Public consultations are underway for the renovation, conservation and adaptation of the buildings of the so-called Orphanage Complex.The city plans to create a House of Literature in the buildings, located in close proximity to the Polish Postal Defenders Square, and to start activities there related to promoting and developing the literary heritage of Gdańsk
The aim of the project ‘Restoring the value of the seventeenth-century Orphanage Complex in Gdańsk with the conservation and reconstruction of the monument and adaptation of the buildings and grounds of the former institution for new functions – culture and tourism’ is to protect it from degradation and to make available to the inhabitants, artists and tourists – by creating a new cultural institution – one of the city’s most valuable monuments, which is a continuation of the development of the historic centre of Gdańsk
The building before renovation. Photo author: † Yanek/photopolska.eu
The House of Charity (German: Spend- und Waisenhaus) was built in 1699 on the initiative of the Gdañsk authorities as a shelter for the homeless, beggars and orphans whose numbers had increased as a result of the war with Sweden. In 1749 the building was extended by adding a smaller wing. It remained in use until 1906, when the tenants were moved to a new asylum in Wrzeszcz. Two years later a medical facility was established in the building, and in the interwar period it was the seat of the editorial office of Danziger Volksstimme, the press organ of the Social Democratic Party of the Free City of Danzig. The building survived the Second World War and was entered in the register of monuments in 1967. In 2016, the building’s tenants were evicted, and the building itself (the two existing buildings of the former orphanage and the former school building scheduled for reconstruction) was assigned to house the Daniel Chodowiecki and Günter Grass House cultural centre (or House of Literature). Refurbishment of the building began in July 2022
Gate to the courtyard of the House of Charity in 1906 and 2011, photo by A. Schumann (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 PL) and † Yanek/photopolska.eu
Gdansk City of Literature invites you to take part in a public consultation on a new cultural facility for residents, artists and tourists! You can submit your comments and observations on the planned activities via an online form on the House of Literature website. Thanks to active participation and involvement of residents, it will be possible to prepare an offer that fully meets the needs and expectations of all target groups of this project
Source: gdansk.pl
Read also: Architecture | Metamorphosis | Renovation | History | Gdańsk | Culture
