Poznań Town Hall

Poznań Town Hall (Ratusz, say "RAH-toosh") on the Old Market Square is one of the finest Renaissance town halls in Central Europe and the symbol of the city. Every day at noon two mechanical billy goats pop out above the clock and butt heads, a show locals have loved for centuries. Poznań sits in western Poland, roughly halfway between Berlin and Warsaw, and the town hall is the natural first stop on any list of things to do in Poznań.

Is Poznań Town Hall open? Important 2026–2028 closure

As of October 2026 the building's museum, Town Hall – Museum of Poznań (a branch of the National Museum in Poznań), is closed to visitors. Interior conservation work began on July 1, 2026; the museum's notice runs until at least November 30, 2027, and full reopening is planned for the turn of 2027 and 2028. That means no tickets and no interior visits for now. The good news: the famous goats, the facade and the bugle call are all outside, free and running as usual.

The goats of Poznań: what time and where to stand

The two goats appear daily at 12:00 noon, butt horns about a dozen times and retreat, while a bugle call is played from the tower. Stand on the east side of the square facing the main facade and arrive 10–15 minutes early on summer weekends. Very occasionally the mechanism is out of service (it froze in February 2026), so treat it as charming rather than guaranteed.

The clock with goats dates back to 1551, built by clockmaker Bartłomiej Wolff from Gubin; his contract called for two goats that would butt each other before the hour struck. The popular legend is better: at a feast celebrating the new clock, a haunch of venison fell into the fire, a kitchen boy brought two live goats as a substitute, and they escaped onto the tower ledge and started fighting in front of the crowd. Today's goats returned to the tower in 1913.

A short history

• 1313 – first record of a council house on this spot; the Gothic cellars survive.
• 1550–1560 – Italian architect Giovanni Battista di Quadro from Lugano rebuilt it in Renaissance style, adding a storey, the decorative attic and the three-tier arcaded loggia.
• 1690 – after lightning destroyed the old tower in 1675, a new one rose to about 90 m.
• 1783 – the classical tower helmet was finished and a gilded eagle with a roughly 2 m wingspan was placed on top.
• 1910–1913 – restoration under Prussian rule (Poznań was then the German city of Posen).
• 1945 – the tower collapsed and the interior burned during the battle for the city; it was rebuilt after the war.
• 1954 onward – the building has housed the city history museum.

What to look for on the facade

• The loggia – three levels of arches decorated with figures of the Virtues.
• The attic – a row of painted portraits of Poland's Jagiellonian kings.
• Latin inscriptions running around the frieze, including a warning to judges.
• The tower with its clock and eagle, from which the bugle call sounds.

Walk all the way around: the west side shows the brick Gothic base of the tower, and the south corner gives a classic view toward the old Weigh House and the Guardhouse.

How to get there and how long to stay

• Address: Stary Rynek 1, 61-772 Poznań. The square is pedestrian-only.
• From the main station (Poznań Główny): about 2 km, a 25-minute walk, or a short tram ride to the center.
• From Poznań Ławica Airport: about 7 km.
• From other cities: direct trains run from Berlin (about 2.5–3 hours), Warsaw and Wrocław.
• Time needed: 20 minutes for the goats; an hour with the facade and the square.
• Cost: free from outside. Currency in Poland is the złoty (PLN).
• Winter 2026/27: the museum stays closed; the goats perform year-round.
• Contact: ratusz@mnp.art.pl (as of October 2026).

Is it worth visiting?

Yes, even during the closure. Seeing the goats at noon is the quintessential Poznań moment, and the facade alone justifies the walk. Combine it with nearby museums that are open: the Greater Poland Uprising Museum in the Guardhouse next door, the Museum of Musical Instruments, the Croissant Museum (whose windows face the goats) and the Archaeological Museum a block south.