Tourist Attractions in Gorlitz

To the north of the Dicker Turm in Görlitz's Demianiplatz, is the Kaisertrutz, a massive round tower (1490), now housing a section of the Municipal Museum on the history of the town. Nearby is the handsome Reichenbacher Turm (before 1376; upper part 1485, Baroque roof 1782), with the arms of the Lusatian League of Six Cities, of which Görlitz was a member. In this tower is another section of the Museum.

To the southwest of Görlitz is the Landskrone (420 m/1,378ft), with an outlook tower, a restaurant and a monument commemorating the early 19th C. writer Theodor Körner.

There are a number of notable buildings in the old streets to the east of Görlitz's Untermarkt. At Nei`strasse 30 is a building with a magnificent Baroque doorway (1726-29) which now houses the Municipal Art Collections. At Nei`strasse 29 is the "Biblical House" (1570), with reliefs of Old and New Testament scenes, one of the finest examples of German Renaissance architecture.

The most interesting Early Renaissance house in Görlitz is at Peterstrasse 8 (by W. Roskopf the Elder, 1528).

To the north of Görlitz's old town, beyond the Nikolaiturm (St Nicholas's Tower; before 1348) is the Nikolaivorstadt, the site of the earliest settlement, with the Nikolaikirche (St Nicholas's Church; present building 1452-1520) and its churchyard, the Nikolaifriedhof (many Baroque monuments, including the tomb of the philosopher Jacob Böhme).

In the west of the Nikolaivorstadt in Görlitz is the Heiliges Grab (Holy Sepulcher; 1481-1504), a copy of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, with representations of the scenes of Christ's Passion.

In the northeast of the old town can be found the most imposing medieval building in Görlitz, the parish church of SS. Peter and Paul (1423-97), the Late Gothic successor to a Late Romanesque basilica of around 1230. It has Renaissance porches on the side doorways and two neo-Gothic towers (1889-91). St George's Crypt ranks as the finest Late Gothic interior in Upper Lusatia.

The streets and buildings around the Postplatz, in Görlitz's modern town center, date mainly from the late 19th C. The only medieval building is the Late Gothic Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady; 1459-86).

On the right-hand side of Brüderstrasse (No. 8) in Görlitz, projecting slightly into the street, is the Schönhof, with a corner oriel richly articulated by pilasters, which is believed to be the oldest burgher's house in Germany (by W. Roskopf the Elder, 1526).

Near the Warenhaus (department store) in Görlitz stands the Dicker Turm (before 1305), with the town coat of arms carved in sandstone (1477). To the left is the Annenkapelle (St Anne's Chapel; 1508-12), with a series of Late Gothic statues.

On the south side of the Obermarkt in Görlitz stands the Trinity Church (choir 1371-81, nave 15th C.). Notable among its Late Gothic furnishings are the monks' stalls (1484), an "Entombment" (1492), a figure of Christ resting (c. 1500), an altar with the "Golden Virgin" (c. 1511) and a High Baroque reredos.

Brüderstrasse, which leaves the west corner of the Obermarkt, is lined with handsome Renaissance and Baroque buildings.

To the east of the two towers in Görlitz lies the old Obermarkt. On the north side of the square (No. 29) is a Baroque house of 1718 with a riot of sculptural decoration on its colossal pilasters.

Near the parish church are the fortress-like Waidhaus or Renthaus, Görlitz's oldest secular building, and the compact Vogtshof (now occupied by a boarding school) on the steep slope down to the river Neisse, built in the early 19th C. on the site of an old castle.