Warsaw Uprising by Lokajski - Sappers - 3481

Café Adria was an entertainment complex and

nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

, which included an American bar, café, dance hall, restaurant and

winter garden A winter garden is a kind of garden maintained in wintertime. History The origin of the winter garden dates back to the 17th to 19th centuries where European nobility constructed large conservatories that housed tropical and subtropical pla ...

. It started operating in 1930 and during the 1930s it was also used as a location for filmmaking. It continued to operate during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, but this was for the German occupying forces who requisitioned it. It became a base for the Polish

Home Army The Home Army (, ; 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) established in the ...

during the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising (; ), sometimes referred to as the August Uprising (), or the Battle of Warsaw, was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from ...

, where it was damaged by bombardment.

Design and operations

Café Adria was founded in 1930 at Moniuszki Street 10 by entrepreneur Franciszek Moszkowicz and its restaurant opened in February 1931. It occupied the basement and ground floor of a large office building that had been built in 1928 for the Italian insurance company ', which presumably inspired the café's name. Its style was

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

and used lighting to emphasise the quality of materials, rather than ornamentation. The dance floor included a rubberised disc that revolved like a phonograph turntable and its live band was led by many performers, such as

Artur Gold Artur (Arthur) Gold (born 17 March 1897, Warsaw, died 1943 in Treblinka) was a Polish Jewish violinist and dance-music composer during the Interbellum. He closely collaborated with his brother Henryk Gold and with Jerzy Petersburski with who ...

. The American bar was air-conditioned and served cocktails and

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

. The winter garden contained plants and live birds, such as parrots. The venue was at the centre of Warsaw nightlife. It hosted events like balls and parties and often featured prominent artists, musicians and other popular figures.

Filmmaking location

The café's varied interiors made it a good location for filmmaking. It has appeared in many films, such as the 1933 movie ''

His Excellency, The Shop Assistant ''His Excellency, The Shop Assistant'' () is a 1933 Polish romantic comedy film directed by Michał Waszyński.Co mój mąż robi w nocy ''Co mój mąż robi w nocy'' (''What Is My Husband Doing Tonight?'') is a 1934 Polish musical comedy film directed by Michał Waszyński. Plot Industrialist Roman Tarski moves from Kraków to Warsaw. He is a co-owner of a thriving construct ...

'' (''What Is My Husband Doing Tonight?''), where it was named "

Alhambra The Alhambra (, ; ) is a palace and fortress complex located in Granada, Spain. It is one of the most famous monuments of Islamic architecture and one of the best-preserved palaces of the historic Muslim world, Islamic world. Additionally, the ...

" and used as a set for half of the scenes.

Wartime

During the Second World War, Café Adria was requisitioned and reserved for Germans only. In May 1943, there was a shootout when

Jan Kryst Jan Kryst (6 April 1922 – 22 May 1943) was a Polish scout and a member of the Polish anti-Nazi resistance. He fought for the Home Army and volunteered for a revenge attack at the Café Adria where he fatally shot several members of the Gestapo ...

sought revenge for the torture of Polish prisoners by shooting members of the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

who were there for the cabaret. During the

, it housed a canteen and the

Błyskawica radiostation The Błyskawica radio station ("Lightning") was an insurgent radio transmitter broadcasting at 200 Watts from Warsaw during the Warsaw Uprising of 1944, from 8 August until the end of the struggle. The transmitter was constructed by Antoni Zębik ...

. It was then hit by a large shell from a ''

Karl-Gerät ''Karl-Gerät'' (040/041) ( in German), also known as ''Mörser Karl'', was a World War II German Self-propelled gun, self-propelled siege Mortar (weapon), mortar (''Mörser'') designed and built by Rheinmetall. Its heaviest munition was a di ...

'' siege mortar on 18 August 1944. The shell did not explode, but penetrated all the floors of the building and reached the cellars. Further bombardment then inflicted more damage, but the building was one of the few to remain standing and was renovated as a bank after the war.

Contemporary use

In 1973 another café was created in the same place under the name New Adria, but it closed in 2005 and the building that housed the café was abandoned; in 2024 there were plans to modernise the building for use as residential flats. The building is now listed on the Polish list of historic monuments.

References

External links

* —Colourised film of Café Adria in the 1930s that includes the revolving dance floor (time index 1:25) {{WikidataCoord, Q16565965, type:landmark_region:PL-14, display=title 1930 establishments in Poland Buildings and structures in Warsaw Entertainment venues in Poland Nightclubs