Main Town Hall (Museum of Gdansk)

The Main Town Hall on Dluga Street in Gdansk, Poland, was the seat of the city council from the 14th century and is the most prominent civic building of the Main Town. The Gothic core dates to the 14th century, and the tall brick tower was completed in the 1480s. After 1556 the building was extended and remodelled in the Renaissance style by the Flemish architect Anthonis van Obbergen, who gave the exterior its Dutch Renaissance character. The spire is topped with a gilded figure of King Sigismund II Augustus. The hall stood at the centre of the Royal Way, the processional route used for royal visits to the Hanseatic city, and it reflected the wealth and political autonomy of Gdansk within the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In March 1945 the Main Town suffered severe destruction during the final battles of the Second World War, and the town hall was gutted. Reconstruction continued for decades, and the building now houses the main branch of the Museum of Gdansk. The interiors are the principal attraction. The Red Room, created in the late 16th century by Vredeman de Vries and a team of local artists, is regarded as the finest interior of the building and has been restored with its carved wainscoting, painted ceiling canvases and monumental fireplace. The Winter Hall, the White Hall and the Great Council Chamber form part of the museum route. Exhibitions present the history of Gdansk through paintings, furniture, weapons, civic regalia and archival material, mixing chronological sequences with thematic rooms on trade, governance and daily life. Many surviving fittings were evacuated or documented before 1945, which made the faithful reconstruction possible. The tower is part of the visit and offers a view over the Long Market and the Motlawa river. The building is a reconstruction in places but the restoration is considered high quality, and it is now maintained as a museum by the city.