The beginnings of the Rybnik town hall
The market square was the focal point of the old town, a hub of power and trade. Rybnik must have possessed a town hall as early as the 14th century, although the first written mention of it dates back to 1701. In 1758, the original, most likely wooden, building was demolished to make way for a masonry town hall in the centre of the market square.
New 19th-century town hall
Due to the limited space in the old building and the rising prominence of Rybnik (designated as the county town in 1818), a new town hall was constructed between 1822 and 1823 on the site of a former distillery. Completed during the term of Mayor Antoni Zelasko, the new Neoclassical building featured two storeys, a gable roof, and a clock tower with a bell. Over time, town houses and other buildings were added around it.
Architecture of the new building
The new town hall was classical in style. It had two stories, a gable roof, and a tower with a clock and a bell. It was lightly plastered and originally decorated. Over time, tenement houses and other buildings were built around it.
Functions in the 19th and early 20th centuries
For about 100 years, the town hall was home to the City Council. It also temporarily housed the county offices. In 1893, the latter were moved to a new building by the railway station. In the 20th century, there were plans to redevelop the building in the Neo-Renaissance and Neoclassical Revival styles, but these never came to fruition.
Interwar years and occupation
After 1922, the town hall housed the provincial police and the municipal archives. During the German occupation (from 1939), its premises were used, among others, by the registry office, public library and municipal archives.
Communist era and museum
After the Second World War, the building served as the headquarters of the Citizens' Militia and Ochotnicza Rezerwa Milicji Obywatelskiej (ORMO, Volunteer Reserve of the Citizens' Militia). The building became listed as a historic landmark in 1966. In the 1960s and 1970s, it was used as a museum and an archive. Following a thorough renovation and modernisation in the 1980s, the museum extension was added and the facades and tower were restored.
