Town Hall in Cieszyn

The Town Hall stands in the middle of Cieszyn's Market Square (Rynek) and to this day serves as the seat of the town authorities. The present building is Neoclassical and was built after a series of fires that over three centuries destroyed successive town halls on the same site. It is distinguished by its clock tower and a facade with a balcony supported on columns.

From a wooden house to a brick building

The first town hall on the Market Square was built in 1496, when Duke Casimir II sold his houses to the townspeople. On their site a building was erected with rooms for the shoemakers' and bakers' guilds and a tower with a clock. After a fire in 1552 the town hall was rebuilt in brick, with arcaded porticoes, a Renaissance parapet and a cylindrical tower with a spire.

In 1661 the facade was decorated with a sculpture of the Virgin Mary in a crown, imperial coats of arms and figures personifying the virtues. In 1726 the first theatre hall in the town was set up next to the town hall. Further fires, in 1720 and at the end of the 18th century, damaged the building so severely that it had to be built anew.

The present Neoclassical form

The new building, with Baroque-Neoclassical features, was designed by Ignacy Chambrez de Ryvos. The rebuilding was completed on 1 September 1800, with a crown and a sphere containing commemorative documents placed on the tower. After the fire of 1836 the town hall was rebuilt to designs by the architect Józef Kornhäusl, with a Neoclassical elevation and a Doric columned portico.

The building has three storeys, and the facade is accented by a six-bay projection with a balcony on six pillars, topped with a triangular pediment bearing the coat of arms of Cieszyn. The tower was built on a square plan with rounded corners and covered with a sheet-metal pavilion roof with a four-sided lantern. The clock mechanism from 1851 was made by Jan Chris Boeck of Austria, and the tower holds bells from the 18th century. Every day at noon a fanfare sounds from the tower, composed for the 1150th anniversary of the town's legendary founding.

The council chamber of 1906

In 1906 a meeting hall for the town council was added to the town hall, opened on 2 September that year during a visit by the emperor. The hall has preserved its Art Nouveau stoves and a frieze of coats of arms with 24 guild emblems. Since 2014 the council chamber has sometimes been made available for wedding ceremonies.

Practical information

• Address: Rynek 1, Cieszyn. The building is a listed monument, and an office works in it every day, so the interiors have no regular visiting hours. Check the rules of entry with the Town Office before your visit.
• The facade and tower are best viewed from the Market Square, and the fanfare can be heard at noon.
• Nearby stand the Jesus Church and the Printing Museum, and a little further the Rotunda of St Nicholas.