Old Town Hall in Malbork

Malbork is all about the castle, yet a few hundred metres from the Teutonic walls stands the town's other medieval landmark: a Gothic town hall dating from around 1380. It is one of only a handful of buildings from the old town that survived the destruction of 1945. The brick building with its battlements, corner turrets and arcades now stands among post-war apartment blocks, which shows just how little of the medieval town below the fortress is left.

History: from council seat to cultural centre

The town hall was built between 1365 and 1380 on the site of an earlier building. The city's Visit Malbork website dates its present form to the second half of the 14th century and notes that it stood on the east side of the market square. Every major siege of the town and castle, especially in the 15th century, ended with rebuilding. The late Gothic south gable is a trace of the reconstruction after the Thirteen Years' War (1457–1460).

After the great town fire of 26 July 1899, the building was restored under Conrad Steinbrecht, the conservator of the castle. Bernhard Schmid rebuilt the roof and placed the cross, ball and weather vane dated 1686, all saved from the flames, back on the turret. The mayor and council met here until 1929, when the New Town Hall (today's city office) opened. The German police then moved in, and during the Second World War Polish forced labourers deported to the Żuławy farmlands died here. After the war the building housed the "Ratusz" youth cultural centre for many years.

What to see

• The arcades – the town stresses that these are the only surviving arcades in Malbork.
• Pointed-arch recesses with windows on the upper floor, where the council and court chambers once were.
• Battlements, overhanging corner turrets and decorative gables, plus a neo-Gothic lantern on the roof ridge.
• The "Młody Las" plaque – it commemorates a Polish underground organisation active in Powiśle, Warmia and Masuria in 1941–1945, funded by the Malbork Guides' Association.
• The contrast – the surrounding blocks were built on the site of the ruined old town.

Did you know?

The roof turret once held a bell cast in 1407, and from the 19th century the vaulted Gothic cellars housed the "Ratskeller" restaurant. In 1925 the mayor had a memorial room to Paul von Hindenburg opened there. Apart from the town hall, all that remains of Gothic Malbork's old town are two town gates, the parish church, fragments of the walls and the walls of the Latin School.

Tripto tips

• The town hall is not a museum. It belongs to the Malbork Centre for Culture and Education (MCKiE), and the town reports multi-stage renovation works, so the interior is not regularly open to visitors (as of October 2026).
• You can view the exterior free of charge at any time; 10–15 minutes is enough.
• Combine it with a walk: castle – St John's Church – town hall – St Mary's Gate – Potters' Gate. There is a car park in the paid parking zone by the Potters' Tower (Mon–Fri 8:00–17:00, PLN 2 per hour).