A Gothic town hall of Stargard from the late 14th century, rebuilt in 1948-1961, the seat of the Town Council, with a clock and a bugle call at 12 noon.
Stargard Town Hall is one of the town's oldest historic buildings and is still the seat of the Town Council. It stands at Rynek Staromiejski 1. It is of brick, Gothic, from the late 14th century, and after wartime destruction was rebuilt in 1948-1961.
The site was first occupied by a single-storey brick hall known as the Merchants' House (1250-1280), in which the town aldermen gradually began to meet. At the end of the 14th century the building was completely rebuilt as the seat of the town authorities and the merchant patriciate. The ground floor continued to serve as a market hall with a lock-up, the first floor housed the mayor's office, the chancery, the councillors' chamber, the courtroom and the treasury, and the cellars served as storerooms for visiting merchants. On feast days the hall on the ground floor was used by townspeople for dancing.
A great fire in 1540 destroyed more than 100 buildings, including the town hall, and the rebuilding took 29 years. Further fires came during the Swedish wars of the 17th century, when the town archive burned, and in 1945, together with the whole Old Town. After the Second World War the ruins were secured and the town hall was rebuilt on the basis of drawings and photographs, restoring its appearance from the late 19th century.
The original town hall had a single storey, with stepped gables decorated with blind windows, pointed-arch windows and a gabled roof with rows of attic windows. In the rebuilding after the fire of 1569 rich tracery decoration of the gables was introduced and the shape of the windows was changed. After 1945 the entrance on the eastern side was removed, the windows were altered, the whole building was plastered, and the interiors were adapted to the needs of administration.
In June 2000 a sixty-kilogram clock was installed on the front gable, which strikes the full and half hours. Every day at 12 o'clock a bugle call sounds from the town hall.
Besides the seat of the Town Council and the Wedding Hall, the town hall is home to the Friends of Stargard Society and the headquarters of the Stargard scout district. The interiors therefore serve mainly administration, and visitors will find it easiest to view the building from outside.
Right next door stands the Guardhouse (Odwach).
Also close by is the Archaeological and Historical Museum.
About 100 m further on rises the Collegiate Church of St Mary, Queen of the World.
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