Służewiec Racecourse
The Służewiec racecourse (in Polish: Tor wyścigów konnych Służewiec , also: Tor Służewiec ) is Warsaw's facility for horse races and is located in the south of the city in the Ursynów -Służewiec district. The complex, which consists of numerous stable and residential buildings, a sand training track and a grass racetrack with several spectator stands, was completed in 1939 and was considered an architectural masterpiece at the time. Alongside those in Sopot and Wroclaw , the Warsaw facility is one of the most important horse racing tracks in Poland. It is considered the largest in the country and is an outstanding architectural monument of the interwar period in Warsaw.
history
The first recorded horse race in Warsaw took place in 1777 near the city center - along Marszałkowska Street . In the first half of the 19th century, an association was founded, the “Towarzystwa Wyścigów Konnych i Wystawy Zwierząt Gospodarskich w Królestwie Polskim” ( Association for Horse Racing and Pet Shows in the Kingdom of Poland ), which runs the Pole Mokotowskie Racecourse (located on Polna Street ) opened on the 200 hectare “ Pole Mokotowskie ” ( Mokotowski Field ), which is also used as an airport . The Warsaw horse races took place here for a hundred years - until shortly before the outbreak of World War II.
The advantage of being close to the city center in Mokotów was opposed by a lack of expansion options and the makeshift nature of the facility (the grandstands were still made of wood and needed a lot of care), so that after the First World War, considerations for a new building arose. In 1925 the association "Towarzystwo Zachęty do Hodowli Koni w Polsce" ( Association of Supporters of Horse Breeding in Poland ) bought about 140 hectares of land in Służewiec to build a new, international horse racing center.
Służewiec Gate
The first plans for the racetrack design were made in 1931. In 1937 construction began with the installation of the sewer system. Until the completion of the racetrack in 1939, construction work was hampered by constant financial bottlenecks. In April 1938 around 500 people were already working on the construction site. At the height of construction activity, 1,500 people were employed. The upper parts of grandstands II and III were manufactured in what was then a modern reinforced concrete frame construction. The track's lawn was sown on specially hardened soil. Contemporary media described the lawn as smooth as velvet.
The racetrack opened on June 3, 1939. In addition to the chairman of the association, Count Michał Komorowski , the Minister of Agriculture Juliusz Poniatowski and the Deputy Minister of Defense, Brigadier General Aleksander Litwinowicz, many of the city's dignitaries were present. The first race that took place here was a classic race for three-year-olds (IV. Category) and ran over a distance of 1600 meters. The winner was “Felsztyn” (Büves-Gibson Maid) with a running time of 1 minute and 42.5 seconds.
Racing, which began three months before the start of the war, was stopped with a race on August 31, 1939. A few days later the area was occupied by the Wehrmacht. During the Warsaw Uprising of 1944, German units were attacked by insurgents here. The attack failed and the Polish fighters of the Home Army suffered heavy losses. A memorial stone today commemorates the fighting and Polish dead.
After the war, the facility was initially not used. An originally planned railway connection was not built, a tram station that exists today was built later. An initially planned road around the facility was also not built.
In 1987 the 15th World Cross Country Championships were held on the racecourse . Horse races were held in Służewiec until the 1990s, which resulted in financial problems for the operator and public disputes over the further use of the valuable area.
architecture
The architect of the facility was the Warsaw Zygmunt Plater-Zyberk , his most important collaborator Juliusz Żórawski. Plater-Zyberk had previously visited the horse racing tracks “ Kincsem Park ” in Budapest and “ Hoppegarten ” near Berlin as well as the “ Hippodrome du Tremblay ” in the Val-de-Marne department in order to orientate himself on the most modern standards of the time. The Warsaw racing facility consists of two racetracks and three grandstand buildings. The grandstands are located along the finish straight and their seats face east so that the spectators are not exposed to the blinding afternoon sun. The racetrack oval extends north-south. The main buildings of the complex were built in the functionalist, rounded style of Polish modernism of the 1930s.
The three-storey grandstand I (also known as the “honorary grandstand”) adjoins the parade ring and stands at the southern end of the finish line. It is connected to administrative buildings and served media and club representatives as well as guests of honor. It is largely glazed. It is still used and preserved today. The grandstand II, which was erected in the middle of the home straight, could accommodate around 4,500 spectators and had stands and seats as well as boxes and terraces. It is no longer used. Grandstand III had standing room for 7,000 and is located at the beginning of the finish line. This building was never used. As with Grandstand II, there is a lack of funds for renovation.
In the west of the complex, stables, horse training facilities and residential complexes for staff that are still in use today were built, which are hardly worth seeing. The main buildings of the complex as well as parts of the planting are under monument protection or nature protection. There are around 6,000 trees and shrubs with around 95 different species in the complex. Most of the trees are 70 years old, but there are also some over 100-year-old specimens that were taken over from the old stock when the facility was built. Elms, oaks, linden trees, birches, horse chestnuts, ash trees, poplars and various types of conifers are most common.
Main entrance to the racetrack (from Puławska Street)
Rear stables, here veterinary station
Back of the no longer used grandstand II
Race control tower in front of grandstand I.
Use today
Since 2008 Totalizator Sportowy , a state-owned company, has been the general tenant of the facility. She organizes horse racing and uses the area for other events. Recognizable maintenance and revitalization measures have been initiated since the property was taken over.
The racing season starts in spring and ends in autumn. The most important events on the first Sunday in July are the “Służewiec Derby” and the autumn horse race for the “Wielka Warszawska” prize. The July run of the “Służewiec Derby” is preceded a few weeks beforehand by the 1,600 meter race “Nagroda Rulera”, a few weeks later by “Nagroda St. Leger”, a race over a distance of 2,800 meters. The “Wielka Warszawska” is the highest endowed racing series in which the Warsaw Mayor's Prize (“Nagroda Prezydenta miasta stołecznego Warszawy”) is awarded. The winner of these races is named "Horse of the Year".
Non-intended use
The easily accessible facility, now located in a densely populated new building area in Warsaw, is increasingly being used for corporate and public events. Open air concerts with up to 40,000 spectators take place here regularly. Partly in the context of marketing campaigns (e.g. the telecommunications company Orange ) have already occurred:
- U2 as part of the “PopMart” tour on August 12, 1997
- Depeche Mode as part of the "Exciter" tour on September 2, 2001
- Sting on September 25, 2005
- Duran Duran on September 23, 2006
- George Michael on the "25 Live" tour on July 11, 2007
- The Rolling Stones as part of the “A Bigger Bang” tour on July 25, 2007
Britney Spears' planned appearance on the racetrack on the occasion of her "Circus" tour on July 24, 2009 was canceled at short notice by the Polish organizer due to disagreements about the contract.
The BCC ( Business Center Club ) has also been hosting its summer event here for several years.
The almost 1,000-meter-long wall that separates the racetrack from the busy Puławska Street is open to graffiti artists (on the outside) .
See also
References and comments
- ↑ according to the report Piekne konie na pięknym torze ( memento of June 3, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) on Tvnwarszawa.pl of July 19, 2009 (in Polish)
- ^ Horse races on the "Mokotowski Field" (Polish: Pole Mokotowskie ) in Warsaw, January Suchodolski , 1849, Warsaw Historical Museum
- ↑ according to Article The fate of the Warsaw insurgents in German prison camps at Sppw1944.org
- ↑ Zygmunt Plater-Zyberk (1901–1978), architect of several modernist buildings in Warsaw
- ↑ Juliusz Żórawski (1898–1967) was an architect of Polish modernism
- ↑ Totalizator Sportowy was founded on December 17, 1955, belongs to the Polish state treasury and is the only authorized institution in Poland to conduct money lotteries. The company has 11,000 sales outlets across Poland. Proceeds from the activity (between 10% and 25% of the sales price) are assigned to the ministries for sport and culture
- ↑ Thoroughbred, three-year-old stallions and mares, distance 2,400 meters
- ↑ The “Wielka Warszawska” race was introduced in 1895 by August Potocki . It has been held over a distance of 2,600 meters since 1949
- ↑ according to a message ( memento from June 3, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) at Eventim.de
- ↑ The "Business Center Club", which was founded in 1991, is a socially oriented employers' association. Around 2,000 members represent around 1,200 mostly medium-sized Polish companies
literature
- Karol Mórawski (editor), Bomba w Górę! 166 lat wyścigów konnych w Warszawie , ISBN 978-83-88477-58-4 , Muzeum Woli oddział Muzeum Historycznego m. st. Warszawy and Polski Klub Wyścigów Konnych (eds.), Warsaw 2007
Web links
- Racetrack website (in Polish)
- Jak zbudowano wyścigi with a historical photo of the parade ring (in Polish)
- Sport Hippique. Après un an d'interruption les chevaux reprennent le départ on Lepetitjournal.com (in French)
Coordinates: 52 ° 9 ′ 49.9 ″ N , 21 ° 0 ′ 28.8 ″ E