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Forgotten Kalisz- Kościuszki Street

2020-07-03 12:50:45 tłumaczyła Anna Kasprzak

Let us get to know the charms of a beautiful street in Kalisz - this time I’m inviting you for a trip along Kościuszko Street. Let’s pay attention to its vivid architecture and learn a bit of history.

arch. Calisia.pl
arch. Calisia.pl

Formerly, it was a district of wealthy people. There were villas and gardens in here and that’s why the street was called “Nowoogrodowa” ( New Garden Street). We can imagine how beautiful that place was. Let us start by comparing two buildings next to each other that have been built in completely different styles. They were built ten years apart. See how the architecture has changed. In contrast to the older buildings, that had a lot of ornaments,  the modernism seen here focused on a form simplicity, where everything should have been functional.  

The green gate is an example of modernism. We can see the backlight at the top of the pillars. At that time, it was very modern. 

Take a look on these two handles: the modern and the old one. It is strange that only one of them has been changed, but thanks to that we have got a comparison.   

 

Old crystal glass panes have also survived. Here we can see the cut glass just like on Pułaski Street.  

 

It was important to operate the geometric figures. At the entrance gate we can see the famous bumpers, that were designed to stop the carriages before entering the house yard.  

In the first half of the 20th century, Kościuszko Street was mainly the villas district, in which rich people lived. In front of the houses, on the courtyards there were stables, that at that time were a sign of wealth. 

Just like on Pułaski Street, the fronts of the houses were richly decorated, while the courtyards were modest.   

On the front door, there were the owners’ initials. Stained glass panes in the staircases are the best preserved on the top floor of the building.  

It is worth knowing who dwelled in these beautiful tenement houses. Franciszek Tournell, a famous architect and theoretician of architecture, urban planner and builder of the Warsaw governorate of the Kingdom of Poland lived in one of the houses on Pułaski Street. 

In the old times, Kalisz was illuminated with gas. We can see the remains of the gas lamps on the photo below.  

The one of the most beautiful villas, bears the LM initials-  meaning the name and surname of the owner- Ludwik Mueler (Miller). 

At the beginning of the 20th century, two large factories operated the Kalisz. One of them was local manufacture of plush and velvet, popularly called “Pluszownia”  (Plush Works). It was established in May 1913 from the rebuilt textile factory called “Miller Brothers”, founded in 1907. In that time, “Pluszownia” was the biggest plant of this type in Poland. Its production accounted for 25% of domestic velvet exports. (The second big factory was “Bielarnia” ( The Whiteing Works)- industrial plant). The Deuchman family house has been renovated and now it looks beautiful. Just think that more tenement houses could look even prettier!

The Szrajer family was also popular. Teodor and Michalina Szrajer spent the occupation in Kalisz with their daughter Bożena. Their three sontook part in the Polish September Campaign and then they were captured by Germans. After the War, in 1950s, they were thrown out of their own home at 1 Kościuszki Street. At the beginning, they settled in Warsaw with their son Zdzisław , and then their daughter Bożena took them under her roof. They lost everything, so for the rest of their lives, they were dependent on children. Now, on Kościuszko Street there is also a high school, which was named after Nicolas Copernicus. The district museum of Kalisz municipality is there, too .  

It is worth to pay attention to the beautiful architecture of the tenement houses. Let’s try to see the details.  

Our beautiful city has a very rich history and wonderful architecture. There are many charming tenement houses in here. It is worth taking a walk around Kalisz and look at the old buildings in a different way than before, trying to pay attention to details.  

Thank you, Mr. Błachowicz for showing me Kościuszki Street, which I haven’t known until today. I encourage readers of our portal, Calisia.pl, to learn about interesting stories related to our city.  

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