House No. 71 (Multifunctional Centre Brána Trojzemí)
You can easily recognize house No. 71 in Horní náměstí (Upper Square); it is the only one with an Upper Lusatian (half-timbered) upper floor. In the past, there was a grocery shop on the ground floor and flats on the first floor, today the premises are divided among the information centre, museum, gallery and there is also a multifunctional hall in a newly-annexed part.
The ground floor was built in the last third of the 17th century on grounds of an older house which was reputedly destroyed during the Thirty Years’ War. In 1689 the building was bought from the establishment by Christoph Schwertner, the supposed first private owner of the building.
Approximately one hundred years later, another, also Upper Lusatian, floor and the truss were constructed. The wooden features dated back to between 1878 – 1888 by dendrochronologists.
The basement is thought to be the oldest part of the house, a bread oven was discovered there during the reconstruction in 2010, but it had to be removed because of the construction modifications. However; even today you can see two original black kitchens built one above another, each of them being situated on one of the two floors. The corridor on the second floor was repaired in a way to give visitors a possibility of seeing different types of construction - besides the already mentioned half-timbering work, you can see the original walls made from both baked and unbaked bricks and also the stone masonry in the black kitchen. Holes in walls left after a direct and indirect heating are the proof of increasing living comfort in that time.
Recently, the house has experienced two phases of reconstruction. First phase took place between 2002 and 2005. The roof was repaired and the half-timbered features were left uncovered as a typical regional element though the evidence of it could not be found in any of the vintage postcards.
Thorough reconstruction continued in a second phase taking place between 2009 and 2010 when the house was transformed into a Multifunctional Centre. The most interesting outcome of the preceding dendrochronological research were the remains of a wooden building which were dated back to between 1219 and 1235 and discovered in a spot where the new museum had been planned. Several earth houses and a 16th century kneading trough with used lime were also found, casting evidence of life at the very beginning of the town’s history.
A much younger object, constructed no earlier than in the 1920’s and situated right to the main frontage, has become a part of the house No. 71. There is a newsagent’s on its ground floor and a multifunctional centre gallery on the first floor. Before the houses were joined, there was a blank space to which the eight windows of the lateral frontage of house No. 71 were facing. The bays in walls reminding us of the original eight windows can be seen inside the information centre. Both, the older and the newer buildings have vaults, the one under The Multifunctional Centre was reconstructed and changed to restrooms with the original well under the floor covered only with a glass panel. A similar well can be seen in Horní náměstí (Upper Square).
