Pomeranian Arts House in Bydgoszcz

The Pomeranian Arts House is a building of cultural and historical significance located at Gdańska Street N°20 in Bydgoszcz, Poland. It has housed chronologically:

Pomeranian Arts House in Bydgoszcz
Polish: Pomorski Dom Sztuki w Bydgoszczy
Pomeranian Arts House in Bydgoszcz, view from Gdanska street
General information
TypeTenement
Architectural styleGerman Historism
ClassificationN°601297-Reg.A/1116, 18 November 1993[1]
LocationGdańska street 20, Bydgoszcz, Poland
CountryPoland
Coordinates53°7′35″N 18°0′14″E
Construction started1886
Completed1887
Renovated1908 & 1965
Owner1st owner Casino Association „Wypoczynek" ("Recreation")
LandlordOpera Nova Bydgoszcz, Music Academy of Bydgoszcz
Technical details
Floor count2
Design and construction
ArchitectGustaw Reichert
Building facade on Gdanska street
By night

Since 2006, it is owned by the Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz.

Location

The building stands on the eastern side of Gdańska Street near Freedom Square and St Peter's and St Paul's Church.

History

Prussian period

The building has been erected in 1885 to offer a facility for German associations in Bromberg after Prussian partition. They included the "Recreation Society" (German: Erholungs-Verein) and the company "Civil Casino" (German: Civilkasino).[2] At the same time the edifice housed the newly created Casino Society "Rest" in Bydgoszcz (German: Kasino - Gesellschaft "Erholung"),[3] aimed at bringing together the German social elite in Bromberg, particularly senior officials, officers and urban bourgeoisie.[4]

In 1886, a subsidy from the central budget contributed to the start of the construction of the Society House. For this purpose a separate plot of Regency Park was bought, located at 20 Gdańska Street, in the immediate vicinity of St Peter's and St Paul's Church. The construction lasted two years (1886-1887) and eventually cost 1400,000 Marks, while it was initially estimated at 97,000 Marks.[2] The building was designed by architect Gustav Reichert, in the style of German Historicism, referring to classicism forms.[2] In 1908, the southern part of the two-storey building was extended on the basement dependence and its own entrance. The builder was Emil Haydemann, master bricklayer: on the ground-floor the extension comprised a brick wing with its own entrance, covered with a lean-to roof.[2] The activities in the Society House were run until June 1939, focused on the organization of social and cultural life (art and science) of German elite. The building, in 1902, was also used by the German Society of Arts and Sciences in Bydgoszcz,[5] trade merchants, singing bands. In December 1904, the Jubilee celebration of the Bromberg Horse Grenadier Regiment was held in the Society House, attended personally by Emperor Wilhelm II.[2]

Interwar period

During interwar, the building was still property of "Deutsche Kasinogesellschaft" and was a cultural and entertainment center. A stylish garden area was located on the north of the place, for café and concerts. The facility was used till 1934 by residents from all socio-cultural societies, regardless of their nationality. In the 1920s, the director Meinhard opened at Gdanska 19 a small movie theatre called Apollo Central Theater - Polish: Teatr Centralny Apollo[6]. As a result, Polish branch of the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts Polish: Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Sztuki w Bydgoszczy installed its seat in the building on September 1, 1921, and started presenting exhibitions of contemporary graphics and sculpture.[2] It also held concerts by Bydgoszcz Music Society, Bydgoszcz Conservatory of Music (Polish: Bydgoskie Konserwatorium Muzyczne) and Municipal Conservatory of Music (Polish: Zespół Szkół Muzycznych w Bydgoszczy). Choirs from both Polish school children and German speaking schools happened there. Among many concerts in the edifice hall, one was played by pianist Feliks Szymanowski, then Bydgoszcz resident, brother of composer Karol Szymanowski.[7] City orchestra, chamber ensembles and soloists from Poznań, Gdańsk or Berlin[7] have been presented in the garden.

After accession to power of Hitler in Germany, the attitude of German authorities in Bromberg hardened, and forbade activities of Polish organizations in the building, which exclusively served German and Nazi organizations. Anti-Polish activity by the German minority was re-aroused by the decision of the Polish municipal authorities on 15 June 1939 to close the Society House and rename it to "Social House" (Polish: Dom Społeczny): the announcement was met with violent protests in Bydgoszcz by German and Nazi partisans.[7]

Pomeranian Arts House

In 1945, thanks to the artist Marian Turwid, then President of the Pomeranian branch of the Association of Polish Artists and Designers, the building was dedicated to Arts. Polish art expert Jerzy Remer, on behalf of the Commission for Reconstruction supervised the work on the building. On May 7, 1946, during the celebration of the 600th anniversary of the city of Bydgoszcz, has been unveiled the Pomorski Dom Sztuki (Pomeranian Arts House): it housed a concert hall, a permanent showroom for arts -BWA (Polish: Biuro Wystaw Artystycznych), a local club for Arts associations and a Plastic Arts Centre (Polish: Społeczne Ognisko Artystyczne). The building was the seat of Pomeranian Art workshops for writers, musicians and artists from all domains.[8]

Between 1945 and 1982, the premises were mainly used by Leon Wyczółkowski's State School of Art established in 1945, which has been directed by Marian Turwid from 1945 to 1972.[2] The Pomeranian Arts House also hosted the Pomeranian Symphony Orchestra from 1946 to 1953. In addition, until the construction of Polish Theatre in Bydgoszcz in 1949, many events took place in the edifice. In 1956, the Bydgoszcz Opera company was established there.[8] Over the next years, the building had many users, but was never really suited for the musical theater business.

As a consequence, in 1956, the project of remodeling the building and adapt it to the needs of the opera was studied. Architects planned to build a scene with the necessary elements, an auditorium for 600 people and to create a moat for the orchestra, by extending the Arts House the East, on a plot from the Park Casimir the Great. This study failed due to technical and financial resources it required: it had been calculated that reconstruction would cost as much as 50% of the cost of construction of a brand new building. Thus emerged the idea of erected an independent, modern opera house building in the bend of the Brda river.[8]

In 1965, once the permanent showroom for arts -BWA has been constructed, the southern wing built in 1908 was demolished. From 1972, the building housed a small stage of Opera Nova,[3] while larger performances (operas, operettas and ballets were held in Polish Theatre in Bydgoszcz. After 1982, with Leon Wyczółkowski's State School of Art moving to a building at Konarski street, the City Opera became the sole legal owner of the Pomeranian Arts House.[8]

Building of the Bydgoszcz Music Academy - "Feliks Nowowiejski"

In 2006, the edifice has been taken over by the Bydgoszcz Music Academy - "Feliks Nowowiejski". Since 2008, the facility is being modernized to fit the needs of the Academy of Music:[9]

  • the basement houses warehouses for instruments, dressing rooms and technical rooms;
  • the ground floor is occupied by a 100-seats concert hall with room with room for orchestra and choir;
  • upstairs are located classrooms.

Architecture

The edifice is a detached, two-storey building with basement, and has got the characteristics of classicism. The facades are characterized by a uniform and scare use of architectural details, putting the accent on horizontal and vertical layouts. They have been designed on a bossage decorated pedestal and cornice-topped with a chain pattern.[2]

The building front part is an avant-corps, topped by a gable with a triangle tympanum. Avant-corps corners are pilaster-shaped. The top floor of front elevation has attic style balustrade.[2] At the gable top is placed a lyre, symbolizing music and poetry, in relation with the cultural function of the building.[2]

Building interiors originally comprised a main concert hall and a ballroom. At the beginning of the 20th century, the hall room had 9-metre-high loggias and galleries: it could accommodate a thousand people. Upstairs, the building housed a small auditorium on the first floor, a library, club rooms, a restaurant and wine cellar. Little of the original design has survived in today's layout.[2]

The building has been put on the Pomeranian heritage list (N°601297-Reg.A/1116) on 18 November 1993.[1]

gollark: Hmm, less than I thought would be submerged then, nest.
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gollark: BRB, retasking orbital laser arrays.
gollark: Look at all that nice usable land in Antarctica.
gollark: Seems kind of cramped, although I guess you'd want them to exist.

See also

References
  1. Rejestr zabytków nieruchomych – województwo kujawsko-pomorskie, 31 December 2014
  2. Derkowska-Kostkowska Bogna: Kasynowe Towarzystwo „Wypoczynek" w Bydgoszczy i jego dom związkowy. Materiały do dziejów kultury i sztuki Bydgoszczy i regionu. Zeszyt 3. Pracownia Dokumentacji i Popularyzacji Zabytków Wojewódzkiego Ośrodka Kultury w Bydgoszczy. Bydgoszcz 1998
  3. Bręczewska-Kulesza Daria, Derkowska-Kostkowska Bogna, Wysocka A., [i inni]: Ulica Gdańska. Przewodnik historyczny, Bydgoszcz 2003
  4. Liczba członków Towarzystwa w latach 1886-1906 wahała się od 316 do 124
  5. Zeitschrift der Naturwissenschaftlichen Abteilung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Kunst und Wissenschaft in Posen (Naturwissenschaftlicher Verein) : zugl. Organ der Abteilung für Naturwissenschaften in Bromberg / Deutsche Gesellschaft für Kunst und Wissenschaft in Posen-published Posen : [s.n.], 1902 - 1914
  6. Lewińska, Aleksandra (23 June 2016). "Pomorzanin, Awangarda, Bałtyk, Mir. Wspominamy bydgoskie kina". bydgoszcz.wyborcza.pl. bydgoszcz.wyborcza. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  7. Pruss Zdzisław, Weber Alicja, Kuczma Rajmund: Bydgoski leksykon muzyczny. Kujawsko-Pomorskie Towarzystwo Kulturalne Bydgoszcz 2004
  8. Prus Zdzisław, Weber Alicja: Bydgoski leksykon operowy Kujawsko-Pomorskie Towarzystwo Kulturalne Bydgoszcz 2002. ISBN 83-85327-62-2
  9. ast (21 October 2009). "Lekcje baletu juz w nowej sali". pomorska.pl. pomorska.pl. Retrieved 11 February 2017.

Bibliography
  • (in Polish) Bręczewska-Kulesza Daria, Derkowska-Kostkowska Bogna, Wysocka A., Ulica Gdańska. Przewodnik historyczny, Bydgoszcz 2003
  • (in Polish) Derkowska-Kostkowska Bogna: Kasynowe Towarzystwo „Wypoczynek" w Bydgoszczy i jego dom związkowy. Materiały do dziejów kultury i sztuki Bydgoszczy i regionu. Zeszyt 3. Pracownia Dokumentacji i Popularyzacji Zabytków Wojewódzkiego Ośrodka Kultury w Bydgoszczy. Bydgoszcz 1998
  • (in Polish) Prus Zdzisław, Weber Alicja: Bydgoski leksykon operowy. Kujawsko-Pomorskie Towarzystwo Kulturalne Bydgoszcz 2002. ISBN 83-85327-62-2
Pomeranian Arts House facade
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