, native_name_lang = , image = Bdg Jedynak 06-2013.jpg , image_width = , caption = Department Store "Jedynak" in Bydgoszcz , location =

Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz ( , , ; german: Bromberg) is a city in northern Poland, straddling the meeting of the River Vistula with its left-bank tributary, the Brda. With a city population of 339,053 as of December 2021 and an urban agglomeration with more ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

, architectural_style =

Modern architecture Modern architecture, or modernist architecture, was an architectural movement or architectural style based upon new and innovative technologies of construction, particularly the use of glass, steel, and reinforced concrete; the idea that form ...

, classification = Nr.601296-reg.87/A, 10 December 1971zabytek, kujawsko-pomorskie, issued=01.03.2014 , coordinates = , address = 15 Gdanska Street,

, opening_date = 1911 , closing_date = , developer = , owner = Kaufhaus Conitzer & Söhne , architect = Otto Walter , number_of_stores = , number_of_anchors = , floor_area = 4519 m² , floors = 5 , website = The Jedynak in

is a historical building at 15 Gdańska Street. The building stands at the corner where the Gdańska and Dworcowa streets meet.

History

Before the Jedynak was built, the site had been the location of a hotel run by the family Pawlikowski's since the second half of the 19th century. In 1909 the Conitzers, a wealthy Jewish family of merchants, bought the parcel of land where the Jedynak now stands. They then hired the Berlin architect Otto Walter, entrusting him with the task of turning the property into a department store. The building was part of a network of department stores with more than 20 units throughout the Eastern

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

(in particular

Marienwerder Kwidzyn (pronounced ; german: Marienwerder; Latin: ''Quedin''; Old Prussian: ''Kwēdina'') is a town in northern Poland on the Liwa River, with 38,553 inhabitants (2018). It is the capital of Kwidzyn County in the Pomeranian Voivodeship. Geogra ...

Malbork Malbork; ; * la, Mariaeburgum, ''Mariae castrum'', ''Marianopolis'', ''Civitas Beatae Virginis'' * Kashubian: ''Malbórg'' * Old Prussian: ''Algemin'' is a town in the Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland. It is the seat of Malbork County and has a ...

, Schwetz,

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Coburg Coburg () is a town located on the Itz river in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. Long part of one of the Thuringian states of the Wettin line, it joined Bavaria by popular vote only in 1920. Until the revolution of 1918, it was ...

and

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a states of Germany, state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an ar ...

). This chain operated under the name "Kaufhaus Conitzer & Söhne". The store in Bydgoszcz was one of few which was built from scratch.

Prussian period

Otto Walter erected the building similar to the ones built at that time in

Stralsund Stralsund (; Swedish: ''Strålsund''), officially the Hanseatic City of Stralsund (German: ''Hansestadt Stralsund''), is the fifth-largest city in the northeastern German federal state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania after Rostock, Schwerin, Neub ...

and

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

.Bręczewska-Kulesza Daria, Derkowska-Kostkowska Bogna, Wysocka A., inni Ulica Gdańska. Przewodnik historyczny, Bydgoszcz 2003 The design of ''"Kaufhaus Conitzer & Söhne"'' was inspired by contemporary department stores which were then thriving in Germany, in particular the "Wertheim" department stores established in the early

1900s The 1900s may refer to: * 1900s (decade), the decade from 1900 to 1909 * The century from 1900 to 1999, almost synonymous with the 20th century The 20th (twentieth) century began on January 1, 1901 ( MCMI), and ended on December 31, 2000 ( MM ...

in Berlin, Stralsund, and Breslau by

Georg Wertheim Georg Wertheim (11 February 1857 in Stralsund – 31 December 1939 in Berlin) was a German merchant and founder of the popular Wertheim chain of department stores. Early years Wertheim grew up in Stralsund. After being an apprentice at ''W ...

and designed by the German architect

Alfred Messel Alfred Messel (22 July 1853 – 24 March 1909) was a German architect at the turning point to the 20th century, creating a new style for buildings which bridged the transition from historicism to modernism. Messel was able to combine the structure, ...

. The ''"Kaufhaus Conitzer & Söhne"'', which opened on October 4, 1911, was the first department store in the

West Prussia The Province of West Prussia (german: Provinz Westpreußen; csb, Zôpadné Prësë; pl, Prusy Zachodnie) was a province of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and 1878 to 1920. West Prussia was established as a province of the Kingdom of Prussia in 177 ...

n-Polish territory that introduced the concept of a new way of trading supported by large commercial buildings. Such department stores appeared in Germany in 1894, in the early 20th century in

. At its opening, ''"Kaufhaus Conitzer & Söhne"'' offered a wide and varied range of goods including: the ground floor: silk, linen & cotton articles, clothing, aprons, knitwear, wool, gloves, stockings, umbrellas, haberdashery, lace, linen goods and handicrafts; the first floor: wardrobe hats and shoes for men and boys; the second floor: garments for ladies and girls (dresses, blouses, skirts, dressing gowns, corsets and accessories), and furs; the third floor: carpets, curtains, fabrics, furniture, quilts, blankets, rugs, linoleum, leather, beds, mattresses; and the fourth floor: work rooms and studios consisting of dressmaking, underwears and décor.

Second Polish Republic, Interwar period

During Poland's

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the World War I, First World War to the beginning of the World War II, Second World War. The in ...

, the department store was known as ''Be-De-Te'' for "Bydgoski Dom Towarowy" ( en, Bydgoszcz Department Store).

company's profits in 1938 ranked second among the largest department stores in the

. "Be-De-Te" was then famous for its fashion shows. On the second floor there was a cafe.

World War II

Passing years changed the appearance of the building. A fire in 1945 kindled by

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

soldiers destroyed many sections of the edifice: the building lost a sloping roof with round windows. In 1947, the owner ''PSS Społem'' made the necessary repairs and modifications which allowed the building to house offices and warehouses.Puzowska Iwona: Bydgoskie domy towarowe z początku XX w. .Kronika Bydgoska X (1986-1988). Towarzystwo Miłośników Miasta Bydgoszczy. Bydgoszcz 1990

Since 1949

In 1949, the building was taken over by the state General Department Store, restoring its commercial function. In the 1960s, its name was changed to "Department Stores Center" ( pl, Dom Towarowy Centrum), and during the years 1978-1979 the building was refurbished. The label ''Jedynak'' ("only child") stood on the roof of the building for around 40 years, before it was removed in 2000. In 2009, the new owner of the building, ''Centrum Development and Investments'' from

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

, developed a plan to modernize and restore the facility to revive the commercial activity, in close coordination with conservators. In 2012, a facade renovation was performed, which re-exposed statues and reliefs which were originally part of the decor.

Architecture

The building was erected in

modernist Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, an ...

style, alluding to the style of department stores constructed in the

. At this time in

, the "Kaufhaus Conitzer & Söhne" building pioneered the use of

reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete (RC), also called reinforced cement concrete (RCC) and ferroconcrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having hig ...

in a modern design. The facade, rhythmically fragmented with pilaster strips, has a majestic entrance onto Gdanska street: it is topped by an ostentatious portico with a

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedimen ...

surmounted by sculptures inspired by the art of antiquity and depicting

allegorical As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory th ...

female figures: including

Aphrodite Aphrodite ( ; grc-gre, Ἀφροδίτη, Aphrodítē; , , ) is an ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, and procreation. She was syncretized with the Roman goddess . Aphrodite's major symbols include ...

- the goddess of beauty and love; Eris - the goddess of discord;

Hera In ancient Greek religion, Hera (; grc-gre, Ἥρα, Hḗrā; grc, Ἥρη, Hḗrē, label=none in Ionic and Homeric Greek) is the goddess of marriage, women and family, and the protector of women during childbirth. In Greek mythology, she ...

- the mother of the gods; and

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of ...

- the goddess of wisdom and war. Intriguing decorative motives stand on the main facade include: a Greek amphora with dangling vine shoots and vases; theatrical masks (tragic and comic); and animal figures (a sleeping cat, a sitting monkey, an owl protecting its two cubs). The angled corner is decorated with a number of references to

Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; grc, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre. The Romans ...

. On the

of the ground floor window, the image of

Silenus In Greek mythology, Silenus (; grc, Σειληνός, Seilēnós, ) was a companion and tutor to the wine Greek god, god Dionysus. He is typically older than the satyrs of the Dionysian retinue (''thiasos''), and sometimes considerably older, ...

can be found, and above, on each of the slender columns stand 2 sculptures: a boy playing the flute, with winegrapes hanging on the hips; and a child holding basket of fruit with a bird under his arm.

Interiors

The building has a large

atrium Atrium may refer to: Anatomy * Atrium (heart), an anatomical structure of the heart * Atrium, the genital structure next to the genital aperture in the reproductive system of gastropods * Atrium of the ventricular system of the brain * Pulmona ...

covered with a glass roof. The ceilings are supported by

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

s and the four levels are giving onto the

, receiving directly natural light. Travel between stories from the ground floor to the fourth floor is made by

elevator An elevator or lift is a wire rope, cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or deck (building), decks of a building, watercraft, ...

and

stairs Stairs are a structure designed to bridge a large vertical distance between lower and higher levels by dividing it into smaller vertical distances. This is achieved as a diagonal series of horizontal platforms called steps which enable passage ...

, which are smartly separated in 3 different stairways. The interior department store displays simplicity and functionality. The absence of stucco decoration gave to the interior grace and elegance. The building was registered on the Pomeranian Heritage List (Nr.601296-reg.87/A) on 10 December 1971.

Gallery

File:Jedynak 1915 r.jpg, "Kaufhaus Conitzer & Söhne" in 1915 File:Conitzer and son 1925.jpg, Avertisment Conitzer 1925 File:Jedynak advert 1928.jpg, Advertisement "Jedynak" - 1928 File:BeDeTe 1936 37.jpg, Advertisement "BeDeTe" 1936-37 File:Bydgoszcz-modernistyczny portyk filarowy dawnego Domu Towarowego.JPG, View of main facade from Gdanska street File:Bdg Gdanska15 Jedynak 1 07-2013.jpg, Portico topped with Greek goddesses File:Bdg Gdanska15 Afrodyta 07-2013.jpg,

File:Bdg Gdanska15 Atena 07-2013.jpg,

File:Bdg Gdanska15 Eris 07-2013.jpg, Eris File:Bdg Gdanska15 Hera 07-2013.jpg,

File:Bydgoszcz-dawny Dom Towarowy,ozdoby figuralne-małpka.JPG, Figure of monkey File:Bydgoszcz-dawny Dom Towarowy,ozdoby figuralne-sowy.JPG, Figures of owls File:Bdg Jedynak detal 06-2013.jpg, Representations on facade's corner File:Bdg Dworcowa 001 06-2013.jpg, View of facade on Dworcowa street File:Dawny dom towarowy"Jedynak"w Bydgoszczy.JPG, Details on Dworcowa's facade File:Bdg Gdanska noc Jedynak 4 07-2013.jpg, By Night File:Bdg Jedynak noc1 12-2013.jpg, By night with Christmas lights, Dec. 2013 File:Bdg Gdanska15 Jedynak 8 07-2013.jpg, Facade onto Gdanska Street File:Bdg Gdanska pnr 26 07-2013.jpg, Panorama with Alexander Timm House (right) and Department Store "Jedynak" (left)

References

External links

*
Website of "Jedynak" Department store
*
News article on "Jedynak" overhaul
*

{{Bydgoszcz notable buildings 1911 establishments in Germany Cultural heritage monuments in Bydgoszcz Buildings and structures on Gdańska Street, Bydgoszcz Commercial buildings completed in 1911