In the 18th century, the building was owned by the owner of the local chamber of commerce, and was leased to Christian August, prince of Anhalt-Zerbst. On 2 May 1729 his daughter, Catherine the Great, future Empress of the Russian Empire from 1762 to 1796, was born in the building.[1][2] She lived in the building for the first few years of her life, before moving with her family to the Szczecin Ducal Casle. In 1889 in commemoration of Cathrine's birthplace, on the building façade was placed a commemorative plaque with an inscription in German and Russian.[3]
Originally, it was a five-story building with architectural detail in the neoclassical style. The elevation facing Farna Street was longer, with nine axes, and on the side of Mary Square, the facade had four axes. The individual floors were separated by cornices. The ground floor of the building was decorated with rustication, and windows on the first and second floors were decorated with bands and pediments. In addition, the space between the cornice above the ground floor and the windows on the first floor was decorated with tondos. A balcony adjoined the second and third axes of the facade facing Mary Square. The corner of the building was characterized by decorations in the form of panels with tondos. The top floor of the building concealed an attic lit by small windows, and it was topped with a crowning cornice.[1]
In the 1920s, the building was the headquarters of the council of the Randow District.[4]
After the post-war reconstruction, the building lost all its facade decorations. The building underwent a general renovation and modernization between 1994 and 1995. It gained a postmodernist façade with details referring to its original appearance.[1] Currently, it is an office building of Powszechny Zakład Ubezpieczeń.[5]
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