Toruń City Hall is one of the largest brick buildings of this type in Europe and the most important monument of the Old Town of Toruń.
For centuries it was the administrative and commercial center of the city, in its vicinity fairs, tributes to rulers, knights' tournaments and even public execution of convicts took place.
The town hall was erected in the Gothic style at the end of the 14th century, including a tower built over a century earlier, which was additionally raised and decorated with a tin helmet. In this way, a single-storey building with a large courtyard was created, imitating the best examples of Flemish architecture. Its interior was filled every day with a crowd of stallholders, merchants, councilors and cutthroats. The tower housed a treasury, a municipal archive and a prison, while beer and wine were laundered in spacious cellars. On the ground floor, there were cloth halls, bread benches, dozens of small stalls and a courtroom, while on the first floor there was a council hall and a large Sala Mieszczańska, in which Polish kings were often hosted. For one of them - Jan Olbracht - the Toruń town hall became the place of untimely death in 1501. The king's heart, who supposedly appreciated the grace of the charming Torunians, still remains in the church of St. Janow.
In the years 1602-1603 the town hall building underwent a thorough reconstruction in the mannerist style, increasing the building by one floor and introducing stone decorative elements in the form of peaks, corner towers and window frames. Flemish architect Antoni van Oppergen, who designed this project, despite the introduced changes, maintained the Gothic character of the entire building. In 1645, the town hall became a place for religious discussions, known as Colloqium Charitativum, which were an attempt to reconcile devout Christian denominations.
The most tragic event in the history of the Toruń City Hall was the fire, which occurred in 1703 during the bombing of the city by the besieging Swedes. At that time, all the roofs and interiors above the ground floor burned down, however, brick walls survived, which allowed the town hall to be rebuilt in the 18th century. Traces of these damages are still visible on the tower - until now it has not lost the tin helmet in 1703, and its the lower part can be seen bricks charred with smoke from over three centuries ago.
The Old Town Hall until the middle of the 20th century was the seat of the Toruń city authorities, but sometimes during the wars its chambers were turned into military hospitals. Today, the building is the headquarters of the District Museum. In its interiors you can get to know the old look and functions of the town halls, as well as exhibitions in which the gothic art, products of Toruń craftsmen and Polish painting of the 19th and 20th centuries occupy a special place.
An old and interesting legend is connected with the town hall, stating that the building was erected in the shape of a calendar. One tower is one year, four gates correspond to four seasons, twelve large halls equal to the number of months, and windows are to be as many as days a year. Apparently, in the leap years, the burghers were adding one additional window so that the calendar did not contain any mistakes. Today, hardly anyone checks the veracity of this legend, more attention is focused on the sympathetic figurines of former burghers located on the windows, made on the basis of a Gothic painting from one of the churches in Toruń. Unforgettable emotions are ensured by the entrance to the top of the Town Hall Tower, from which there is a magnificent view of historic Toruń and the Vistula River flowing at its walls.
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