Three-armed candlestick

The Municipal Museum, which opened on 1 August 1945, played an important role in the cultural life of Szczecin and the whole West Pomerania, hosting the surviving remnants of the German collections and expanding them with new exhibits in the coming years. Since 1947, it operated as the Museum of Western Pomerania, and in 1970, it was promoted to the rank of a National Museum. In the 1970s the institution expanded to another building – the Old Town Hall in Podzamcze, situated in the centre of the oldest part of the city, between the Hay Market Square and the New Market Square. Built for the town authorities in the 15th century, the building intermittently served the function of a town hall until 1937, and later it was destroyed during World War II. After being rebuilt in 1972-1975, the Town Hall housed the Museum of Szczecin History – a branch of the National Museum in Szczecin dedicated to the history of the city. In 2005, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of its establishment, the Mayor of Szczecin – Marian Jurczyk – gave the National Museum in Szczecin a gift – a candlestick made by the well-known pre-war Szczecin goldsmith Walter Schell, who had run a jeweller’s store at the corner of Kleine Domstrasse 22 and Ecke Roßmarktstrasse Streets (now Mariacka and Koński Kierat) since 1865. His wares enjoyed great popularity both among the residents of Szczecin and tourists coming to the city.

Anna Lew-Machniak