At the beginning of the 15th Century, the property was owned by mayor Arnold Hecht, who was a well-known figure in the history of Gdańsk. After 1411, the property fell into other hands. In 1601, it was acquired by a Gdańsk patrician, future royal burgrave and city mayor between 1612 and 1625 – Jan Speymann. He was the one who commissioned the construction of the grand Renaissance tenement here during the years 1609-1617, on the basis of the project of Abraham van den Blocke.
Its facade is richly decorated with low reliefs of the heads of rulers and commanders, battle scenes and coats of arms of the founders. The statue of Mercy is located above the entrance, with the Latin inscriptions: “Love virtue and it will make you happy, persecute it and it will destroy you”, “Act justly, fear no one”. The building’s facade is crowned with sculptures depicting the cardinal virtues of prudence, justice, manhood and moderation, while the top of the tenement is crowned with the statue of Fortuna.
Legend says that the spirit of the beautiful Judyta Speymann sometimes wanders around the halls of the tenement, whispering: “Act justly, fear no one”.
An interesting fact is that the sculpture decorations for the facade of the Golden Tenement, which were ordered in Italy and transported by the sea to Gdańsk, sunk with the ship. Their place was taken by the decorations planned for the rear facade.
