The Untermarkt is the central square of Görlitz's Old Town and one of the finest market squares in Germany. It is surrounded on all sides by Renaissance and Baroque burgher houses — merchants' homes built to proclaim wealth and status — their facades intact after nearly 600 years. The square slopes gently and is paved in traditional cobblestones, and the overall effect is of stepping directly into a 17th-century townscape.
The Rathaus (town hall) on the east side is worth examining closely: the tower clock has three faces showing different time systems that were used simultaneously in the medieval town, a feature unique in Germany. The inscription above the main doorway in Latin translates roughly as "The laws are the foundation of free cities." Standing in the square in the early morning, before the tourists arrive, you get a real sense of what a prosperous pre-war German merchant town looked like.