, image = Plac Wolności 1 w Bydgoszczy 2023.jpg , image_alt = Tenement at 1 Freedom Square , image_size = , caption = Tenement at 1 Freedom Square , building_type = Tenement , classification = Nr.601429-Reg.A/1041, 20 October 1990Narodowy Instytut Dziedzictwa: Rejestr zabytków nieruchomych – województwo kujawsko-pomorskie (pol.). 31 grudnia 2014. ostęp 1.03.2014/ref> , architectural_style = Eclecticism, Neo-baroque , location =

Bydgoszcz, Poland 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 ...

, address = 1 Plac Wolności , coordinates = , start_date = 1896 , completion_date = 1898 , architect =

Józef Święcicki Józef Święcicki (9 March 1859 – 3 November 1913) was a fecund designer and builder of Bydgoszcz, under Prussian rule. A vast majority of his eclectic-style works can still be found all around the city. Józef Swiecicki was part of architects ...

Tenement Freedom Square 1 is an historic house of

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 ...

. It is often displayed on postcards as one of the turn of the century iconic building in Bydgoszcz. The architect, Józef Święcicki, is also the builder of the "Pod Orłem" hotel (Under the Eagle), the oldest hotel in downtown Bydgoszcz. The building is located on the east side of Gdańska Street, on the corner of Plac Wolności.

History

The piece of land on which the house stands, was already built in 1850. The building facing Gdańska Street was devoted to residential purposes, whereas the one giving onto Plac Wolności was used for business purposes. The property belonged from 1855 to 1876, to the widow of Fryderyki Götz, a teacher, then to another teacher, Carl Wolff; in 1895, his son, aka Captain Ernst Wolff, inherited the building. The new owner sold part of the property (at 5 Plac Wolności), and raised funds for the construction of a new, stately townhouse corner. Its designer, Bydgoszcz builder Józef Święcicki, gave to the new tenement the characteristics of an urban and commercial building. Construction started in October 1896, the reception happened on January 28, 1898. Local companies were employed, such as master bricklayer Hermann Lewandowski, master roofer Julius Jakoby, carpenter Menning. The ground floor was devoted to shops and restaurants, while the upper ones displayed for luxury apartments. In the building was installed in 1898 the first electric lift in the city, imported from Berlin. The corner location of the building enabled its symmetrical shape, the symmetry axis being underlined by a tower covered ending in a bulbous dome. Ernst Wolff was the owner of the building until 1916, then his widow Martha Wolff till 1919. At this time, the property included Carl Brasch's photograph workshop, as well as 2 restaurants, "Kaiser-Cafe" and "Falstaff 2", and various other shops. Flats tenants were well-known traders, industrialists, officials and officers, among whom: * Friedrich Wilhelm Bumke and Ernst Müller, directors of

Żegluga Bydgoska Żegluga Bydgoska ( en, Bydgoszcz Shipping) is an inland navigation company based in Bydgoszcz. Its first existence dates back to 1869, when a shipping firm was established in then Bromberg. Since August 12, 2009, it has been integrated into Wroc� ...

; * Heinrich Englemann, owner of Fordon steam brickyard; * Colonel Alexander Kluck, commander of the 34th Pomeranian Regiment of Fusiliers ( ger, Füsilier-Regiment Königin Viktoria von Schweden (Pomm.) Nr. 34). In 1919, the building was owned by a merchant, Stanislaw Czarnecki, then in 1922 by Bank Handlowy in Warsaw which used the ground floor to set up its branch office in Bydgoszcz. Advert Plac wolnoci 1 1900

Between 1929 and 1933, the owner was Romuald Turasiewicz - deputy of

District Court, then Eugenia Preiss. In 1927, a car dealer was inaugurated, in front of a gas station. The building also housed

Wedel Wedel is a town in the district of Pinneberg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Elbe, approximately south of Elmshorn, and west of Hamburg. History Foundation and Middle Ages The first known mention of ...

's store. Upon basis of receipts issued in 1939 by the Germans, it is established that Stanislaw Hass, a master confectioner born in

Grodzisk Mazowiecki Grodzisk Mazowiecki is a town in central Poland with 29,363 inhabitants (2011). It is 30 km. southwest of Warsaw. Between 1975 and 1998 it was situated in the Warszawa Voivodeship but since 1999 it has been situated in the Masovian Voivodesh ...

in 1899, was running a café "Cristal" at Nr.1. Stanislaw Hass later owned the restaurant ''U Hassa'' at Jezuicka Street 24. After the entry of Soviet troops in the city, an NKVD office was set up in the building in 1945. To commemorate Poles killed there during the soviet period, a wall plaque has been unveiled in 1993. After World War II, the building house became the property of the "Administration of Urban Houses" in

. In 1972, interior renovations have been carried out, dividing flats, setting up independent kitchens and bathrooms, and removing the central heating system. During these works,part of the rich interior design, including stucco and decorated stoves were destroyed. In 1992, McDonald's company set up on the ground floor its first restaurant in the city: for this occasion, the building was entirely restored. In December 2016, ground premises have been renovated to house a new restaurant ''Śródmieście'', replacing the fast-food facility.

Architecture

The building has got rich architectural details designed in the Eclectism style with a predominance of Neo-baroque forms.Parucka Krystyna. Zabytki Bydgoszczy – minikatalog. "Tifen" Krystyna Parucka. Bydgoszcz 2008. Its footprint is rectangular, with an inner courtyard as a well and two wings running along Gdańska Street and Plac Wolności. The building has three storeys, a cellar and an attic. Facades are richly decorated with pilasters, cartouche motifs and balconies ornamented with

baluster A baluster is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its cons ...

railing. Above building

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 ...

s, bay windows are topped by gables. The tenement corner is rounded, topped with a tower covered with an onion dome. In the same area, Józef Święcicki also realized many other edifices, among others the Hotel "Pod Orlem" at Gdańska street 14; the Oskar Ewald Tenement at Gdańska street 30; the Józef Święcicki tenement at Gdańska street 63; as well as the Tenement at Gdańska street 86. The building has been registered on the Pomeranian Heritage List (Nr.601429-Reg.A/1041) on the 20 October 1990.

Gallery

File:Plac Wolności w Bydgoszczy.jpg, View from Plac Wolności File:Bydgoszcz, dom, 1896 c.JPG, Facade on Gdańska Street File:Bdg plWolnosci1 5 02-2015.jpg, The edifice after a renovation in 2015 File:Plac Wolności 1 wieża pion.jpg, Tower corner File:Bdg plWolnosci1 5 07-2013.jpg, Detailed cartouche File:Bdg plWolnosci1 7 7-2015.jpg, Detail of the gable File:Bdg plWolnosci1 8 7-2015.jpg, Ornamentation detail File:Bdg plWolnosci1 7 07-2013.jpg, Balcony with railing File:Bdg plWolnosci1 noc6 12-2013.jpg, By night File:Bdg Gdańska pnr9aa 05-2013.jpg, Panorama-Tenement from Gdańska street and Plac Wolności

References

External links

*
Restaurant Śródmieście

Bibliography