Landmarks

Town Hall in Stargard

The town hall in Stargard is one of the oldest monuments of the town — its history reaches back to the medieval Merchants House of 1250–1280. Today the Gothic building with stepped gables once again serves representative functions, and at its top works a clock synchronised with the atomic time standard in Frankfurt am Main.

From a market hall to the council seat

The first structure was a single-storey masonry merchants hall, where in time the town jurymen began to hold their sessions. At the end of the 14th century the house was rebuilt into the seat of the town authorities: the ground floor kept a market hall and a jail, while the upper floor held the mayor's office, chancellery, councillors' hall, courtroom and treasury, and the cellars served visiting merchants as warehouses.

Fires and rebuildings

The great fire of 1540 destroyed more than a hundred buildings, including the town hall; it was rebuilt 29 years later, adding rich tracery decoration to the gables. Another fire came with the Swedish wars of the 17th century — then the priceless town archive burned. The final blow was delivered by the Second World War: the building burned in 1945, and the reconstruction lasted from 1948 to 1961 — drawings and photographs were used to restore its late 19th-century appearance.

A clock with atomic accuracy

In June 2000 a 60-kilogram clock was mounted on the front gable, striking full and half hours, synchronised with the atomic standard. Every day at 12:00 the town-hall call composed by Waldemar Cieślak sounds from the building. The Municipal Council sits here, weddings are held in the Wedding Hall, and the Society of Friends of Stargard has its seat here as well.