A Baroque portal with a splayed triangular pediment catches your eye. Three figures adorn it. This is Zum Goldenen Apfel in Gorlitz. This remarkable house boasts a history stretching back to the 13th-16th centuries. It has been a brewery a patricans house and much more.
Zum Goldenen Apfel sits proudly in Gorlitz’s historic Old Town. Its significance goes beyond its beauty. It stands as a testament to the city’s rich past. It has housed prominent figures. Among them were councilors mayors doctors judges notaries historians brewers hat makers and gardeners. Today it belongs to an architect and an art historian.
The house’s original facade was made of exposed brick with grey window frames. Three large arcades faced the Neisse Street. Only one fully usable floor existed above the ground floor. A major fire in 1726 caused extensive damage. The building was then rebuilt in Baroque style by Christian Schaffer. He was a bookbinder and historian.
Schaffer’s rebuilding brought the magnificent portal into being. The three sandstone figures above it are the goddesses Athena Aphrodite and Hera. They represent the protagonists of the Judgement of Paris. They competed for the golden apple. The house takes its name from this myth. Aphrodite won the prize for beauty. Schaffer however placed Athena the goddess of wisdom in the middle. He relegated Aphrodite to a side position. The keystone above the portal shows the combined coat of arms of Schaffer and his wife Regina Schon. It bears the date 1727. The inscription CHRISTO SOSPI=TANTE means “protected by Christ” a blessing for the house.
Zum Goldenen Apfel was divided into numerous apartments in the mid-19th century. It also housed a restaurant and a malt coffee factory. Later it held a butcher shop and a coal business. The house stood largely empty and derelict from the 1970s. Extensive restoration work took place between 2002 and 2003. Funds from urban renewal programs the German Foundation for Monument Protection and the Gorlitz Old Town Foundation made this possible. Zum Goldenen Apfel is alive once again.
Today two holiday apartments occupy Zum Goldenen Apfel. They are beautifully furnished with original features. Baroque stucco ceilings and terra cotta floors highlight the historical charm. The apartments are a delightful blend of old and new. They offer a unique glimpse into Gorlitz’s past.