In the city center, at Bankowa Street (formerly Red Army Square and NOT), stands a complex of buildings most often associated by the city's residents with monastic architecture. Few city residents know that it was here, outside the line of defensive walls, that an orphanage was built in 1755. Initially, it consisted of just one building; in 1779, a new wing was added, developing the extensive grounds owned by the orphanage. It was not merely a care institution. To a considerable extent, it also met the city's cultural needs. In 1779, a monthly periodical devoted to local topics began to be published in the printing house that had operated here since 1767. The costs of maintaining the entire institution were enormous, so the Prussian government assumed patronage over it and renamed it the Royal Institute for Pupils and Orphans. This not only raised the orphanage's status, but above all made it possible to provide exemplary facilities for the teaching workshops, which gained fame in the surrounding area.
During the Napoleonic Wars, French troops were quartered here. Consequently, certain adaptations were carried out in 1812, resulting in the complete destruction of the teaching workshops. After the turbulent Napoleonic period, the buildings were restored to their original purpose. In 1841, 147 pupils lived here. After the Second World War, the purpose of the buildings did not change. Partially destroyed during the last war, they were taken over and put to use in the postwar years by the "Konrad" Mining Works. Today, the complex of buildings looks impressive, thanks not only to its location on a hill, but above all to the massive forms of its wings, covered with tall roofs. The main building is particularly representative.
The elongated, three-story front façade has a ground floor set off by a cornice, while the basement windows are separated by flat pilasters with strongly accentuated plinths. The same division appears on the upper floors. The entrance portal is particularly interesting, with a semicircular lintel, flanked by Ionic pilasters and preceded by steps enclosed by a stone, slab-and-openwork balustrade. Two vases integrated into the portal's crowning complete the decoration. Similar, though even more modest, stonework appears on the wall of the adjacent northern wing. Despite their preserved barrel vaults, the remaining buildings do not match the main structure, either in scale or in architectural expression.
For the past forty years, this property belonged to the "KONRAD" Mining Works. It housed a workers' hotel, a boarding school for students of the Basic Mining School, the NOT Club, a cultural center and a library. The buildings were maintained and renovated. Now that the mining works have been placed into liquidation, the buildings are unfortunately neglected. The main building is almost empty and deteriorating. Let us hope that fate will be kind to this undoubtedly interesting architectural complex and that life will once again flourish within it.