures in Poland destroyed during World War II