Stará radnice / Old Town Hall - Chrudim (East Bohemia) - Frieze Art on Waymarking.com

The striking relief of the coat of arms of the Holy Roman Empire, with the coat of the Kingdom of Bohemia on the chest, adorns the gable of the Baroque building of the Old Town Hall (Stará radnice) in Chrudim historic centre. The Old Town Hall, originally a Renaissance house with a Gothic core, is one of the most ornate and striking buildings located in the main town public space - Ressel Square (Resslovo námestí).

The administration of the town passed from the hands of the Royal bailiff to the municipality in the years 1363-1395 and at that time the Town Hall was also established in Chrudim. A building standing on the site of building N° 1, the so-called Old Town Hall, has probably been used for the needs of the city since Hussite times. The Town Hall building was no longer sufficient for the growing needs of the city in the middle of the 16th century. Therefore, it was completely rebuilt in the Renaissance style around 1560. The building was extended in 1563 by arching Fortenská Street leading to the Pardubice Gate. The rear part of the town hall with an arcade was rebuilt into a courtyard before 1590. Vaulted cellars from the Gothic period have been preserved to the present day, where there was a torture chamber and a warehouse for valuables. Chrudim was destroyed by a large fire in 1641 and the town hall was also damaged. The current rich Baroque exterior was acquired by the Old Town Hall building in 1720. The town hall burned down again during a large fire in the surrounding houses in 1806. It was repaired according to the plans of Chrudim builder Jindrich Hausknecht in 1807. Statues of Justice and Love by sculptor Karel Devoty were installed on the Baroque gable towards the square next to the tower in 1808. Clocks from the Chrudim watchmaker Prokop Kozlansky were installed in 1836. The building was also modified in 1895 - builder Emanuel Jerábek set up a new three-armed staircase with rest areas, the courtyard gallery was glazed.

Today's Old Town Hall is a single-storey building with a symmetrical facade to the square. The main entrance to the building is lined with a Baroque portal with a compressed segmental arch and a richly profiled cornice with a pair of volutes. In the middle of the portal is a cartouche with the city coat of arms. Above the crown cornice of the building is a dynamically undulating massive attic with gables. On the side there are smaller gables with stone vases, above the middle more massive gable there are statues, in the middle there is a clock tower. In the shield there is a massive stone gilded relief of a double-headed eagle with a crown-CoA of the Holy Roman Empire, which carries on its chest the CoA of the Kingdom of Bohemia. The municipal office moved to the buildings on the opposite side of the square in 1854 and the Old Town Hall was the seat of the district court until 1927. After that, the building served various purposes. The police office and the municipal prison, the room for temporary accommodation of homeless people, the apartment of the municipal butler found its seat here. For some time, the state embroidery school was located here. At present, the Information Center and the Municipal Police are located here.