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House no. 100, The Grodzicki House and later The Rorer House
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House no. 100, The Grodzicki House and later The Rorer House
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House No. 100The house belonged to the renowned merchant and mayor Jan Grodzicki in the late fifteenth century. From 1772 it was in the hands of the municipal scribe, Michał Rorer.
Michalina, the daughter of the latter, married Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann in 1802. This eminent German writer, composer and draughtsman of the Romantic period stayed in Poznań for two years as a Prussian clerk. He concentrated on composing music and his "Cantata for the new millennium" was premiered on the eve of the year 1800 at the Speichert Hotel in Wrocławska Street. The caricatures he made of his superiors put his job in Poznań in jeopardy and he was moved to Płock. E.T.A. Hoffmann's ties with Poznań are commemorated by the Polish-German opera festival inaugurated by the Wielki Theatre in 2001 and a plaque unveiled in the theatre foyer.
In 1901 the house was converted into a large warehouse owned by Rudolf Petersdorf and the façade received Art Nouveau forms. It came under fierce criticism and this was the impulse that prompted the concept of protecting the historical buildings in the Old Market Square. After the war the façade was restored to its original form known from iconographic records and some years ago the corner of the house was adorned with a replica of the fifteenth century statue of Madonna with Child.