Former Town Hall in Bogucice

The former town hall of the Bogucice municipality at 1 Maja 50 in Katowice-Zawodzie was built in 1911-1912 for the Katowice Joint-Stock Company for Mining and Metallurgy. It was designed by Arnold Hartmann of Berlin, and the construction was supervised by the master mason Julius Litsche. Today it houses the rectorate of the University of Economics in Katowice.

Architecture

The building combines Art Nouveau, early modernism and Neoclassicism. It has four storeys above ground and one below, three main wings around a rectangular courtyard, and a gable roof with an octagonal clock on a turret. The street façade is distinguished by a projection with pilasters, and in the tympanum are bas-reliefs of a farmer, a miner and a steelworker. On the east façade the inscription “1912” appears. A plaque on the façade commemorates those who fell defending Silesia in the Silesian Uprisings and the Second World War.

History of the building

Until 1924, when Bogucice and Zawodzie were incorporated into Katowice, the municipal office was housed here. In February 1945 the explosion of an ammunition wagon on a nearby track caused great damage, and the turret was not restored after the rebuilding. It was recreated during the modernisation in 2011-2015.

Practical information

• The building is the seat of a university, so it is viewed from the outside.
• Nearby stands the Silesian Museum in Katowice, about 900 m away.