Germany (Lonely Planet, 6th Edition) - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [169]
I-Vent tourist office ( 421 362; www.goerlitz-tourismus.de; Obermarkt 33; 9am-7pm Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm Sat, 9.30am-3pm Sun Apr-Oct, 9am-6pm Mon-Fri, 9.30am-3pm Sat Nov-Mar) Private tourist office.
Post office (Postplatz)
Via Regia ( 764 762; Brüderstrasse 3; internet per hr €0.50) Bookshop with internet access.
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Sights
OBERMARKT & SOUTHERN ALTSTADT
Obermarkt, Görlitz’ largest square, is flanked by some striking baroque townhouses on its north side. At the eastern end is the 16th-century Dreifaltigkeitskirche (audioguide €2; 10am-5pm Mon-Sat, 11am-5pm Sun), which has a peculiar layout and an impressive ‘Golden Mary’ altar.
Punctuating the square’s west end like the dot in an exclamation mark is the 49m-high Reichenbacher Turm (adult/concession €1.50/1; 10am-5pm May-Oct), part of the old fortifications and still inhabited until 1904. Town-history exhibits on the numerous floors distract few visitors away from the tower-top views.
Just behind the tower is the 1490 Kaisertrutz, a squat structure also formerly part of the city’s defence system. Behind the Kaisertrutz stands the Theater Görlitz ( 474 70; www.theater-goerlitz.de; Demianiplatz 2), which some consider Dresden’s Semperoper in miniature.
East of here, on Marienplatz, is the Dicker Turm (Fat Tower), with walls almost 6m thick in some places. Walking south on Steinstrasse, past the Frauenkirche, you’ll soon reach the Karstadt department store (An der Frauenkirche 5-7), which would be unremarkable were it not for its amazing art-nouveau interior, canopied by a kaleidoscopic glass ceiling. Another architectural delicacy from the same period is the sparkling Strassburg Passage, a light-flooded shopping arcade connecting Berliner Strasse and Jacobstrasse.
UNTERMARKT & EASTERN ALTSTADT
The most beautiful patrician houses flank the Untermarkt, linked to Obermarkt by Brüderstrasse. The building at the square’s centre is the Alte Börse (old stock exchange), now a hotel.
First up on your right, on the south side of Untermarkt, is the magnificent 1526 Schönhof, Germany’s oldest residential Renaissance structure. It now houses the Schlesisches Museum zu Görlitz ( 879 10; Untermarkt 4; adult/concession €4/2.50; 10am-5pm Tue-Sun), which offers a creatively presented romp through the rich cultural history of Silesia in 17 themed rooms (start at the top). English-language audioguides were set to be introduced in late 2009.
Immediately opposite, taking up the square’s entire western side, is the Rathaus (town hall), begun in 1537 and built in three sections and styles. If you take a moment to observe the lower of the two clocks on the tower, you’ll notice that the helmeted soldier in the middle briefly drops his chin every minute.
As you continue clockwise, other buildings of note are the peculiar late-Gothic Flüsterbogen at No 22, where you can whisper sweet nothings to your sweetie via the reverberating stone arch in the entranceway, and the Renaissance Ratsapotheke (pharmacy) at No 24, easily recognised by its spidery sundial.
Circling the square eventually takes you to Neissstrasse. At No 30 stands the town’s only pure baroque house, the Barockhaus. Normally a museum filled with fancy furniture and art, it is closed until summer 2011 for renovation. Also note the Renaissance Biblisches Haus next door, whose facade depicts scenes from the Bible carved in sandstone. The river and the Altstadtbrücke are a few more steps downhill. Cross to get a taste of what Görlitz was like 15 years ago.
Turn left on Kränzelstrasse for the Gothic Peterskirche ( 11am-6pm Mon-Sat, 11.45am-6pm Sun), where top of the bill is the unusual ‘Sun Organ’ fashioned by Silesian-Italian Eugenio Casparini, with tiny pipes shooting off like rays. With 6095 tubes, the organ took 11 years to restore (1995–2006) at a cost of 1.5 million euros.
HEILIGES GRAB
A 10-minute walk along Grüner Graben, north of the Reichenbacher Turm, drops you at the Heiliges Grab (admission €1.50; 10am-6pm Mon-Sat, 11am-6pm Sun), an exact replica of the original