Town Hall (Opole)
The town hall in Opole is located in the middle of the rectangular ring , the Opole market square. First mentioned as a wooden structure in the 14th century, it was given a stone facade in the 16th century. The building got its current classical form at the beginning of the 19th century. The formerly baroque town hall tower was only replaced in 1863 by the current one, which is modeled on the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence .
history
middle Ages
The first town halls were built in all of Silesia from the end of the 13th century to the middle of the 14th century . As a rule, they were built in the middle of the market or the ring , as was the Opole town hall. The first mention of a building on this square comes from 1308, which was a merchant's house made of wood. Even then, the city's first city council, which consisted of four people, met here. Over time it was expanded and converted into a town hall. It is believed that this happened at the time the Magdeburg rights were granted (1352).
In the 15./16. In the 19th century, the wooden structure was replaced by a building made of brick. In this new building there was a large hall with Gothic cross and rib vaults. Its ceiling was also decorated with frescoes . It was called the “Fürstensaal”. At the same time there was already a restaurant in the basement of the building, which was known as the “Schweidnitzer Keller”. Beer from the town of Schweidnitz ( Świdnica ) was served here.
Modern times
From the city register of 1532/33 one can see that there were 13 shopkeepers on the western facade of the building. In the middle of the same century, the town hall tower received a clock with the digits from 1 to 24, with a clock bell being added in 1566, which chimed every hour on the hour. It is now in the Museum of Opole Silesia . In 1581, the renovation of the town hall began as it was badly damaged and in danger of collapsing. This new building could be inaugurated in 1591.
During a very hot summer in 1615, there was a great fire in Opole. The houses on the Ring, the town hall and other buildings in the city were burned. The town hall was completed again in 1619. Towards the end of the 17th century the building was renovated several times, such as the town hall tower, the town hall roof and the town hall hall.
In 1739 there was another big fire in the city. 135 of the 210 houses in the city fell victim to the flames, including the town hall again. The fire destroyed the town hall tower, the external stairs and the entire interior. Only the outer walls remained. Just two years later, the town hall including the town hall tower could be restored. In 1751 the following rooms were located in the town hall on the lower floors: a cellar with full liquor, a prison, a room for the cloth merchants and the great hall.
At the beginning of the 19th century there was a discussion about the new construction of the town hall. The city first asked for funds from the government treasury. However, this was refused. It wasn't until 1818 that the government eased and gave the city the necessary funds. On October 3, 1818, the foundation stone for the new town hall was laid. The tower itself was preserved. During the final work, Karl Friedrich Schinkel acted as a consultant to the city. On February 3rd the new town hall building could be inaugurated. After it became known in 1860 that the town hall tower had to be renovated, it was decided to build a new one. Work began in 1863. The upper part was demolished, only the foundations remained. The formerly baroque tower was redesigned based on the style of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence.
20th century
At the beginning of the 20th century there was an effort to redesign the town hall again. However, the plans could not be pursued because the First World War intervened. It was not until 1933 to 1936 that the town hall was rebuilt. The shopkeepers on the western side of the building were demolished. After the southern shopkeepers had been demolished, the town hall tower collapsed. In the absence of houses, the tower had lost its supports. The historic Fürstensaal was also largely destroyed in the collapse. In 1934 work began on the new construction of the 60 m high tower, which was completed in 1936. The grand inauguration of the entire town hall took place on October 18, 1936. On this occasion, a monument to Frederick the Great was erected on the south side of the ring .
The town hall was hardly damaged in the Second World War . Most of the houses on the Ring were destroyed for this. After Opole became Polish too, the monument of Frederick the Great was dismantled and melted down on April 6th. The town hall tower has been illuminated since 1964. In 1968 the meeting room was modernized. When the Oder flood in 1997 , the town hall was not flooded, but the foundations were slightly damaged by the high groundwater. This meant that the northern walls had to be anchored. Since 1999 the trumpet signal has been an integral part of the city again.
inner space
Seen from the Piast Tower
View from the southeast
Detail of the tower
literature
- Architectural and artistic monuments of Silesia: City of Opole. 1939 ( online )
- The Opole town hall: Festschrift for the inauguration of the town hall. 1936 ( online )
- Urszula Zajaczkowska: Ratusz w Opolu. MS Verlag, 2001, ISBN 83-88945-05-X .
Web links
- City Articles (Polish)
Coordinates: 50 ° 40 ′ 6.5 ″ N , 17 ° 55 ′ 19.6 ″ E