Świdermajer () is a distinct Polish architectural style developed in late 19th and early 20th century in Masovia along the railroad linking Warsaw with Otwock. The style was applied almost exclusively to wooden villas of the middle classes. Developed by

Michał Elwiro Andriolli Michał Elwiro Andriolli ( lt, Mykolas Elvyras Andriolis, it, Elviro Michele Andriolli; 2 November 1836, in Vilnius 23 August 1893, in Nałęczów) was a Polish illustrator, painter and architect of Italian descent. He is notable for his il ...

, the style combined traditional elements of local wooden architecture with the Swiss style popular after the world fair in Vienna of 1873 (wide roofs), Russian traditional houses of the common people (wooden porches with windows) and some elements of the decorative art from the Podhale region.Robert Lewandowski (2005)
Świdermajer, jak budowano.
Swidermajer.pl, Internet Archive.

Origins

The name Świdermajer was a play on the words "

Biedermeier The ''Biedermeier'' period was an era in Central Europe between 1815 and 1848 during which the middle class grew in number and the arts appealed to common sensibilities. It began with the Congress of Vienna at the end of the Napoleonic Wars in ...

" and "

Świder Świder is a river in Masovia, Poland. It is a tributary to the Vistula near Otwock Otwock is a city in east-central Poland, some southeast of Warsaw, with 44,635 inhabitants (2019). Otwock is a part of the Warsaw Agglomeration. It is sit ...

", the latter being the name of both a river along which a number of villas were built and a village between Warsaw and Otwock considered the 'Świdermajer capital'. As local neologism, the word was popularized by Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński in an

epigram An epigram is a brief, interesting, memorable, and sometimes surprising or satirical statement. The word is derived from the Greek "inscription" from "to write on, to inscribe", and the literary device has been employed for over two mille ...

called "Wycieczka do Świdra".Robert Lewandowski
Strona o architekturze świdermajer.
Home, Internet Archive.

References

Świdermajer.pl

an

External links

A Guide to the Wooden Villas of Otwock
Architecture of Poland Swidermajer Swidermajer {{authority control