THE LEGENDARY HOUSE OF THE EXECUTIONER IN PACZKOWO

Shrouded in numerous legends, the building is, alongside the defensive walls and the fortified church, the main symbol of Paczków. The House of the Executioner is a distinctively designed, half-timbered building located near the market square, just behind the Nysa Tower. There are numerous legends and anecdotes about the place. According to legend, it was here that the town's executioner and his family resided for generations.

No executions ever took place in Paczków, yet the profession of executioner aroused contempt among the inhabitants of Paczków. Descendants of executioners were not accepted into any other trade and, consequently, they had to share the fate of their fathers.

While learning the trade, they "learned interrogation techniques" that could compel confessions to even the most improbable acts. Executioners often had difficulty finding wives and in the event of death, no one was willing to carry their coffin. The executioner's house houses a municipal "memorial room," which, in addition to a permanent exhibition of historical artifacts, documents, antique prints, vessels, postcards and antique costumes, it hosts periodic art exhibitions, as well. The second room houses the "Executioner's Room," a reconstruction of the apartment of the Paczków executioner.