Gawronski Palace, also known as Gawronski Villa or Leszczynski Palace, is a historic building located at 23 Ujazdowskie Avenue in Warsaw. Erected around 1924 to a design by Marcin Weinfeld, it is one of the examples of urban neo-Baroque architecture. Over the years, the building has served many functions and witnessed important events.
Gawronski Palace – functions, architecture and war damage
The Gawronski Palace is a neo-Baroque urban residence with an elaborate plan and symmetrical façade. Inside there is a characteristic oval staircase and a winter garden. In the interwar period, the palace housed diplomatic missions: the Dutch post and consulate (1938-1939) and the Belgian post (1934-1939). During the Second World War, the building was severely damaged by arson – estimated at 80%. During the post-war reconstruction, designed by Helena Weinfeld and Szymon Syrkus, the mansard roof was removed, the woodwork was simplified and the interior layout was altered.
The building in 1938, then the embassy of the Netherlands. Source: NAC – National Digital Archive www.nac.gov.pl/
Post-war functions of the palace
In 1948, the reconstructed building was handed over to the US Embassy, which operated there until 1953. Subsequently, the Gawronski Palace was merged with the neighbouring Śleszyński Palace (we wrote about it HERE) and handed over to the Yugoslav Embassy. After the break-up of Yugoslavia, the building became the seat of the Serbian embassy. The Sleszynski Palace housed the ambassador, while the administrative functions of the embassy were performed by the former Gawronski estate. Today, the building remains in private hands and stands empty, being used occasionally for exhibitions.
Commemoration of the Kutschera assassination
The Gawronski Palace stands near the place where, on 1 February 1944, the Special Unit of the Diversion Management of the Home Army Headquarters “Parasol” carried out the successful liquidation of SS and Police General Franz Kutschera. By the roadway of Ujazdowskie Avenue, just in front of the palace, there is a granite boulder unveiled on 31 July 1956, commemorating the event.
Source: iwaw.pl, warszawa1939.pl
Read also: Architecture in Poland | Monument | Palace | History | Warsaw | Interesting facts
The Gawronski Palace in 1934 and 2025. Source: Digital Library of the Warsaw University of Technology and whiteMAD/Mateusz Markowski
The building in 1938 and today. Source: NAC – National Digital Archive www.nac.gov.pl/ and whiteMAD/Mateusz Markowski
