Doktora Emila Warmińskiego street is an old street of the Bydgoszcz centre. Many buildings along this path carry historical interest in the framework of the development of the city.
Location The street is located in downtown district (). Its course lies on a south–north axis, from Focha street to Zduny street, parallel to Gdańska Street. On its way, Warmińskiego street crosses the following axes: Obrońców Bydgoszczy, Dworcowa, Podolska and Zduny.
History The path that will become Warmińskiego street was laid during the second half of the 19th century, under Prussian rule. It stems from the growing activity along Focha street (then Wilhelmstraße) in the one hand and the set up of industries on the north of Focha street in the other hand.
Before its inception, facility along the street were registered under the neighbouring avenues already established, i.e. with Wilhelmstraße, Bahnofstraße or Petersonstraße numbering. A handful of tenements from this period are still standing.
Between the 1890s and the outset of the First World War, several firms set up in the area and contributed to the prominence of the street. One can mention, among others: a tram company and an electrical powerplant () established in 1904 at Nr.8. One can still see hooks on rosettes (two at Nr.1 and one at Nr.3 and 5) that were used to support a traction network that carried coal to feed the power plant. a dairy workshop () established in 1888 at Nr.9; a construction company () before WWI at Nr.11; an industrial machine workshop, later a printing house () in the early 1880s at Nr.14; BEFANA factory set up in 1915 within the area between Warmińskiego street and Obrońców Bydgoszczy street, producing black tools (spades, axes, pickaxes...) and files; Polon, a light bulbs factory opened at Nr.15 in 1925.
After the war (1922), a large confectionery factory opened at Nr.7/9 and operated till the 1990s (Tyler Brothers factory).
In the late 2010s, a series of renovation of the buildings have taken place, especially in the vicinity of the opera on Focha street.
During the entire Prussian period (till 1920), the street had the same pattern as today. However, in 1920, the avenue was divided into two sections, north and south of Dworcowa street. Thus Warmińskiego street bore the following names through time: Till 1920, Gamm Straße, from the Gamm family who owned of a soap and candle factory located in the street in the 1850s; 1920–1939, Ulica Doktora Emila Warmińskiego (south) / Ulica Gamma (north); 1939–1945, Gamm Straße; Since 1945, Ulica Doktora Emila Warmińskiego on the entire length.
Current naming refers to Emil Warmiński (1881–1909), a doctor, Polish social and national activist, founder of the "Polish House" in this very street (then Gammstraße).
Main areas and edifices Tenement at 26 Focha street, corner with Warmińskiego street 1876, by Carl Stampehl
Eclecticism
Johann Kretschmer, a wood merchand, was the landlord of building at then Wilhelmstraße 7 (Nr.26). Carl Stampehl also designed in Bydgoszcz a tenement at 22 Gdanska street (1875) and the Villa Carl Blumwe in (1893).
Recently refurbished, the tenement displays modest features.
Tenement at 28 Focha street, corner with 1 Warmińskiego street 1896–1897
Eclecticism with Art Nouveau elements
The commissioner and first landlord was Hugo Rossow, a restaurateur running a pub house (). The building has been referenced for a long time at 6 Wilhelmstraße.
Thoroughly refurbished in 2020, after being in a poor state for many years, the building boasts, among others, bas-reliefs, cornices, bossage elements on the ground floor and a portal with pillar strips topped by a balustrade line.
Tenement at 3 1850–1875
Eclecticism with Art Nouveau elements
The first registered landlord was Friedrich ßetrich, a blacksmith by trade who set up a workshop producing wagons in the late 1860s. From the beginning of the 20th century till the outset of WWI, a restaurant owned and run by Franz Rüdiger was located there.
A deep renovation occurred in 2020. The facade highlights now its assets: female-figure caryatids stand on both sides of the window above the gateway, supporting an elegant semicircular balcony. The ground floor is stone rusticated and the individual storeys are separated by cornices. A corbel table has been integrated under the three-sided tiled roof, which displays dormers. The elevation is also decorated with elaborate window frames, pilasters and an elaborated portal.
Tenement at 4 1938–1939
Modern Architecture
This building is an additional and accurate instance of Polish modernism of the interwar period, together with many other tenements in downtown Bydgoszcz: 9 and 41 20 Stycznia 1920 Street; 7 Plac Wolności; 14 Kopernika Street; 11 Ossoliński avenue.
Tenement at 5 1850–1875
Eclecticism
The house is mentioned in 1872, as the place housing the workshop of Friedrich ßetrich, a blacksmith living at Nr.3. From the 1880s onwards, the expanded building was used as a renting tenement owned by Leue & Kretschmer, later (1885) landlords of tenements at 1,2,4 and 5 Gamm Straße (today's Nr.1 to 5) till the start of WWI.
The facade, stripped of any decoration, still exhibits a balanced ensemble. One can notice the quirky entrance door, topped by a thin tiled roof and a French window giving on a wrought iron railing.
Former Tysler brothers factory at 7/9 09–1910
Industrial architecture
Initially on the place stood a dairy house, the Bromberger Molkerei, designed by Józef Święcicki, which operated till the end of the WWI.
In 1922, the Tysler brothers had a confectionery factory built there: it operated under the name Fabryka Cukrów i Czekolady. During World War II, the plant was taken over by the Germans, but kept producing. In 1945, Tysler Brothers business was nationalized as Jutrzenka company (). Four years later the company was merged into a conglomerate, the Pomeranian United Sugar and Chocolate Factories. In 1950, the latter was combined with other factories: the ex-Lucullus at 5 Garbary Street and a biscuit factory for the army at 53 Kościuszki street. In 1951, the company was re-branded Zakłady Przemysłu Cukierniczego Jutrzenka (). In 1994, the firm was privatized: under the umbrella of the Colian Holding, it entered the Warsaw Stock Exchange as Jutrzenka Holding S.A. ten years later.
The production site in Warmińskiego street closed in 1995, due to the nuisance to the environment, the plant being located in a densely built-up residential center of Bydgoszcz. The plot, together with the abutting one of the former factory BEFANA at 13 Obrońców Bydgoszczy street, is part of a large real estate project called Nowy Port: works will begin at the beginning of 2021.
Tenement at 8 Post WWII
Modern architecture
The first was house built in the 19th century: the architect Józef Święcicki and his family moved there a tenants from 1888 til 1890. In 1905, on an abutting plot, a power plant for street car production was erected by General tram company in Berlin (). Still operative after WWI, the company dropped down the tram manufacturing and maintained only the electrical power station in the late 1920s. Until 1946, the tracks enabling the access of freight trams to the former power plant were still visible. The only preserved elements are the hooks on the facades of some buildings in the street.
Tenement at 10 1850–1875
Eclecticism
First registered landlord was Louis Bauer, a music teacher. Today, it hosts the local seat of the Polish Red Cross.
Tenement at 11 1850–1875
Neoclassical architecture
The first owner at then 6 Wilhelmstraße recorded in the early 1860s was Gottlieb Müller, working in the railway business. The house at Nr.11 still stands today.
In 1903, three social activists (Dr. Emil Warmiński, Dr. Władysława Piórka and Ludwik Sosnowski) established a building company which then purchased a large property with access on both 5 Wilhelmstraße (today 30 Focha st.30) and 6 Gamm straße (today 11 Warmińskiego st.). The ensemble built there had two rooms, a large garden with a summer stage and a place for gymnastic exercises. Social organizations operated at this Dom Polski (e.g. the Sokół Gymnastic Society or Halka Singing Society in Bydgoszcz), in addition to lectures and courses. In 1910, the Bydgoszcz Industrial Exhibition took place there. The local branch of the Grenzschutz (a paramilitary voluntary formation) attacked the Polish House and severely damaged it in August 1919.
After WWI, a metal products factory called Fema started to operate in the buildings of the former Dom Polski (1921), producing various types of furniture, locks, belt hinges, etc. Kazimierz and Edmund Sokolowski, firm's owners, placed a commemorative plaque in honor of the defunct Polish House on the wall of the factory at 11 Warmińskiego street. The board was destroyed by the Nazis: in 1958, for the 75th anniversary of its foundation, the “Halka” Singing Society of Bydgoszcz re-placed it, on a building in the back of the street. At the time, the nationalized factory called Bydgoska Fabryka Wyrobów Rowerowych Fema was one of several plants in Bydgoszcz manufacturing cheap bicycles for the entire nation. After the fall of communism, the main edifice became a car workshop and was eventually demolished in February 2019, as part of a real estate project. However, the commemorative plaque to Emil Warmiński will be positioned back on the plot at the end of the works.
Tenement at 1 Obrońców Bydgoszczy street, corner with Warmińskiego street
1884–1885Gminna Ewidencja Zabytków Miasta Bydgoszczy. Program Opieki nad Zabytkami miasta Bydgoszczy na lata 2013–2016
Eclecticism
The building has been one of the first erected in Obrońców Bydgoszczy street under Prussian rule, initially to house a private high school for girls (), then registered at 9 Gammstraße. In the 1910s, the school received the namesake of (Margarete) Dreger, one of its headmistress and was later called Dregersche Schule. After the re-creation of the Polish state, the private high school kept working, for girls and boys, under the same appellation: Priwatne Liceum im. Drögera. After the Second World War, the edifice lodged municipal Psychological and Pedagogical establishment Nr.1 (). The institution moved out in the 2010s, and the ensemble has been proposed for selling to private owners by the city authorities in 2017. The intent is to set up here various activities including a Social Services Center and a nursery.
The edifice comprises three buildings displaying various styles, the lowest one being the former school gymnasium. The tenement standing at street corner has the most elaborated facades, with eclectic features: sleek bossage on the ground floor, windows topped by heavy lintels on the first floor and triangular pediments on the second, belt courses separating each level and a simple corbel table crowning the elevation.
Tenement at 14 1883
Neoclassical architecture and Industrial architecture
The first landlord, in the early 1880s, was Elvira Conradt, living in nearby Töpferstraße (today's Zduny street).
In 1884, an industrial machine workshop had been built there by Hermann Claus, living at 19 Bahnofstraße (today's 34 Dworcowa Street). At the end of the 19th century, the place was taken over by the Böhmer Brothers to manufacture railroad cars: the successful firm Ostdeutsche Wagenfabrik Gebrüder Böhmer moved a few years later to the eastern suburb of Schröttersdorf (today's Skrzetusko district). After their departure, a printing house set up in the premises, run by Julius Arndt. The institution survived WWI and during the 1920s a drukarnia operated there.
The ensemble consists of two buildings: the ex-workshop, bearing bricks giving onto the street and a faded neo-classical features house in the backyard, with terraces and avant-corps. One can still make out the writing Drukarnia (printing house) on the wall of the brick edifice.