The Görlitz Hall Houses

More than 4,000 architectural monuments in an undamaged cityscape make Görlitz an outstanding evidence of European architectural history. The Görlitz hall houses along the VIA REGIA, once an important European trade route and today Cultural Route of the European Council, form the core of the historic ensemble dating back to the city’s heyday in the late Middle Ages and the early modern times. The development of these houses is at the same time a reflection of the European trading system of that time.

The houses of the Görlitz long-distant merchants were used for residential as well as economic purposes. Their owners being wealthy traders did not necessarily travel themselves, but established exclusive business offices in their hall houses, from where they were able to control the market. The houses turned more and more into department stores and fair venues. In addition, the spacious hall houses served as breweries as well, and thus, contributed to the merchants’ wealth in a significant way. Next to the family’s private living rooms, there was space for guest rooms to accommodate travelling merchants, and for numerous ancillary rooms as well.

One of the most remarkable experiences you can have in these early bourgeois houses in terms of space is the wide entrance hall with a passage leading into the courtyard, and with its broad, comfortable staircase taking you into the central hall. This stage-like architectural setting perfectly meets the demand for representation and demonstrates the growing self-confidence in a very impressive way. Especially the staircase is of great symbolic value, since in the 15th century, wealthy dynasties began to use it more and more as an element of representation in their houses.