The once half-timbered part on the northern side of the row was replaced in 1706 by a new administrative building, the so-called Börse.

[2] The tower dates back to 1378 (lower cubic part) and was raised in the 16th century to its present height.

A lion (the heraldic animal of Bohemia) is located on top of two clocks in a gothic arch.

In the corner between the tower and the Brüderstraße (Brethren Street) a renaissance-styled staircase was erected in 1537 by Wendel Roskopf.

[3] In the 16th century the building underwent several reconstructions which are documented, among others, by one of the keystones of the portico vaults (Michel Schmid - 1539) and remains of a painted wooden beam ceiling on the 1st floor (1593).

The building was still used for accomondating affluent visitors, including Jérôme Bonaparte (1812), Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher (3 and 4 September 1813), Frederick William III of Prussia (1835), Frederick William IV of Prussia (1831, 1833, 1840,1844), Nicholas I of Russia (1838), Alexander II of Russia (1840), Archduke John of Austria (1848), the German Emperor William I (1819), Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia (1866, got his headquarters here during the war).

In the two central halls extending over two floors, goods were presented in daylight and protected from rain.

The pharmacy in Görlitz was first mentioned in 1305 and belonged to a member of a council (Ratsmitglied) and was located inside the cities town hall.

[9] After that the trade association, founded in 1830, met in the premises and used them for exhibitions until they moved to the Humboldt House, completed in 1871.

The Schönhof was the first Renaissance-building in the city built the year after a devastating town fire in 1525 by Wendel Roskopf.

Being opposite to the town hall, close to merchant houses and on the trade route Via Regia, it was specifically built to serve as a royal guesthouse.

It accomondated Elector of Saxony John George II and King of Bohemia Wenceslaus IV.

Powered by the ideas of enlightenment Adolf Traugott von Gersdorff and Karl Gottlob Anton founded the Upper Lusatian Society of Science and bought the house in 1804 to move their Upper Lusatian Library of Sciences into the building.