In the centre of the Upper Square in Olomouc is the historic Town Hall, built in the 14th century and extended in the 15th century. On the south side, above the official entrance to the building, you will find a representative staircase leading to the rooms of the town hall on the first floor. The monumental passage is decorated with emblems, including an image of the white eagle of the Polish Jagiellonian royal family.

History of the Town Hall

The framework of the town hall on a rectangular plan was built in the 14th century. The investment made with the permission of the Moravian Margrave Jošt (Jodok) was accompanied by the foundation of the town council. A market hall, the main source of income for the town, was soon added to the building. The construction, probably partly realised in wood, was completed around 1410. Interrupted work was resumed in the 1530s. Reconstruction at the time included: raising of the tower and completion of the masonry design of the central part of the building. Military actions during the struggle for the Czech crown and the city's support given to the Hungarian pretender to the throne, Matthias Corvinus, hit Olomouc's economic situation, temporarily halting construction traffic.

It was only during the tenure of the Polish prince, ruler of Bohemia from 1471 to 1516, Ladislaus II Jagiellon, that a decision was made in 1474 to further extend the building - to enlarge it with a west wing, add a second storey, build a Gothic hall and a staircase above the main entrance to the town hall. The aforementioned staircase was enriched around 1490 with a sculptural relief heraldic king's gallery, in which the Jagiellonian coat of arms with a white eagle on a red background repeated several times stands out.

In the following centuries, the Town Hall was repeatedly rebuilt, putting more and more emphasis on the representative character of the building. The modern transformations of the building, although they disturbed its statics, did not obliterate the Gothic decoration with the Jagiellonian eagle.

The Town Hall has survived to the present day in its Gothic layout and form. The first foreign president to visit Olomouc, including the city hall, was Lech Wałęsa.