Town Hall and Market Square, Międzyrzecz

Every day at noon the town bugle call sounds from the tower of Międzyrzecz town hall. The pink-and-white building with its neo-Gothic spire stands in the middle of an irregular square, surrounded by townhouses and St Adalbert's Church. It is a good place to start a walk around a town with a castle founded by King Casimir the Great and a Gothic parish church.

History of the town hall

The first town hall was built in 1581 under a privilege from King Stephen Báthory. It burned down in 1666, and its successor, built in 1670, was destroyed by fire in 1731. The present building went up in 1743–1752 under Jacob Kinzel and Jacob Roestel. In 1831 the fire-damaged tower was rebuilt and the whole building given its present Neoclassical form. Sources date the individual stages differently, but agree that today's appearance results from the rebuilding in the first half of the 19th century. Further renovations followed in 1924 and in the 1990s.

In 1994 a tin box containing seals, documents and photographs, placed there in the early 20th century, was found in the top of the tower – a time capsule from the days when the town was German Meseritz.

What to see

• The town hall – two storeys, a half-hipped roof, pilasters on the façades and a large dormer with three arched windows and an oculus on the south side. Above the roof rises a square tower with clock faces and a tall open spire. Inside, groin and barrel vaults survive.
• The market square – an irregular space roughly 85 by 80 metres with a fountain. Townhouses close it on three sides, and on the north stands the Neoclassical St Adalbert's Church.
• The green on the east side – until February 1945 the grandest townhouses stood here; they were destroyed by Soviet troops. In one of them, the house of Jan Jakub Volmer, Napoleon Bonaparte spent a night in 1806. Local lore says an assassination attempt from the town hall tower was planned.

Tripto tip

The square is open at all times, and the town hall houses the mayor's office, so you mainly see it from outside. Come before 12:00 to hear the bugle call. The square was remodelled in 2002 and closed to traffic, making it pleasant to stroll. From here it is a few minutes' walk to the Gothic parish church of St John the Baptist and the castle ruins with their museum. Allow 20–30 minutes for the square itself.