Žatecká radnice / Žatec Town Hall - Žatec (North-West Bohemia) - Wikipedia Entries on Waymarking.com

Žatec Town Hall (Žatecká radnice), a building of Gothic origin significantly rebuilt in the Renaissance and Classicist style, is today the seat of the Žatec Municipal Office.

The town hall was founded on the initiative of the rich bourgeoisie of Žatec. The impetus for its construction was a dispute between clothiers and cloth sellers, so it was decided to establish a department store run by the municipality in 1362. The municipality combined the construction of the market hall with the construction of council premises. The town hall tower, 47 meters high, probably stood in its place before 1362 as part of an older fortification system. The town council decided on an extensive renaissance reconstruction carried out by Jirí Všetecka from Pardubice in 1559. The town prison was established here in the second half of the 16th century. The great changes of the town hall were connected with economic and administrative reforms in the 18th century, when Žatec became the seat of the regional office. The radical reconstruction (architect J. P. Loschy) of the fire-damaged town hall, which lasted 10 years, began in March 1769. The tower was raised by two floors and acquired its present appearance with an open gallery, dome and lantern. A new floor was created in the main building and the whole reconstruction was carried out in the spirit of the late Baroque. After a fire in May 1788, the truss and onion roof of the tower had to be replaced.

With the reform of the state administration, there was a great classicist modification of the town hall building. Due to the construction of new office rooms for the district office, a complete demolition took place in 1857–1858, followed by a new construction of the three-storey west wing and the adjacent northern wing. The exterior facade, which acquired a barracks look, also underwent a change. The construction was managed by A. Grim. Further building modifications took place during the 19th and 20th centuries, when the Town Hall Café was established and the external façade was newly renovated. The town hall received a new façade in 1987 and underwent a complete reconstruction in 1990–1993. An attic was added, the overall interior of the town hall was repaired and also the interior of the town hall tower. The trusses were replaced, a ceremonial hall and an information office were built. Furthermore, a back staircase was built to the attic, where new offices were created. A fountain was built in the lobby, the author of which is the sculptor Karel Jungwirt. The town hall tower offers an interesting view of Zatec and the surrounding area.

The town hall is a two-storey, four-winged building with a hipped roof. The yard is covered with a flat glass roof. The dominant feature of the Town Hall and also whole town' center is the five-storey prismatic front tower (with gallery and onion roof), which includes a semicircular portal serving as the main town hall entrance. The side entrance to the building is provided by a smaller semicircular portal in the western part of the facade.

Source: excerpted and translated from Wikipedia and National Heritage Institute portal.