Cathedral bez Kantów

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View from the Salesian Church to the southeast corner of the block. The Europejski Hotel can be seen in the background
Aerial view at the beginning of the 20th century. In the middle the block, which in the foreground (east) still consists of the Saxon smithies (white building). The Alexander Nevsky Cathedral , which was demolished in 1926, stands on today's Piłsudski Square

The Dom bez Kantów (German: house without corners ) is a part of a building complex that was built in the 1930s in downtown Warsaw . The building is located on Krakowskie Przedmieście boulevard and is partly used by the Polish military and partly as an apartment building. Since November 9, 1992 it has been a listed building (1521-A).

location

The monumental building has the address Krakowskie Przedmieście 11 and is therefore on the Warsaw Royal Route . It is the eastern half of a block development, which is bordered by General-Tokarzewski-Karaszewicz Street in the north and by Ulica Krolewska in the south. Piłsudski Square connects to the west . The entire ensemble represents an urban counterpart to the Hotel Europejski , which on the opposite side of Tokarzewski-Karaszewicz-Straße defines the Saxon axis on the north flank, which runs from east to west . On Krakowskie Przedmieście, the complex is located across from the Church of St. Joseph of the Salesian Sisters.

history

The Dom bez Kantów , officially called the House of the Military Fund ( Dom Funduszu Kwaterunku Wojskowego ), was built between 1932 and 1935 under the direction of the architects Czesław Przybylski (project) and Stefan Bryla (construction). The name probably comes from a joking phrase by Józef Piłsudski who, when planning the building with the rounded corners, is said to have expressed the wish that there should be no fraud in the construction and allocation of the living space (the expression "Kanty" is next to the meaning Colloquial corner for piercing or cheating).

The building is designed in the modern style with an eye-catching, classicistic -looking arcade. It also adapts to the facade of the neighboring Europejski Hotel.

The client for the construction was the then Ministry of Military Affairs (Polish: Ministerstwo Spraw Wojskowych ), which wanted to have an apartment house built here for officers and married NCOs. It replaced the previously existing "Saxon forges". It borders on older buildings that house the Warsaw Garrison Command (Polish: Dowództwo Garnizonu Warszawa ), which also provides the honor guard for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Piłsudski Square.

The apartments in the building are generously proportioned and furnished to a high standard, as officers had a high social status in the interwar period. There were servant bells in the rooms, garbage chutes in the kitchens and elevators in the stairwell. In addition to other military institutions, the Central Military Library (Polish: Główna Księgarnia Wojskowa ) was housed on the ground floor and mezzanine . The Military Standardization Center is currently located here (Polish: Wojskowe Centrum Normalizacji, Jakości i Kodyfikacji ). In 1938 sandstone slabs were installed on the instructions of the Lord Mayor of Warsaw, Stefan Starzyński .

During the Second World War , the building was used as the headquarters of the Gauleitung (district of Warsaw of the General Government ) of the NSDAP . At the end of the war - probably for this reason - only a small part of it was destroyed and was rebuilt. Bullet holes can still be seen on the facade today.

Even after the war the house was mainly occupied by officers. Only after the apartments were privatized at the turn of the millennium were many of the units sold to wealthy business people and politicians. In 2008 the facade was renovated. The plan to plant ivy - as in previous years - had to be abandoned because many residents feared that this would give rats access to the upper floors. On the western front there are still hooks to which the overhead lines of the tram that no longer operates here were originally attached. Also on this side of the building was a memorial plaque from an unknown house that was destroyed in the war. Today there are restaurants and shops on the ground floor.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Another legend says that the architect (Przybylski) took Piłsudski's demand for a correct sequence too literally and therefore built round corners, even though they were not wanted.
  2. ↑ a b c Małgorzata Danecka, Thorsten Hoppe: Discover Warsaw. Walking tours through the Polish capital. Trescher, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-89794-116-8 . P. 147.
  3. ↑ Stefan Starzyński (1893–1943) was a Polish politician, economist and President (Lord Mayor) of Warsaw
  4. ↑ according to Article Dom bez Kantów ... i bez targeteni  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Dead Link / warszawa.wyborcza.pl   at Gazeta.pl (Gazeta Wyborcza - Stoleczna) from July 11, 2008

literature

  • Werner Huber: Warsaw - Phoenix from the ashes. An architectural city guide. Verlag Böhlau, Cologne 2005, ISBN 3-412-14105-4 , p. 31. (photo submission)

Web links

Commons : Dom bez kantów  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 52 ° 14 ′ 28 "  N , 21 ° 0 ′ 54.2"  E