, image = Bdg ulJagiellonska 4 10-2013.jpg , image_size = 300px , image_alt = View from Jagiellońska street , image_caption = View from Jagiellońska street , coordinates = , building_type =

Bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

, architectural_style =

Neo-Renaissance Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range o ...

, classification = , location = 8 Jagiellońska Street,

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 ...

, client = National Bank of Poland , groundbreaking_date = , completion_date = 1864 , renovation_date = 1911, 1925 , material = , size = , floor_count = 3 , architect = Hermann Cuno , website = The building of the National Bank of Poland is a historical edifice, located at Jagiellońska street 8, in downtown

Location

The local seat of the National Bank of Poland is delimitated by the corner of Jagiellońska street on the north and

Franciszek Ksawery Drucki-Lubecki Prince Franciszek Ksawery Drucki-Lubecki ('' en, Francis Xavier Drucki-Lubecki''; 4 January 1778–10 May 1846) was an important Polish politician, freemason and diplomat of the first half of the 19th century. He served as the minister of the ...

street on the west.

History

Prussian period

The building was erected in 1863-1864 for

Bromberg 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 ...

's branch of Reichsbank in

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 ...

. It was the first public bank in the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Re ...

, founded on 17 June 1765 by

Frederick the Great Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the Sil ...

. The first building designed in Bydgoszcz as a first outpost of the Reichbank was located at Długa street 52. In August 1863, the construction of a new bank building started at Jagiellońska street 8, opposite the seat of the Prussian region. Site plans were designed by architect Hermann Cuno: he built a three-storey edifice (dimensions 20x12m), with high storeys. The construction was completed in September 1864. Aside bank premises were set habitation buildings for officials. On the ground floor were the operating room, the bank vault, and an anteroom with a connection to the hall. In the anteroom the money was packaged and collected daily by the treasurer. In the western part of the building was located a conference room, and a stairwell. On the first floor there was a flat for the bank manager consisting of 6 rooms, with a kitchen and chambers for domestic. The second floor housed the apartment of two other officials. Particular care was placed on building the vault, with all security measures available at the time such as reinforced walls, ceiling, windows and doors. The apartment located next to the vault was equipped with a contraption to record noises. From 1875 on, the building housed a branch of the Royal Bank first, which then took the name of Reichsbank as the central German

issuing bank An issuing bank is a bank that offers card association branded payment cards directly to consumers, such as credit cards, debit cards, contactless devices such as key fobs as well as prepaid cards. The name is derived from the practice of issuing ca ...

. In 1911-1912, the architect Otto Muller built an additional wing on the east, with two floors, to function as a residential house.

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 ...

At the end of 1916, was set up in

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 ...

the "Polish National Fund for Loan" which worked to relieve the Reichsbank by issuing Polish marks and reduce the circulation of German marks in the governorship of Warsaw. On 11 November 1918 the institution passed into the hands of Polish authorities, who on 7 December declared it as the Polish state banking institution. On 26 January 1920 the former Reichsbank branch in Bydgoszcz had Tadeusz Piłatowskim, as its first director. In 1924, the "Polish National Fund for Loan" was replaced by the Polish Bank SA ( pl, Bank Polski Spółka Akcyjna). In August 1923, the bank building was expanded along Jagiellońska street on a design by Zdzislaw Mączeński from

. The new hall communicated with the old building through a newly built corridor stretching parallel to

street. The work was completed by 15 December 1924. The new

Palladian architecture Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...

features have been well matched to the original building in a successful architectural fusion. During

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of ...

, the Bydgoszcz branch of the National Bank was one of the major centers in the country, making

one of the most important focus of Polish banking network.

WWII period

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Polish Bank activities have been interrupted. Initially, gold reserve was evacuated to

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 ...

and then to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, where it remained until the end of the war. In

, the building housed a branch of Reichsbank, which was evacuated in January 1945 to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Post war period

On 15 January 1945, in place of the "Polish Bank SA" -liquidated- was established the National Bank of Poland (NBP), which Bydgoszcz branch had its seat in the building at Jagiellońska street 8. An upgrade of the facility happened in the years 1964-1967, with renovations of the interiors. As a result of a reorganization, a second branch of the National Bank of Poland in

was established in 1951, a third was created in 1954, located at 4 Jagiellońska street. After another banking system reform in 1969, the NBP seat in Bydgoszcz took the role of controlling and financing (at national scale), various activities: small trade, industry, public utilities and housing. 1989 reform shifted National Bank of Poland's position back as a

central bank A central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the currency and monetary policy of a country or monetary union, and oversees their commercial banking system. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central ba ...

, while the market was opening to

commercial bank A commercial bank is a financial institution which accepts deposits from the public and gives loans for the purposes of consumption and investment to make profit. It can also refer to a bank, or a division of a large bank, which deals with cor ...

s. Since the administrative reform of 1999, the current building houses the branch of the NBP for Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship. In 1997-1999 and 2001-2003, a comprehensive overhaul of the edifice has been performed.

Architecture

The complex of buildings of NBP in

has

features. It has

bossage Bossage is uncut stone that is laid in place in a building, projecting outward from the building, to later be carved into decorative moldings, capitals, arms, etc. Bossages are also rustic work, consisting of stones which seem to advance beyond ...

points on the ground floor. The main

portal Portal often refers to: * Portal (architecture), an opening in a wall of a building, gate or fortification, or the extremities (ends) of a tunnel Portal may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Gaming * ''Portal'' (series), two video games ...

is decorated with

pilaster In classical architecture Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the ...

s, and the whole building is topped with a wide frieze and a

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

with classicist and Renaissance details. The interior is decorated with

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

es. The style of the building refers to Italian Renaissance palaces characteristics.

Gallery

File:Jagiellonska 1901.jpg, Reichbank building ca 1901 File:Bdg ulJagiellonska 4 10-2013.jpg, View from Jagiellońska street File:Bdg NBP 2 6-2015.jpg, View from Franciszek Ksawery Drucki-Lubecki street File:Bdg Jagiellońska NBP b 05-2013.jpg, Friezes and

on the roof