View of the Bell Tower of the Szczecin Castle from Korsarzy street

At the turn of the 20th century, one of the most prized buildings in Szczecin was the castle of the princes of the local Gryfit dynasty, which is still a landmark of the city. Erected in the 14th century on a hill near the Odra River, it has undergone reconstructions over the centuries, but has also been damaged, the most severe of which caused by the Second World War. After the war, the edifice was rebuilt in Renaissance style and is now a five-winged building with two courtyards: Large and Mint, as well as three towers: Bell Tower, Prison Tower and Clock Tower. Before the war, a popular image of the Pomeranian Dukes' Castle depicted by artists was the Bell Tower, next to which was the entrance to the Mint Courtyard. Along both sides of the lane leading to the castle were small townhouses whose charm was irresistible to artists. The resulting iconography of this part of the castle illustrates the state of the tower before and after the renovation in 1927. This view of the Bell Tower of Szczecin Castle from Große Ritterstraße was also depicted by the German painter Helene Runge (?-1921). The work was probably created around 1910, i.e. before the renovation. Given the sparse information on the artist's life and work, it is difficult to clearly attribute her paintings to a particular style. The impasto technique she used, however, was characteristic of Impressionism. With it, Runge emphasises the oldness of the plasterwork of the castle tower and the surrounding townhouses, but also captures the jitteriness of the warming summer air around midday. The artist has also used impasto in another work in the collection of the Szczecin History Museum, namely the view from the Odra River on the Haken Terrace development (MNS/H/933). Małgorzata Peszko