Luksenburg Gallery, also known as Luxenburg Gallery, was once one of the most interesting and recognisable shopping arcades in Warsaw. It was located at 29 Senatorska Street and for years functioned as a dynamic shopping and cultural centre. Eventually, the building was destroyed during the Second World War, and today all that remains are memories, photographs and archival records that shed light on the history and atmosphere of this remarkable place.
Before the site at 29 Senatorska Street passed into the ownership of Maximilian Luksenburg, a wealthy Jewish merchant, it belonged to the Reformed Order, which ran the nearby St Anthony’s Church. Luksenburg acquired the site for a project that was to become one of the largest commercial developments of its time. The vast area, stretching from Senatorska Street all the way to Niecała Street, provided ideal conditions for a shopping arcade on the scale of European cities of the time.
The mall before 1916. Photo Skarpa Warszawska no. 12 (93), December 2016, p. 12/Wikimedia Commons
The construction of the Luksenburg Gallery, preceded by several demolitions, including part of the monastery, lasted from 1907 to 1909 and was carried out to a design by Leon S. Drews and Czesław Przybylski. The architecture of the building was distinguished by the combination of modern elements with traditional classicist forms, which gave the building a unique character. The passageway was formed by two long, parallel buildings positioned on the sides of the plot, which were built of reinforced concrete. Between them was a covered inner street, over which was suspended a steep, double-pitched roof covered with blue-tinted glass. The building was equipped with central heating, ventilation, electric lighting and lifts.
The arcade around 1914 and the same place today. Source: warszawa1939.pl and Google Maps
Two independent, asymmetrical buildings rose at the front of the arcade. The two buildings were intended to be the Grand Hotel with Art Nouveau interior design and were connected by a glazed walkway. The internal facades of the elongated buildings were characterised by simplicity, reflecting the functional nature of the gallery. One of the most interesting architectural solutions was the underground arcade, which was originally planned to include an escalator – this would have been the first escalator in Warsaw, but due to cost considerations its installation ultimately failed.
The left tenement house in 1941 and today. Source: National Archives in Warsaw and Google Maps
Initially, the underground part of the mall housed a roller skating rink with an American-style restaurant and bar, but by 1912 the space was converted into a hall for the Jewish theatre. In 1914, the Momus cinema joined the arcade and the whole complex became an important point on the cultural map of Warsaw. During World War I, the Luksenburg Gallery underwent a serious crisis – shops were closed and plans for expansion were abandoned. In 1919, the famous cabaret “Qui Pro Quo” was established here, led by Jerzy Boczkowski and Seweryn Majde, and its performances were attended by the most outstanding artists of the time, such as Eugeniusz Bodo, Adolf Dymsza, Hanka Ordonówna and Mira Zimińska. A plaque commemorating the artists can be found today at the intersection of Canaletta and Senatorska Streets.
The interior of the arcade in 1941 and Canaletta Street today. Source: National Archives in Warsaw and Google Maps
In 1920, the interior of the gallery was rebuilt for the new Splendid cinema, which opened in 1925. The 18-metre-high cinema hall, seating two thousand, was decorated with stylised Egyptian motifs. The screen was framed by a decorative gate with bas-reliefs depicting the goddesses Hathor and Herachtha, and the ceiling was decorated with a ‘moving sky’ of stars. The cinema was later renamed Sphinx and operated until 1939. In the 1930s, the Kazimierz Lisiecki Society of Friends of the Children of the Street and the Chamber Theatre also had their headquarters in the gallery, which emphasised the social and cultural character of the place.
The right tenement house in 1941 and today. Source: National Archive in Warsaw and Google Maps
Some of the construction was not finally completed, and the buildings did not occupy the entire length of the plot up to Niecała Street, as planned. The passageway ended blindly at the outbuilding of one of the tenements. During the Warsaw Uprising in 1944, the Luksenburg Gallery was severely damaged by fire. After the war it was not decided to rebuild it and in the 1950s the ruins of the building were removed and Canaletta Street was laid out on the site of the former gallery. The address Senatorska 29 was assigned to the nearby Reformati monastery building, which bears a plaque commemorating the shooting of 15 people on 8 August 1944.
Although the Luksenburg Gallery no longer physically exists, it remains an important part of Warsaw’s history. It provided evidence of the architectural and cultural development of the capital between the wars.
Source: sekretywarszawy.pl, wirtur.pl
Read also: Architecture in Poland | Curiosities | City | History | Warsaw
