The renovation of the tower cupola crowns the restoration work at the Bolesławiec town hall. It took nearly four years to carry out the extensive scope of work on one of the most valuable historic monuments in Bolesławiec. The work included, among other things: the renovation and restoration of the town hall façade and roof covering, replacement of window and door joinery, drying out the building, cleaning the stone tower, renovating the rooms beneath the side stairs, restoring the stone portals built into the plane of the façade, putting the drinking fountains back into operation, and drying and modernizing the external stairs. The rooms formerly occupied by a restaurant underwent a complete renovation; they now house the Customer Service Office. As part of the modernization, an internal lift was installed, making the building accessible to people with reduced mobility.
In December 2015, emergency repairs to the tower cupola began. The contractor was “P.P.H.U. BLACHMAN” from Pcim. The work involved dismantling the cupola covering, dismantling the dome shell and lightning protection system, and installing a new copper-sheet cupola covering laid in a diamond pattern. The timber boarding beneath the copper-sheet cupola covering was also replaced. The reinforcement of the cupola’s structural elements was replaced as well. The project included impregnating the wooden elements of the tower cupola to protect them against biological wood pests, moisture and fire-safety risks; repairing cracked walls; and installing new lightning protection, electrical and lighting systems.
During the renovation of the tower cupola, documents concerning the history of the town were discovered hidden in the town hall tower. On 7 March 2016, they were presented at the Museum of Ceramics in Bolesławiec. “This is an interesting episode connected with the renovation of the tower cupola,” says Bolesławiec Mayor Piotr Roman. “The documents were found between the ceiling and a supporting beam,” adds Andrzej Kuriata, head of the Public Procurement and Municipal Investment Department.
According to Anna Bober – Tubaj, director of the Museum of Ceramics in Bolesławiec, all the documents found concern the history of the town. The oldest dates from 1776, followed by documents from 1847 and 1903, as well as the best-preserved document from 1928. Copies of local newspapers from 1903 and 1928 have also survived. Unfortunately, the tubes that were found had been opened much earlier, most probably in 1945, and emptied of valuable objects such as coins and a gilded cross. Despite their poor state of preservation, the documents discovered are a valuable source for the history of Bolesławiec.
The oldest document, from 1776, was created when the town hall received a new, copper-forged, gilded sphere, topped by a wooden, gilded eagle-shaped weather vane. The document was placed inside the sphere. The following quoted passage is a translation of the 1776 document: “After the town fire of 1739, the town hall tower burned down completely […]. The tower was rebuilt in 1776 from municipal funds at a cost of 1,563 thalers and 21 groschen. A sheet-metal-covered gallery was added at the top of the tower, and a new copper sphere was installed, above which a gilded wooden eagle soared. The formal completion of the reconstruction took place on 9 July at 2 p.m., in the presence of the tower’s builder Franz Anton Fliegel of Nieder-Harpersdorf (Twardocice) and master mason Sigism. Ullrich. (…). That year, crops promised much good fortune, while fruit trees, on the contrary, suffered from frost and disease.
From 1771 to 1773, rising prices meant that half a bushel cost: 3–6 thalers for wheat, 3 thalers 5 groschen for rye, 2 thalers 5 groschen for barley, and 1 thaler 2 groschen for oats; and because of the famine, particularly in Bohemia and Saxony, many people died. […] In 1776, half a bushel cost: 2 thalers 13 groschen for wheat, 1 thaler 16 groschen for rye, 1 thaler 2 groschen for barley, and 25 groschen for oats.” To commemorate the tower’s reconstruction, the following coins were placed in a tin capsule inside the sphere: one 1776 thaler with a 1764 coin die, one 12-groschen coin, one 8-groschen coin, one 4-groschen coin, one 2-groschen coin, one 9⅗-pfennig coin, 4⅘, 3⅕, 2⅖ and one 6-pfennig coin. The sphere also contained the names of members of the Town Council, school officials and clergy.
The 1847 document was created on the occasion of the sphere being regilded and reinstalled and a new eagle being mounted. An excerpt from the translation of the 1847 document reads: “The new gilding of the double-gold sphere was carried out by the local painter Gotthelf Benno Felix Schoen for the sum of 72 thalers. The sphere is 5 feet 9 inches in circumference, 3 feet in diameter and 2 feet 7 inches high. Its weight is 1 hundredweight 8 pounds. The gilding has been well preserved on the lower part of the sphere (…). The day on which the tower is to be adorned with a new eagle and a newly gilded sphere should be an important one; therefore 9 July 1847 was chosen, just as 71 years earlier, when this same sphere was placed there on that day, along with the eagle, which had deteriorated over the years.
The eagle’s height from the tip of its tail, including the crown, is 6 feet 10 inches; its width is 9 feet and its weight is 2 hundredweight 70 pounds. The gilding was carried out by: master tinsmith Joh. C. Ernst Scholz for the sceptre and orb; master tinsmith G. Gökler for the crown; and painter Alberti for the gilding of the claws. The eagle was painted by porcelain painter Ed. Scholz.” On 9 July 1847, the sphere was removed, regilded and reinstalled. In addition, a new eagle, expertly made of copper by the craftsmen Käsewurm and master coppersmith Friedrich Hampel, was mounted. The sphere also contained coins, a brief historical outline of Bolesławiec, the names of rulers, the names of councillors, municipal budget data and information about food prices.
The 1776 document, found in a cylindrical tin can, was largely destroyed, and only the outlines of letters can be read with difficulty. A brass plaque was soldered to the can, bearing the names of three journeymen: L. Stielow (Rostock), E. Bernhart (München), P. Kettner (Eisenstädt).
The 1903 document is connected with further renovation work. At that time, a small cylindrical can, 25 cm in size, was placed in the eagle’s left talon. In addition to copies of the newspapers “Courier” and “Breslauer Generalanzeiger” dated 15 July 1903, it contained a document from 15 July 1903 describing the gilding of the sphere and individual parts of the eagle. It also contained a small cross that had fallen off the eagle. The work was carried out by master tinsmith Albrecht Säuberlich and master painter Gustav Säuberlich, under the supervision of municipal building councillor Schmede.
The best-preserved document, from 1928, was created in connection with subsequent work. On 2 August 1928, the sphere and the eagle figure were removed. The sphere was gilded with five layers of gold leaf. The interior of the repoussé copper eagle was fitted with reinforcing ribs. The unfeathered surface areas and insignia were gilded. A ball bearing was installed, improving the eagle’s range of movement. Under the direction of municipal building councillor Candrian, the work was carried out by master roofer Karl-Otton Röhrig, master coppersmith Hermann Radecka, master painter Hermann Schäfer, master tinsmith Oskar Kuhn and master locksmith Franz Kotzyba. On 8 October 1928, the sphere and eagle returned to their places. Several issues of Bolesławiec newspapers were also placed inside the sphere.
During the 1928 work, a note by an anonymous tinsmith’s journeyman dated 12 June 1847 was found in the eagle’s tail, wrapped in a rag. Its wording was tragicomic; the note ended: “Master tinsmith N.N. cheated me at the Catholic tower. I received 1 silver groschen for each sphere. Well, I came again and my final payment was this piece [gałganka].” The journeyman had worked in 1842 on gilding the tower of a Catholic church. The text he left behind was revenge on a miserly master. The sphere’s dimensions: circumference – 1.73 m, diameter 1.11 m; height 0.78 m, weight approx. 55 kg. The eagle’s dimensions: height 2.05 m, wingspan/width 2.70 m, weight approx. 152 kg.
The information was compiled by Annę Bober-Tubaj, Annę Puk, Agatę Bojanowską (Museum of Ceramics in Bolesławiec), based on documents from the town hall tower, the chronicle of Ewald Wernicke (1884), and accounts by Artur Schiller, curator of the pre-war museum (1928).
UM Bolesławiec/ii