Theonia Reichhardt House in Bydgoszcz

The Theonia Reichhardt house is a tenement in downtown Bydgoszcz, at 36 Gdańska Street.

Theonia Reichhardt House in Bydgoszcz
Polish: Kamienica Theonii Reichhardt w Bydgoszczy
View from Gdanska street
General information
Type	Tenement
Architectural style	Eclecticism & Neo-baroque
Location	36 Gdańska street, Bydgoszcz,  Poland
Country	Poland
Coordinates	53°7′43″N 18°0′24″E
Completed	1875
Renovated	1897-1898
Client	Theonia Reichhardt
Technical details
Floor count	4
Design and construction
Architect	Józef Święcicki

Location

The building stands on the eastern side of Gdańska Street, between Krasiński and Słowackiego streets. During the Prussian era, the address of the house was 151 Danziger straße, Bromberg.[1]

History

The house was built in the years 1897–1898 for Theonia Reichhardt, widow in 1885 of Mr Reichhardt, a music teacher.[2] The Reichhardt family lived there since 1880[2] and the widow had the original 1875 residential building reconstructed as we can see now in the late 1890s.

The building housed a brewery, a restaurant and in the 20th century a café house, Lilas.

Architecture

The tenement was designed by the architect Józef Święcicki, who also designed (among others):

• Hotel "Pod Orlem" at 14 Gdańska st.;
• Oskar Ewald Tenement at 30 Gdańska st.;
• Tenement at 1 Freedom Square.

For this edifice, Joseph Święcicki prepared plans for a building with large dimensions and a rich decoration, which was to span along the whole façade. However, due to limited financial resources, the initial project was modified and eventually only the left side of the building got its luxurious ornamentation. The view is still striking, even today.

The building has an asymmetrical façade and eclectic wooden decoration of neo-Baroque forms. The façade is enriched with decorative palmettes, heads of lions, and cartouches. Inside one of them, above a balcony of the second floor, a letter R (for Reichhardt) is still apparent.

Gallery

• 
  Detail of the balcony with carved initials
• 
  Detail of the 1st floor balcony
• 
  Facade overview after renovation

See also

• Bydgoszcz
• Gdanska Street in Bydgoszcz
• Józef Święcicki

References

1. Adressbuch nebst allgemeinem Geschäfts-Anzeiger von Bromberg und dessen Vororten auf das Jahr 1899 : auf Grund amtlicher und privater Unterlagen. Bromberg: Dittmann. 1899.
2. Adressbuch nebst allgemeinem Geschäfts-Anzeiger von Bromberg und dessen Vororten auf das Jahr 1880: auf Grund amtlicher und privater Unterlagen. Bromberg: Mittler. 1880.

Bibliography

• (in Polish) Bręczewska-Kulesza Daria, Derkowska-Kostkowska Bogna, Wysocka A. (2003). Ulica Gdańska. Przewodnik historyczny. Bydgoszcz: Wojewódzki Ośrodek Kultury w Bydgoszczy. ISBN 9788386970100.
• (in Polish) Bręczewska-Kulesza, Daria. Echa architektury starożytnej w budowlach bydgoskich XIX i początku XX wieku. Bydgoszcz.