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Altitude: 124 m. ASL.
Region:
Poland > dolnośląskie
Cache type: Traditional
Size: Small
Status:
Archived
Date hidden: 17-11-2015
Date created: 17-11-2015
Date published: 17-11-2015
Last modification: 08-10-2017 
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Rated as: Average
Cache attributes
Description
PL
The former city prison, situated in Więzienna street, was probably built in the second half of the 14th century. Up until that point all offenders, regardless of their origin, were kept in the dungeon of the tower of the town hall. After the construction of the city prison only people from higher social classes were kept in the town hall dungeon, while the city prison housed all the other criminals.
The city prison was originally built as a two-storey tower on a square plan, which reflected to the tradition of the castle towers with dungeons on the first floors. From the early 16th century the building was gradually extended to form a closed quadrangle with an inner courtyard. The prison took on its present shape in the 1680’s.
The former main prison rooms were located in the basement of the north wing. Criminals from the lower social classes and those considered to be extremely dangerous were kept there. Interrogations, often accompanied by tortures, were held in the basement of the eastern part (today these rooms are occupied by a pub).
In 1733 the building could accommodate about a hundred prisoners. It is believed that Veit Stoss was among the famous people sentenced there. The sculptor, accused of forging a promissory note, allegedly spent a year there after having had a stigma branded on his cheek. According to other historical sources, the famous sculptor was actually in Wrocław on several occasions also in connection with the case, which was the cause of his conflicts with the law.
He was looking for his debtor, to whom he had lent the equivalent of two tenement houses, but after a few days he returned to Nuremberg. There the artist was sentenced to stigmatization (but not imprisonment) for forging a promissory note against his debtor in order to recover the money he had lent him.
The building ceased to operate as a prison at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. Later it housed philanthropic institutions and a pawnshop. Today it houses a department of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnology PAN, and a popular club called Pracoffnia.
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