Town Hall in Lodz

The seat of the city authorities of former Lodz is located in Plac Wolnosci (Wolnosci Square), formerly Rynek Nowomiejski (New Town Market). It was designed by Bonifacy Witkowski, author of the town halls in Lowicz and Skierniewice, but also the Protestant church east of Piotrkow Trakt, today’s Piotrkowska Street. He also designed the no longer existing uniform residential architecture enclosing the square.

The town hall was given austere, Classicist form, corresponding to the stylistics of municipal buildings erected in other cities of the Kingdom of Poland in the 3rd decade of the 19th c. The main entrance was situated on the axis of the facade, flanked by two Ionic columns. The only decorative elements are the reliefs in the upper part of the facade, depicting fantastic beasts – griffons and lion heads disposed above the ground floor windows. The town hall is crowned with a cuboidal turret, since 1834 a chiming clock has functioned there, too. The building’s interiors correspond to the economy of its architectural form. In some the 19th century plasterwork and pillaster wall decorations have been preserved. The former town hall now houses the State Archiv.

Address: 1 Wolnosci Square