The Post Office Building in Chorzów () is a public service building erected between 1891 and 1892 and expanded in 1911. It is located in

Chorzów Chorzów ( ; ; ) is a city in the Silesia region of southern Poland, near Katowice. Chorzów is one of the central cities of the Metropolis GZM – a metropolis with a population of 2 million. It is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Rawa ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, and is listed in the register of immovable monuments of the

Silesian Voivodeship Silesian Voivodeship ( ) is an administrative province in southern Poland. With over 4.2 million residents and an area of 12,300 square kilometers, it is the second-most populous, and the most-densely populated and most-urbanized region of Poland ...

History

On October 1, 1885, the land for the construction of a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

was acquired from carpenter Carliczek. The building was constructed of brick between 1891 and 1892, based on a design by Johann Schubert, for the Imperial German Post Office (). In 1911, the building was expanded along Pocztowa Street based on a design by F. Nhagen; with the added wing becoming known as the parcel hall (). In the past, beneath the openwork

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

, there was an overhead telecommunications system, with insulators being mounted on the ribs of the dome. The telephone network ran from the tower dome, while the switchboard was located in the building’s basement. Similar layouts were employed in Breslau (present-day Wrocław) and

Stralsund Stralsund (; Swedish language, Swedish: ''Strålsund''), officially the Hanseatic League, Hanseatic City of Stralsund (German language, German: ''Hansestadt Stralsund''), is the fifth-largest city in the northeastern German federal state of Mecklen ...

—being regarded as modern in the

19th century The 19th century began on 1 January 1801 (represented by the Roman numerals MDCCCI), and ended on 31 December 1900 (MCM). It was the 9th century of the 2nd millennium. It was characterized by vast social upheaval. Slavery was Abolitionism, ...

. Later, this communication system was replaced by cabled telephone lines. The building’s façade was renovated in 2004.

Architecture

A two-storey building erected on an irregular plan in a Neogothic style. Its roof multi-pitched with dormers, covered by roof tiles. The tower built on an octagonal plan, containing a staircase and topped by an openwork spire crowned with a

finial A finial () or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the Apex (geometry), apex of a dome, spire, tower, roo ...

. The façade is finished with clinker brick and green decorative elements, with projections: window openings varied in form, decorated alternately with red and green bricks, featuring wooden casement windows. The main entrance is located on a chamfered corner, in the form of an '' avant-corps'' with a large stepped and tracery gable. The remaining entrances are framed more modestly.

Gallery

File:Chorzow post Pocztowa.jpg, View from Pocztowa Street, featuring the 1911 extension (2018) File:Chorzow post interior.jpg, Interior, ground floor open to customers (2018) File:Chorzow post tower spire.jpg, Top of the tower (2020) File:Chorzow post 1891-1892.jpg, Construction date and postal emblems on the façade (2020) File:Chorzow post mail slot.jpg, Mail slot with German inscriptions (2018) File:Chorzow post plaque.jpg, Commemorative plaque on the northeast façade (2018)

References

{{reflist Buildings and structures in Chorzów Gothic Revival architecture in Poland Buildings and structures completed in 1892 Tourist attractions in Silesian Voivodeship Post office buildings