Townhouses / Gate / Town Hall

Built in the Renaissance period, its facade is covered with ornaments and picture stories – among them are scenes from legendary early Roman history as presented by Livy. This Roman poet lived from 59 until 17 b.C.. The term “sgraffito” describes a technique of scratching pictures and ornaments out of two-layer facade plaster. The representations on the second floor come with two inscription lines (one above it, one below), whilst to the pictures in the first floor one line of inscriptions refers (below the images). Top left we see Horatius Cocles defending the Tiber bridge alone against attacking Etruscans. Meanwhile the Romans demolish the bridge to block the way. The second illustration shows how the brave armed Marcus Curtius jumps on horseback into a deep gap which has opened up right in the Roman Forum; according to an oracle it will disappear as soon as the Romans would donate the most valuable item they possess. The third picture shows the murder of the Roman king Tarquinius Priscus. He had seized the throne by usurpation.

Two hired shepherds have provoked a dispute with the intention to be sent to the king's court for trial; they want to use this occasion to kill him. The right-side representations of both floors were unfortunately destroyed in later times by the insertion of windows. On the left side of the first floor we see the death of King Hieronymus of Syracuse during the Second Punic War (218-201 b.C.). He had bolted from Rome and then became a victim of military conspiracy. In addition, the story of the treacherous schoolmaster of Falerii is told. This city is besieged by the Romans. The schoolmaster has resorted to a ruse, bringing the sons of citizens of Falerii into the enemy's town. He wants the enemy to take them as hostages. After the Romans have rejected this shameful offer, the students chase the schoolmaster with rods blows back to Falerii. The next picture shows Lucius Verginius, who murdered his own daughter to keep Appius Claudius from molesting her. The bottom series of images shows us this man in each decade of his life and compares him in each phase with an animal: the 10 years' old boy is compared to a goat, the young chap of 20 years is compared to a veal, the man of 30 years to an ox, the 40 years' old to a lion, the man of 50 to a fox . The 60 years' old man is represented by a wolf, the man of 70 by a dog, the 80 years' old by a cat, the old man of 90 years by a donkey, and finally the 100 years old man by a goose.

All motives from Livy's tales presented on the facade of the “sgraffito”-house are based on illustrations from the hand of the artists Johann Bocksberger, Jun. and Jost Amman which were first published in a Latin and German edition of Livy's tales but were published as a picture book a second time in 1573; and this year is the terminus post quem for the sgraffito decorations at Weitra. Accordingly, the date 1540 inscribed on the facade would have to be corrected. The above-mentioned illustrations of Bockberger and Amman were frequently quoted in sgraffito decorations, paintings and stucco work in Austria, but especially in neighboring Bohemia.