History of Jatki

Jatki (the old butchers’ stalls) is one of the most beautiful and most visited corners of Wrocław. Strolling beneath the roofed, charming little houses, you can feel the spirit of the Renaissance.

Originally, Stare Jatki (the Old Butchers’ Stalls) was a lane formed by two rows of butchers’ shops, established in 1242. Duke Bolesław Rogatka (the Bald) bought the inns from the monks and handed them over to the town’s reeve; later the town council bought from him the right to run the stalls. In the following years the duke’s decision provoked protests from his successors. They wanted to revoke Rogatka’s decision, but the reeve and the townspeople would not allow it. The dispute lasted until 1261 and was settled in favour of the townspeople.

From then on, the stalls sold mainly meat, and their owners formed a separate guild. The name “Stare Ławy Mięsne” (the Old Meat Benches) first appeared in documents in 1375. At the same time there was a second row of meat stalls, located between Łaciarska and Kotlarska streets. It was called “Nowe Jatki” (the New Stalls) or “Małe Jatki” (the Little Stalls) and formed a separate butchers’ guild. At the end of the 19th century the street gradually lost its original butchers’ character in favour of new craft workshops and small shops.

Until 1843 the stalls belonged to the butchers’ guild; by 1898 meat was sold at only half of them. In 1939 only two butchers still had stalls here: Ernst Heide at number 21 and master butcher Gustav Moese at number 24.