Hotel Angielski

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The “Metropolitan” office building erected in 2003 stands today where the “Hotel Angielski” was located until 1939

The Hotel Angielski (German: English Hotel , also called Englischer Hof ) was one of the most important hotels in Warsaw . Originally a palace from the 17th century, after renovations in the 19th century until the Europejski hotel was built (in the immediate vicinity), it was the most elegant hotel in town. In 1939 it was demolished and not rebuilt.

Location and building history

The hotel had the inner city address Ulica Wierzbowa 6 and was located on the corner of Wierzbowa and Ulica Trębacka. It was on what was then Sächsischer Platz and bordered it to the north. In the 1660s the building was built as the palace of the Poznan Bishop Stefan Wierzbowski . Until 1655, a wooden church with an attached Carmelite monastery had stood on the property ; both burned down during the invasion of Sweden . According to Wierzbowski, Michał Radziwiłł (since 1673), the Dönhoff , Słuszkowa and Sanguszkowa families and Heinrich von Brühl (since 1750) owned the palace. Under Brühl, the building facade was redesigned in the Rococo style. In 1758 Eustachy Potocki became the next owner. He was followed by his son Ignacy . In 1783 he sold the palace to the building contractor Józef Kwieciński.

Hotel history

The banker Just Schultz bought the building and in 1797 it was converted into a hotel for the first time; it initially opened under the name "Hôtel d'Prusse" (German: Hotel Preussen ). At that time the confectionery manufacturer Ludwik Nesti was the owner. After the hotel was sold for PLN 139,000 to restaurateur Tomasz Gąsiorowski in 1803, the name of the hotel was changed to "Hôtel d'Angleterre" in the then Francophile Warsaw. Also in 1803 a major renovation had taken place. The building was called the "Hotel Angielski" from around the 1820s. The hotel's restaurant became known nationwide under Gąsiorowski.

On December 10 or 12, 1812, Napoleon Bonaparte stayed one night in the hotel. He was retreating from the lost campaign in Russia , and to delay news of the defeat, he had signed up under the name of Prince Caillaincourt.

On June 3, 1830, the Society of Friends of Science invited the scholar Alexander von Humboldt, who was just in Warsaw, to a large lunch at the Angielski. Humboldt was several hours late, which was attributed to a prank by the Russian Grand Duke Constantine , who ruled in Warsaw, who wanted to annoy the members of the society he did not appreciate.

Another renovation took place between 1839 and 1841. Since 1860 Leon and Samuel Löwenberg, the Wawelberg family, Stanisław Rotwand, Józef Jordan, the Wysakowscy family and Jan Pobratyn owned the property one after the other. In 1912 it was renovated again. A German travel guide from 1916 lists the “Englischer Hof” with room prices starting at 3 marks . In a Polish advertisement from 1937, the hotel rooms are offered as having hot and cold running water, and the rooms are also equipped with central heating, a telephone and a bathroom. Room prices from PLN 5.50 and breakfast, lunch and dinner are offered.

The building was damaged during the Battle of Warsaw in 1939 and demolished during the German occupation . The property on today's Piłsudski Square was no longer built upon after the war; there were parking spaces here. In 2003, a modern office building - the “Metropolitan” - was built on this site, based on a design by Norman Foster .

In addition to Napoleon, Alojzy Feliński , Aleksander Fredro , Józef Poniatowski , Michal Wolicki, Hamilkar von Rawicz-Kosiński and Jan Śniadecki were guests of the hotel.

On a wood engraving in a magazine from 1847, the hotel is shown as an elegant, three-storey core building with a central projectile and two two-storey side buildings (each ending in pronounced side projections).

References and comments

  1. ↑ Stefan Wierzbowski (1620–1687) was a Polish bishop in Poznan, Archbishop of Gniezno and founder of the city of Góra Kalwaria
  2. ↑ Krzysztof Zielnica, A meal at the Hotel d'Angleterre , from: Polonica at Alexander von Humboldt , ISBN 3-05-003867-5 , Akademie Verlag, Berlin 2004, p 76
  3. ↑ Wegw Eiser through Warsaw. Brief guide through the city of Warsaw with special consideration of everything the German soldier, civil servant and traveler needs to know , Verlag der Deutschen Staatsdruckerei Warsaw, Warsaw 1913, p. 19
  4. ↑ according to Information about the hotel, in: Przewodnik po Warszawie (do 1944 roku) at Stalus.iq.pl (in Polish)

See also

literature

Web links

Coordinates: 52 ° 14 ′ 32.9 ″  N , 21 ° 0 ′ 41.1 ″  E