PAST (, Polish Telephone Joint-stock Company), also known as PASTa, was a Polish telephone operator in the period between
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
and
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
.
It is notable for its main headquarters in the Śródmieście Północne neighbourhood of the borough of
Śródmieście in
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officiall ...
, which at the time of its construction was the first
skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ri ...
in the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...
and the tallest building of Warsaw. The fight for the building during the
Warsaw Uprising
The Warsaw Uprising ( pl, powstanie warszawskie; german: Warschauer Aufstand) was a major World War II operation by the Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It occurred in the summer of 1944, and it was led ...
of 1944 also added to the legend of the place.
History
The Swedish-owned company Towarzystwo Akcyjne Telefonów, also known as
Cedergren
Cedergren was a Swedish telecommunications company running the telephone network in Warsaw between 1900 and the interbellum. Named after its founder, Henrik Tore Cedergren, it was notable as the first official phone operator in that city and ...
, won a tender in 1900 to expand the Warsaw telephone network. For that purpose, two buildings were built at Zielna street in downtown Warsaw, holding the telephone exchange and the company's headquarters.
The building was built between 1904 and 1910 and was constructed in two phases. The lower part, designed by
L. Wahlman,
I.G. Clason and B. Brochowicz-Rogoyski, was completed in 1904-1905; the upper part was added in 1907-1910. The building was one of the first
reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete (RC), also called reinforced cement concrete (RCC) and ferroconcrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low ultimate tensile strength, tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion ...
constructions of its magnitude in Europe.
The Cedergren licence expired in 1922 and the building was consequently taken over by the PAST company. This is why it was referred to by Varsovians either by the name of Cedergren or PAST, or, colloquially, "Pasta" ( en, Paste). During the
German occupation
German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 ...
of Poland, it was the regional telephone centre for
General Government
The General Government (german: Generalgouvernement, pl, Generalne Gubernatorstwo, uk, Генеральна губернія), also referred to as the General Governorate for the Occupied Polish Region (german: Generalgouvernement für die be ...
. During the
Warsaw Uprising
The Warsaw Uprising ( pl, powstanie warszawskie; german: Warschauer Aufstand) was a major World War II operation by the Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It occurred in the summer of 1944, and it was led ...
, on August 20, 1944, the building was captured by Polish
insurgents
An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion against authority waged by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare from primarily rural base areas. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric nature: small irr ...
of AK battalion "Kiliński” after 20 days of bloody fighting. The building was severely damaged. It was rebuilt in a simplified architectural form after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
. The company was not recreated after the war, and its assets were nationalised by the Polish communist authorities.
The historic
Próżna Street is right around the corner of the building.
In 2003,
Kotwica
The ''Kotwica'' (; Polish for "Anchor") was a World War II emblem of the Polish Underground State and ''Armia Krajowa'' (Home Army, or ''AK''). It was created in 1942 by members of the ''AK'' Wawer Minor sabotage unit, as an easily usable embl ...
, a
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
emblem of the
Polish Underground State
The Polish Underground State ( pl, Polskie Państwo Podziemne, also known as the Polish Secret State) was a single political and military entity formed by the union of resistance organizations in occupied Poland that were loyal to the Gover ...
and ''
Armia Krajowa
The Home Army ( pl, Armia Krajowa, abbreviated AK; ) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) e ...
'', was placed on top of the company's former headquarters.
Gallery
File:PAST.jpg, Pre-war look of the ''Large PAST'' (background) and ''Small PAST'' (foreground) buildings.
File:Cedergren skycraper in Warsaw (1910).jpg, Cedergren skycraper in Warsaw 1910.
File:PAST smoke.JPG, The PAST building burning during the Warsaw Uprising
The Warsaw Uprising ( pl, powstanie warszawskie; german: Warschauer Aufstand) was a major World War II operation by the Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It occurred in the summer of 1944, and it was led ...
.
File:PAST2 DSC0053.JPG, Present-day view of the company's former headquarters.
See also
*
Prudential, Warsaw
The Hotel Warszawa is a historic skyscraper hotel in Warsaw, Poland, located on Warsaw Uprising Square along Świętokrzyska Street. Built between 1931 and 1933 in the Art Deco style as the Prudential House, and commonly known as the Prudential, ...
*
List of tallest buildings in Poland
Poland has 56 high-rise buildings that stand at least tall, being also one of 17 countries in the world to have a supertall skyscraper (building that rises at least ).
Historically, the title of the tallest building in Poland since the Middle ...
References
External links
{{commonscat-inline, PAST building in Warsaw
Old and modern pictures of PAST buildingOld and modern pictures of neighbouring building1938 Warsaw telephone directorypublished by PAST (large .pdf file)
PASTa - page about Warsaw architecture
Buildings and structures in Warsaw
Defunct companies of Poland
Warsaw Uprising