Ujazdowskie Avenue is one of the most prestigious streets in Warsaw and an important part of the historic Royal Route. In the 19th century, it began to serve as an elegant boulevard along which palaces and townhouses of Warsaw’s aristocracy and bourgeoisie were built. One such building is the residence standing at 6a Ujazdowskie Avenue, known as the Rembieliński Palace.
The genesis and construction of the residence
In 1857, landowner and industrialist Aleksander Rembieliński purchased a plot of land at the intersection of Aleje Ujazdowskie and Piękna Street from banker Stanisław Lesser. Two years later, he began construction of his residence on it, designed by the Italian architect Franti Maria Lanci. The building was constructed in the Neo-Renaissance style, but Rembieliński did not complete the investment and sold it to Jan Kurtz and Stanisław Radyński. Eventually Kurtz became the sole owner of the property and completed work on the palace in 1865, giving it features of pure neoclassicism.
Rembielinski Palace and its architecture
The palace was designed in a layout resembling an abbreviated letter ‘H’. The building consists of a central part and two side wings, with its main façade facing Ujazdowskie Avenue. It is distinguished by a monumental portico formed by six Corinthian columns. The whole is crowned with a beam and a flat tympanum, and the portico itself supports a terrace, giving the façade a very elegant and representative character. The symmetrically arranged windows emphasise the classical proportions of the building. On the side of the rear courtyard, the palace has a semicircular risalit with large glazing, which introduces an impression of lightness to the building and opens it up to the surroundings. The facades of the property are clad in light stucco and finished in stone, and the whole is covered with a flat roof. The characteristic details used in the design, such as Corinthian capitals and a beamed cornice, are typical of classicism in the second half of the 19th century.
Changes of owners and new functions
The palace has changed owners several times in its 160-year history. In 1874, it became the property of Maria Jankowska, and in 1900 it was acquired by the Joint Stock Company of Cotton Products of Israel Poznanski from Lodz. In the interwar period, however, a Danish diplomatic mission operated in the palace, after which, from 1935, the property was owned by Abraham Sojka. At the same time, the luxury flat on the first floor, overlooking Ujazdowski Park, was occupied by the writer Tadeusz Dołęga-Mostowicz, author of the well-known Znachor.
Rembielinski Palace – war damage and reconstruction
During World War II, the building suffered severe damage. It suffered both in 1939 during the defence of Warsaw and during the Warsaw Uprising in 1944. In 1949, the burnt-out building was rebuilt according to a design by a team of architects Wacław Kłyszewski, Jerzy Mokrzyński and Eugeniusz Wierzbicki. While the residence was being raised from the ruins, the remnants of the neighbouring houses, also destroyed, were removed, giving the building a free-standing character. A new façade was arranged on the side of Matejki Street, and a wide, representative staircase was added on the side of Ujazdowskie Avenue.
Post-war functions and institutions
After the reconstruction was completed, the palace housed a library and a training centre for the Polish United Workers’ Party. Later, the building housed the Party History Department of the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers’ Party and a music school. The headquarters of the Union of Fighters for Freedom and Democracy were then located there. Since the 1990s, the headquarters of the Union of Veterans of the Republic of Poland and Former Political Prisoners has been located in the palace. The Press Club Poland also operates there. A plaque commemorating the grenade attack carried out on 15 July 1943 by soldiers of the People’s Guard against NSDAP storm troops was placed on the façade of the building in 1952. There is also a plaque dedicated to Zygmunt Ruml, who was a Polish military commander, commander of the 8th District of Volhynia BCh, Home Army officer and poet.
Source: openawarszawa.pl, spotkaniazzabytkami.pl
Read also: Architecture in Poland | Monument | Palace | History | Warsaw | Interesting facts
Rembieliński Palace in 1927 and 1947. Source: NAC – National Digital Archive www.nac.gov.pl/
Ujazdowskie Avenue in 1917 and 2025. Source: Museum of Warsaw and whiteMAD/Mateusz Markowski
The building in 1938 and today. Source: Warsaw State Archive and whiteMAD/Mateusz Markowski
The palace as seen from Ujazdowski Park, 1947 and 2025. Source: szukajwarchiwach.gov.pl and whiteMAD/Mateusz Markowski
