Lubin Town Hall

The white town hall with a copper-clad tower is the most recognisable building in Lubin, a town now known mainly for its copper mines. Inside is the Historical Museum, where you can step into a recreated flat of a mining family from the communist era and learn about the events of August 1982. Admission to the museum is free.

History: three town halls on one spot

The first, Renaissance town hall was built on Lubin's market square in 1515, during a period of major growth. It burned down in 1757 and was demolished. The present building went up in 1768–1769 on the site of an older group of buildings: the town hall itself, the municipal weigh house and a tower. Local government has met here ever since, and today it is the seat of the mayor and the town council.

In 1945 the building was badly damaged in the fighting for the town. It was rebuilt in 1950 but lost much of its original character. In 2010 it was restored and the tower was clad in copper sheet, a fitting touch for a copper town. It has been a listed monument since 1981.

What to see outside

The town hall is a late Baroque, two-storey building on a rectangular plan with a tall roof and dormer windows. A square clock tower with a spired cupola rises from the ridge. Shallow projecting bays topped with triangular pediments break up the facades, and one of them holds a relief of the town's coat of arms framed by plant ornament. Walk all the way round, as each side looks slightly different.

The Historical Museum

The museum was created by a council resolution in 2016 and opened to visitors on 17 May 2018. The town hall holds its main permanent exhibitions:

• "The town's history through everyday life" – rooms styled as the flat of a mining family in the 1950s to 1980s, with authentic household items and film footage about the growth of the Copper Basin.
• "The Lubin Massacre" – a multimedia exhibition about 31 August 1982, when three men, Michał Adamowicz, Mieczysław Poźniak and Stanisław Trajkowski, were killed by police gunfire during a peaceful demonstration on the second anniversary of the August 1980 agreements that gave rise to Solidarity. Photographs, documents, films and witness accounts are on display.
• Maps of Lower Silesia – large-format reproductions; the oldest map was made in Antwerp in 1609, the newest is a map of Lubin district from 1831.
• Smaller displays on sport and culture in Lubin, plus a temporary exhibition gallery.

Did you know?

The museum has several branches. Its open-air section is in the Forest Park, on the site of a former artillery range, where you can walk through a replica of the interior of the Polish submarine ORP "Orzeł". By the railway station stands a restored Ty2-22 steam locomotive, part of an exhibition about the first post-war settlers.

Tripto tip

Allow about an hour for the town hall. The museum is open daily, usually 9:00–17:00 on weekdays and 10:00–18:00 at weekends, but check the museum website before you go. A few minutes' walk away are the Gothic Church of Our Lady of Częstochowa and Castle Hill with the former castle chapel, while the 14th-century Głogów Gate Tower stands in the north-west corner of the old town. Wrocławski Park is about 600 metres away.