The New Bench House is also called the Gdańsk Entrance Hall. In 1712-1806 it was occupied by the magistrate court (lay judges). Between 1901 and 1945 its authentic hall served as an art gallery.At one p.m. every afternoon (and at three and five p.m. in the season) a sweet girl's face appears in one of the windows of the New Bench Hall. This is Hedwiga, a legendary 17th century maiden said to have been kept prisoner there by her uncle. In 1891 the girl, heroine of an old romance, became the protagonist of its novelised version entitled 'The Maiden in the Window' by Jadwiga Łuszczewska (Deotyma). Generation after generation indulged in the book and upon arriving in Gdańsk would look for the house and the pretty lass lurking in the window.