Prison and District Court (Wroclaw)

 prison, 1850s construction

The Prison and District Court building, containing the city jail and various division courts. It is built a neo-Gothic fortress with sandstone cornices and decorations of yellow bricks.
In 1835 the city council decided to commission someone to design a new prison, because the existing penitentiary was too small. The new location was approved in 1839, on land previously occupied by the cuirassier's baracks.
The first plans for the new prison were drawn up in that year by the young architect L. Drewitz, and were his first project. Three years later funding was approved by the King of Prussia; the city magistrates, however, decided to amend the plans and hired Berlin-based architect Karl Ferdinand Busse to create a new design, which was approved by the king in 1844. Construction on the new prison began in 1845 and finished in 1852. The building then enlarged twice: first in the years 1881-1887 Oscar Knorr expanded the canal side and then in 1930 Werner Haberland extended the Court Street side.
After WWII the prison and court remained in use, however the prison chapel was demolished in 1951.