Kaunas Town Hall Entrance Ticket

What awaits you at the Kaunas City Museum in the Town Hall?

 

In 1408, after Vytautas the Grand Duke of Lithuania had given the Magdeburg rights to Kaunas, the city’s governance slowly went to the hands of the magistrate – the council selected by city’s residents. A significant role in it was played by the burgomaster. In the 17th-18th centuries, Kaunas council consisted of 4 burgomasters and 8-9 members of the council. Each of the burgomasters – who held the office until their death – headed the council every second year. Two of them had their offices in the Town Hall. The burgomaster’s position was considered to be the most important in the city, and the burgomaster was often referred to as the owner of the city. During the second reconstruction of the Town Hall in the 16th century, in the tower premises, on the second floor, toilet booths with the sewage system were set in the walls for the convenience of the magistrate’s employees. This makes it possible to guess where the offices of the most important magistrate members were.

In 1921, after the establishment of the burgomaster’s office in Kaunas, Jonas Vileišis – the independence act signatory – became the burgomaster of Kaunas. He was the most prominent interwar Lithuanian council worker, leading the city and caring about its welfare until 1931. During his term, Kaunas became a prosperous and modern city. Burgomaster’s office was reconstructed based on the surviving picture of the cabinet; it also presents other interwar burgomasters.