Gems of architecture of Łódź

Piotrkowska Street

Piotrkowska came into being on the trail of the route leading to Piotrków Trybunalski that in the 19th century was the main hub of the town development. Today, this street commonly nicknamed "Pietryna" is the backbone of the city. When you look for some places usually their location is referred to Piotrkowska Street. Striding down the street you may visit over 100 pubs and restaurants open till dawn, many designers' shops and in summer colourful pavement cafes that encourage passers-by to have a rest.
on the left: Piotrkowska Street, photo by J.Kusiński

For lazy bones, some rickshaws or tourist "retro tramway" offer rides along Piotrkowska Street. While riding along the street, you should admire beautifully restored edifices, which have been witnessing the history of Łódź for many years. We highly recommend the hotel Grand building from 1888 with its stylish restaurant, the former palace of Maximilian Goldfeder- the banker, at number 86 the edifice with J.Gutenberg's monument in its façade.

A little bit further, there rises the Julius Heinzel's palace, at present the seat of the City of Łódź Office and regional authorities in front of which there is one of the most characteristic Łódź's monuments - so called Tuwim's Bench where you can take a rest accompanied by the poet. Other street monuments are also worth mentioning: Three Factory Owners at number 32, Reymont's Trunk at 137 or Arthur Rubinstein's Piano placed in front of the edifice where the famous musician used to live (no. 78). Turn-of-the-Millennium Monument Honouring Łódź Residents which was built from about 13 000 paving blocks with engraved names of well-known and not-so-well-known citizens of Łódź. In front of the Grand Hotel you can admire the Łódź Walk of Fame featuring star-plaques with some of the greatest names in Polish Cinematography.
Rubinstein's piano, photo. archives of UMŁ

Manufaktura

Poznański’s factory campus, a true architectonical treasure, has become a city within the city. Poznański supplied energy from his own power plant and brought to life his own railroad station and fire department. There were workers' houses and school nearby the factory complex. In the XX century, Poznański's empire went through through many changes to finally cease the production in 1997. Fortunately, the factory has not been left alone for a long time. In 1999 the Apsys Groupe company began to refurbish the whole area. Manufaktura is the biggest renovated site in Europe. It is a combination of modern forms, materials and architecture with the past magnificence, power and monumentalism of the 19th century factories.

Trade in Manufaktura is carried on in the Mall, a modern two-storey building. There are 220 boutiques, 30 medium-sized shops, Real and Leroy Merlin hypermarkets here. The range is remarkably broad. Well-known and widely liked, Polish and foreign brands from 22 countries may be found here. Moreover, Manufaktura offers some additional service – the craftsmen’s avenue, antique shops and many others.

In Manufaktura there is a 3-hectare Market Square – a new, vibrant with life centre of Łódź. Concerts, festivities, all kinds of open-air events take place in the Market Square. In the nearby factory buildings there are an entertainment and recreation centre with a climbing wall, a bowling alley, a fitness club, 14 cinema halls and a 3-dimensional cinema IMAX.

Visitors to Manufaktura have also the opportunity to see the impressive collection in the Museum of Art ms². On the Manufaktura site you can visit the Factory Museum which presents the history of the place and the neighborhood.

Manufaktura will soon invite you to a 4-star Andel’s Hotel located in a beautiful, historic spinning mill.

Source of information: www.manufaktura.com

Izrael Poznański’s Palace

The system of the monumental edifices located in Ogrodowa St. is one of the most spectacular examples of the power of the Lodz industry of the 'steam-engine' era. A line of huge buildings opens up with the Poznański residence. Its truly palatial aspect, exposed situation, yet also its present day function have granted it its leading position among the other Łódź palaces.

The beginnings of the firm go back to the 1860s, when Kalman Poznański, a Jewish trader from Kowal in the Kujawy region, settled in Łódź. An exorbitant rise of the cotton giant took place in the times of his son Izrael Kalmanowicz (1834-1900) . It is with his person that we associate the building of the original palace, presumably according to Hilary Majewski's scheme, at the crossing of Ogrodowa and Zachodnia St. It was still a rather modest-looking two-storeyed building, soon replaced by a large residence. It has been impossible to ascertain the authorship of the architectural conception of this imposing edifice, its grandeur and lavishness overshadowing a majority of the other Łódź residences. The design could be attributed to Adolf Seligson. The newer researches put it down to J. Jung and D. Rosenthal. The works undertaken at the break of the centuries led to the making of an extensive scheme on the 'L' letter plan, with a large garden at the back. The southern part of the building, topped with the towering, domed roofs and decorated with allegorical statues - personifications of industry - is particularly impressive

on the left: Poznański's Palace, photo by M. Kawczyński

Originally the residence also included a 'winter garden', ca 770 m2, on the first floor, covered with a glass roof. The application of this magnificent edifice used to be quite untypical. It had mainly reception and office functions. It also housed counting-offices and stores, but also the apartments for more significant clients of the firm. The chief reception chambers were situated on the first floor. The corner Dining Hall with its superb interior decorations has remained the place of most famous Łódź ball-parties. The palace is the Beat of the City History Museum, with its record of the city's past, but also some personal objects, reminders of A. Rubinstein and A. Tansman, the famous musicians born in Łódź.

Source of information: "The city of colour"

Karol Scheibler’s factory in Księży Młyn

Anyone wishing to learn about the industrial past of the City of Łódź ought to visit the eastern frontier of the former factory locations. One of the largest 19th century weaving-houses of Europe was built there in Tymienieckiego St. (formerly St Emilia St.). The castle-like structure extends along the incredible 200 metres of length, and its red-brick elevations are flanked with 27 metres high towers with battlements. This is what the Łódź 'industrial gothic' used to be like.

Karol Scheibler acquired the land situated on the eastern border of the factory locations - an industrial quarter of the blossoming city of Łódź - in the early 1870s. It was probably following his idea that a model industrial complex, comprising a factory, a workers' estate and the villa of the factory director were built there, the director being Edward Herbst, the son-in-law of the Scheiblers, a graduate of the Warsaw School of Commerce and a brilliant manager.

The weaving-house in Księży Młyn, built in the years 1876-1878, can serve - next to the Poznański factory - as the best example of a factory object of the times of the Łódź prosperity. A huge, four-storey building contained the production rooms extending eastward and westward off the central axis.

There was a steam-engine inside. The solution was a novelty, since so far the steam driving machinery used to be placed in a separate building. The bare walk of the weaving house are contrasted with the rich ornamentation of the iron arcades of a little roof opposite the main drive, clearly falling back upon some Arabic motifs.

In 1878 still another large weaving-house was constructed on the River Jasień to the south of the existing object. The best view of the two buildings is offered from the bank of a nearby pond. Standing there we can fully realize the size of that industrial colossus, once the core of the 'Kingdom of Scheibler'.

Source of information: "The city of colour"

english | polski