The striking Gloria-Palast building is one of the most important examples of inter-war modernism in Upper Silesia. The building is located in the south-western part of Bytom’s market square, at 2 Szymanowskiego St. It was erected in 1931 as a residential and service building with entertainment facilities and was distinguished by its simple body, functionalist form and façade covered with bright ceramics. For many years it also housed one of Bytom’s longest-running cinemas.
Gloria-Palast – functionalist architecture
The eight-storey building designed by architect Herbert Hetter was erected on a steel substructure. Its form consists of a set of interlocking cuboidal blocks. The interior layout was also designed in the spirit of modernist functionalism. From the beginning, the Gloria-Palast had a combined function: it housed flats, a café, a dance hall and a cinema. The light-coloured ceramics covering the façade followed the aesthetic trends of the time, and the recent renovation and reconstruction of the tiles hark back to the building’s original appearance thanks to precise conservation design.
The history of the Gloria cinema
The cinema located in the rear of the building began operating on 8 November 1931 under the name Capitol, from the company that leased the premises. Initially it was managed by Franz Wawrzyczek and owned by the Bauring company. Around 1934, it adopted the name Gloria. Projections were held continuously until the end of 1944. In early 1945, the facility was devastated by the Red Army. Already in May of the same year, the cinema resumed operations as Odrodzenie, run by Jan Kołodziej’s company. It was the first operating cinema in Bytom after the war. In later years, it reverted to the name Gloria. It was finally closed down on 30 June 2006.
Cinema fire and consequences
On the night of 5 April 2011, the cinema building was severely damaged by fire. The fire was started by three minors who threw lit candles into the cinema hall during an attempt to steal cables. The auditorium and the roof of the building were destroyed. In 2019, after eight years of effort, the GSM building manager was awarded compensation of approximately PLN 4 million, but this was not spent on renovating the cinema.
Gloria-Palast and the memory ofthe site
The reconstruction of the cinema in its current location is not currently being considered for financial and formal reasons. Nevertheless, activities are planned to commemorate its history. The courtyard of the building, which is still being developed, is being considered for occasional film screenings. There is also the idea of creating a mural on the wall connecting the former cinema and residential areas, which would remind people of the former use of the site.
Source: bytomski.pl, bytom.pl
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The part with the cinema before the fire and the same place today. Photo by MephiR, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons and Google Maps
