Town Hall in Jawor

On the market square in Jawor stands a town hall whose tower reaches back to the Middle Ages and whose present body comes from the end of the 19th century. Its current form was created after a fire in which only the tower survived. Today the neo-Renaissance building serves administrative functions, and inside it preserved the largest stained glass in a secular building in Lower Silesia.

From a weavers' document to the fire

The first mention of the Jawor town hall comes from a weavers' document of 1373. The town-hall tower was erected in 1394 as a symbol of the town's independence and wealth — it later served as a fire watchtower, housed the only clock in town, and also a treasury, archive and prison. The building was rebuilt in 1617 and again in 1846, and in 1895 it burned down almost completely — only the tower survived.

Neo-Renaissance with a Berlin signature

The present town hall was built in 1895–1897 to a design by the Berlin architect H. Guth, the same one who designed the town hall in Tarnowskie Góry — hence the resemblance of the two buildings. The ceremonial opening took place on 22 November 1897. In the councillors' hall hang stained-glass windows made in 1897 at the Berlin Institute of Stained Glass. At the top of the tower stand figures of knights and rulers, including King of Bohemia Wenceslas IV and Duke Bolko II the Small with his brother Henry II.

Practical information

The interior can be seen on weekdays between 8:00 and 15:00, as the building houses municipal offices. It is worth combining the visit with the Church of Peace 0.5 km away, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.