Lost Warsaw. We’ll never see these tenement blocks again

‘Lost Warsaw’ refers to the nearly 85 per cent of buildings destroyed during the Second World War. The greatest damage was caused by the Ghetto Uprising, followed by the Warsaw Uprising. After their defeat, German troops spent the following months methodically blowing up and burning down the remaining buildings. By January 1945, the left bank of Warsaw was a vast sea of ruins. After the war, the time came for reconstruction and changes to the city’s layout. Which valuable tenement houses did not survive those difficult times? We present profiles of seven selected buildings.

The Beyer Tenement. A jewel of Krakowskie Przedmieście

On the corner of Krakowskie Przedmieście and Królewska Street stood, until 1944, one of Warsaw’s most impressive tenement houses. It was built between 1863 and 1864 to a design by Józef Orłowski, on the site of the demolished Ossoliński-Mokronowski Palace. Its developer was Karol Beyer, a well-known photographer and pioneer of Polish photography. The Neo-Renaissance building was distinguished by its corner rotunda, a characteristic feature of this section of the Royal Route. Władysław Marconi later employed a similar design element when designing the gloriette of the Bristol Hotel. The tenement’s façade was exceptionally richly decorated. Twelve allegorical figures were placed between the second and third floors. Leonard Marconi, Andrzej Pruszyński and Faustyn Juliusz Cengler worked on the decoration. The façade was complemented by medallions depicting eminent Poles, created by Antoni Frejtag. Nine shops operated on the ground floor, including the E. Wende & Comp. bookshop, Edward Hering’s tea shop and E. Wedel’s shop. During the interwar period, the building also housed offices and a branch of the *Ilustrowany Kurier Codzienny* newspaper. In September 1944, the building burnt down and partially collapsed. The surviving ruins were demolished in the late 1940s. In their place, an office block for the Ministry of National Defence, designed by Bohdan Pniewski and known to Warsaw residents as the ‘Kicked House’, was built. No trace of Beyer’s tenement house remains.

The tenement house at Pięć Rogów and a mark in the pavement

One of the best-known tenement blocks in pre-war Śródmieście was the one at the junction of Zgoda, Szpitalna and Chmielna streets. It was built between 1878 and 1880 to a design by Franciszek Brauman. Originally, it was a two-storey Neo-Renaissance building with a mansard roof. Aleksander Gierymski had his studio here. In 1900, the new owners, Mr and Mrs Gronowski, decided to renovate the building and add further storeys. The tenement house quickly became an important centre for commerce and social gatherings. In 1906, Karol Briesemeister opened the famous ‘Szwajcarska’ confectionery here. The upper floors were occupied by the editorial offices of *Le Messager Polonais*, *Gazeta Polska* and *Dzień Polski*. The building was also famous for its advertisements. In 1928, a huge Chevrolet neon sign lit up on its roof, whilst in 1936 it was replaced by the distinctive advertisement for ‘Cognac Montbel Marteau’. In September 1939, German bombs struck the building, causing several storeys to collapse and a fire to break out. The blaze destroyed the entire interior and the confectionery. The ruined building was demolished whilst the city was still under occupation. In 1961, the modernist ‘Zgoda’ guesthouse, designed by Zygmunt Stępiński and Andrzej Ilecki, was built on the site. During the redevelopment of the so-called Five Corners Square, the course of the tenement’s former walls was marked on the pavement.

Nowy Świat 47. It survived the war, but not the reconstruction

The history of the tenement house at 47 Nowy Świat began in the 18th century. Initially, the town hall of the hospital district stood here, and later a two-storey house from the early 19th century. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, it was replaced by a much more imposing building designed by Bronisław Żochowski-Brodzic. The four-storey tenement house was given a richly decorated façade in the Historicist style, with distinct Neo-Baroque motifs. The address was associated with a number of famous residents. In 1836, Fryderyk Chopin’s parents lived here, whilst in 1861 Teodor Józef Konrad Korzeniowski, later known as Joseph Conrad, moved into the house. In 1892, the building became the headquarters of the weekly magazine *Wędrowiec*. Between 1924 and 1929, another distinguished Pole – Karol Szymanowski – lived within its walls. At the beginning of the 20th century, the building housed, amongst other things, the ‘Stefan’ shoe shop and a branch of the Columbia Phonograph Company. During the bombings and the Warsaw Uprising, the tenement was damaged and burnt out. However, its front façade remained in relatively good condition. After the war, the Capital Reconstruction Office deemed its metropolitan grandeur unsuitable for the intimate character of Nowy Świat. The building was therefore reduced to two storeys and stripped of most of its ornate decorations. Although the tenement house survived, its striking appearance did not.

Burchard’s tenement house: the great absentee on the border between Śródmieście and Ochota

The Burchard tenement stood on the corner of Aleje Jerozolimskie and Chałubińskiego Street. Its construction, based on a design by Józef Napoleon Czerwiński and Wacław Heppen, was completed in 1911. The five-storey building with an attic was one of the largest tenement blocks in this part of the city. Its façade was enlivened by bay windows, mansard roofs and balconies. Significantly, the tenement block survived the Second World War almost unscathed. For several decades thereafter, it continued to serve the people of Warsaw and stood as a testament to the craftsmanship of the architects and builders of yesteryear. Its fate was only sealed by major transport infrastructure projects and the redevelopment of the city centre. In 1973, the decision was taken to demolish the building. The official reason was the need to lay temporary tram tracks on the site – all as part of the construction of the Central Station and flyovers along what was then Marchlewskiego Street, now Aleja Jana Pawła II. After the tenement house was demolished and the tram tracks removed, the site remained empty for years. It was not until 1992–1996 that the Central Tower office block was built here.

The Savoy Hotel was an icon. Today, it is merely a shadowof its former self

Admittedly, the building of the former Savoy Hotel still stands at 58 Nowy Świat, but its current form bears no resemblance whatsoever to its pre-war original. The hotel was built between 1904 and 1905 on the initiative of Stanisław Fok. However, the construction costs proved too much for the developer, so the property was put up for auction. It was purchased by Stanisław and Józef Karsz, who turned it into a luxury hotel. The five-storey building towered over the lower-rise buildings of Nowy Świat. It featured an opulent Art Nouveau design on both its façade and interiors: floral ornaments, panelling, stained-glass windows and frescoes with floral motifs adorned the space. The hotel was one of the most popular and magnificent establishments of its kind in Warsaw. It survived the bombing of the city in September 1939, but in 1944, during the Warsaw Uprising, its interiors were destroyed by fire. After the war, it was decided to standardise the height and appearance of the buildings on Nowy Świat. In the early 1950s, the Savoy was reduced to two storeys, and its striking Art Nouveau decoration was stripped away and replaced with classicising Socialist Realism. The interiors were also rebuilt. The ground floor later housed the Savoy Hotel nightclub. The building may have survived in name, but one of the most interesting Art Nouveau gems of old Warsaw no longer exists.

Maurycy Spokorny’s tenement house. An Art Nouveau gem on Aleje Ujazdowskie

Maurycy Spokorny’s tenement house was among the most striking buildings in pre-war Warsaw. It stood on the corner of Aleje Ujazdowskie and Fryderyk Chopin Street. It was commissioned by Maurycy Spokorny, director and shareholder of the company operating Warsaw’s trams. The building was designed by Dawid Lande and constructed as a block of flats. The tenement house was given an Art Nouveau-Modernist style, very characteristic of early 20th-century architecture. The corner was crowned by an impressive turret, which was, however, removed in the 1920s. The façades were adorned with bay windows, balconies, loggias and delicate Art Nouveau detailing. On the side facing Aleje Ujazdowskie, allegorical sculptures of ‘Fame’ and ‘Knowledge’ by Stanisław Roman Lewandowski were placed. At the time, the building was one of the most modern in Warsaw. It was among the first to be fitted with electric lighting, with its own generator situated in the cellar beneath the courtyard. It also had lifts and a hot running water system. A garden was also laid out on the roof. During the Second World War, the building was burnt down, but its solid walls remained almost intact. Nevertheless, the ruins were demolished around 1947. In its place, a car park was built, along with a monument to Stefan ‘Grot’ Rowecki and a narrow office block for the Warsaw Committee of the Polish United Workers’ Party (PZPR), known as the ‘Little Party House’. Today, the Ministry of Justice is located on this site, and not a trace remains of one of Warsaw’s most beautiful Art Nouveau tenement houses.

Mikulski’s tenement house and its ‘wandering’ colonnade

Wawrzyniec Mikulski’s tenement, later the headquarters of the Warsaw Discount Bank, stood on Teatralny Square for over a century. It was built in 1828 to a design by Antonio Corazzi. The architect gave the three-storey building a classical, very elegant form. Its distinguishing feature was a portico with Doric and Ionic columns. The tenement stood on a prominent and busy corner of Senatorska and Bielańska Streets – every Warsaw resident knew it. The Second World War caused severe damage throughout the area around Teatralny Square. All that remained of Mikulski’s building was a charred shell of walls, though a section of the façade with the portico survived. Initially, the reconstruction of the entire building was considered, which is why the surviving section was secured. History linked the colonnade to the reconstruction of Staszic Palace. Piotr Biegański, who was in charge of the works, decided to replicate the portico on one of the facades of the palace courtyard. Its reconstruction took place between 1946 and 1950. As late as the competitions of 1950 and 1953, the reconstruction of the tenement house was still being considered. Ultimately, new concepts put forward by post-war urban planners led to the demolition of the ruins in 1962. The original has disappeared, but its distinctive feature has survived as an architectural reference in the palace courtyard.

Warsaw’s tenement houses and their turbulent history

The fate of these seven buildings aptly reflects the complex history of post-war Warsaw. Some buildings were destroyed or demolished during the war or immediately afterwards; others survived much longer, but their original appearance was altered by post-war realities and reconstruction procedures. Surviving these difficult times unscathed by no means guaranteed safety. Urban planners drawing up plans for modern Warsaw often disregarded buildings that stood in the way of their grand visions. As a result, many buildings that had survived the war were demolished.

This distinction is worth making and emphasising, because the history of Warsaw’s losses does not end with the end of the war. The reconstruction was a huge organisational and urban planning success, but at the same time it involved making difficult decisions – what was worth restoring and what should be demolished. That is precisely why today’s Warsaw is a city of two histories: the one that was successfully rebuilt, and the one whose traces must be sought out in archival photographs, old plans, preserved fragments and places such as, for example, the paving of the so-called Five Corners Square.

Source: varsavianista.pl, warszawa1939.pl, whu.org.pl

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