While you're gawping at the medieval majesty of the Wrocław's market square (Rynek), bear in mind that it was almost totally rebuilt from a pile of ruins after the Siege of 1945. Such was the remarkable dedication to detail of Wrocław's 'pioneers' – those who resettled here from the east after WWII - that today tourists can even admire a replica of the stone pillory (south east of the Town Hall) used to flog people from 1492 to well into the 18th century, as well as a bizarre looking bronze bear standing on a tree stump outside Piwnica Świdnica (on the Town Hall's southern side). The statue of famous writer Aleksander Fredro (seated southwest of the Town Hall) was also brought from Lviv in 1956 to replace the statue that had previously occupied the space up till the end of the war - that of Kaiser Wilhelm.