Town Hall with a tour of the Town Hall and Savings Bank.

 

Krnov Town Hall

 

Town hall building was and still is one of the most important buildings in every town and city. The one in Krnov was firstly mentioned in November 2 1404, when the record in a provincial archive was done. The question is whether the building really was a town hall, or, it was just a burgeois house used as s town hall. During fire in 1544, the town hall completely burnt down.

 

A new renaissance town hall was built later in 1582, under the leadership of a builder Antoni Marhus, who came from Misach in Milano and later accepted as Krnov citizen. After some time, the town hall was extended by a neighbouring house, which was repurchased for this reason.

 

In 1779, the town was again affected by a massive fire, which destroyed even the town hall. Its reconstruction was held in June of the same year. However, the interiors renovation elongated for another three years.

 

In the second half od the 19th century, the town was under the intense development. Soon, a decision to build up a new town hall was made. An architectonical competition was announced. Among others, also a Krnov native Leopold Bauer took part in the competition. Nevertheless, Bauer´s design in an upcoming Art Nouveau style did not succeed.
The winning designed was by a Vienna architect Moritz Hinträger. The construction started in 1901 at the former floorplan of an old town hall and a neighbouring house, repurchased for 70 thousand Austrian Crowns. Total costs reached 330 000 Crowns and building up took 2 years. Besides town hall offices, there were also premises of Unionbank and first aid station. This town hall with an Art Nouveau elements was designed based on the 18th Vienna district town hall building by Hinträger.

 

Rich stucco decorations are preserved in the interiors. In a hall meeting room, paintings by a Vienna painter Otto Bartl, picturing the history of the town, have been preserved.

 

Town hall observation tower

 

A 52 meters high tower is an inseparable part of the town hall. It has got 6 floors. The tower, as well as the whole building, is covered with a roof with rich coloured glazy tiles.

 

The symbol, placed in the middle part of the tower, is visible from the outside. The symbol was firstly mentioned in written records in 1311. It symbolizes three golden horns in a blue section. The exact description of the symbol is not preserved. There are many disputes regarding the symbol meaning. Some of them state that these are the horns of plenty. Symbol colours corresponds with colours of the town flag – blue, golden (respectively yellow) and silver (respectively white). The town symbol is also placed in a town hall meeting room.

 

Just above the town symbol, circa in the height of 33 m, a town hall clock is placed. It announces an exact time by beating the cymbal. This repeats every half an hour. The tower clock machine comes from 1864, constructed by a Munich watchmaker, constructor and inventor Johan Mannhart.. The watch machine was transferred onto an automatic winding system in 1982. In 2007, a mechanical watch system was replaced by an electronical one, whose accuracy is controlled by DCF77 signal with an automatic time correction. This signal secures that the clock sets the time and date itself and it is always accurate, including summer time changes.

 

The tower is wider in its upper part, with four bow and regular windows. This place offers a unique view of the town. From here, you can see many dominant features of the town or neighbouring Poland afar.

 

Town hall clock in numbers

 

* Diameter of town hall clock is 192 cm

 

* A large hand on the dial is 118 cm long

 

* A small one is 88 cm long

 

* The size of Roman numerals is 30 cm

 

* When ticking minute by minute, the hand moves by 9 cm

 

* When ticking hour by hour, the hand moves by 47 cm

 

 

 

Town hall tower opening hours and a ticket sale

 

Town hall tours for public are held from May 31 to September 15 in 2014 every:

WEDNESDAY at 10:45 and 13:45.

 

SATURDAY at 13:45.

 

SUNDAY at 9:15.

 

Tour tickets are available in an advance sale in local Touristic information center at 25 Hlavní square where the tour starts.

 

Admission is CZK 20. Reduced prices available - Children up to 15 years of age, students up to 26 years of age and seniors with a seniority card CZK 10.

 

There have been preserved the rules the citizens of Krnov should follow in times of Reformation, known as "Rules and regulations of the town of Krnov", originated in 1551.

To the Town Hall adjoin a three-winged and two-storey building of the Czech Savings Bank. It is typical for its richly dissected facade in Art Nouveau, built in 1906-07 following the design by Franz Blasch.

Both The Town Hall and the Savings Bank are parts of one building complex.  Moreover you can find in this building a café and a wine room.