The house Ernst Mix in Bydgoszcz is located at 10 Gdańska Street in

Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz is a city in northern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Kuyavia. Straddling the confluence of the Vistula River and its bank (geography), left-bank tributary, the Brda (river), Brda, the strategic location of Byd ...

Location

The building stands on the eastern side of Gdańska Street, between Drukarnia shopping mall and Parkowa street.

History

Origins

The building was erected in 1863 for Ernst Mix, a soap manufacturer, as a complex of two buildings. In 1905, the building was expanded to the south with a residential annex in the

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

style, richly decorated with animal figures by architect Fritz Weidner, a German builder who came to Bydgoszcz at the end of the 19th century. Weidner building activity in the city was focused between 1896 and 1914. From 1912 onwards, he lived in the house he built for himself at 34 Gdańska street In the same area, Fritz Weidner built houses at the following addresses: * Thomas Frankowski Tenement at 28 Gdańska Street (1897); * George Sikorski Tenement at 31 Gdańska Street (1906); * Max Rosental Tenement at 42 Gdańska Street (1905); * Ernst Bartsch tenement at 79 Gdańska Street (1898); * Tenement at 3 Plac Wolności (1903). From 1863 until

World War II 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 ...

, Ernst Mix's company operated a soap and candle factory in this facility. The address then was ''42 Danziger strasse''. In 1910, the owner adapted the building for commercial purposes. The two lower floors were then used as a

Department Store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store under one roof, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store mad ...

called ''Modehaus Bromberg''. A reconstruction took place between 1913 and 1914 under the supervision of Fritz Weidner. Mix adv 1869

"Kristal" Theatre

The final design of the front facade and the unification of the two houses was carried out after 1905 with the construction of the cinema theater "Kristal". "Krystal-Palast" started its performances in 1914, with a 750-seat capacity. The cinema facility operated until 2003, regularly changing name: * ''Kristal'' in 1920; * ''Cristal'' in the 1930s; * ''Ufa Westpreussen'' during

; * ''Pomorzanin'' between 1945 and 2003. The theater could to host 478 people, 286 located up in a

long gallery In architecture, a long gallery is a long, narrow room, often with a high ceiling. In Britain, long galleries were popular in Elizabethan and Jacobean houses. They were normally placed on the highest reception floor of English country house ...

. Film screenings began on April 1, 1914. The entire facility, funded with loans from the Stadthagen Bank, was praised by companies Mixa, Tucholski, and Weidner.

Other outlets

During

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

, a pub, ''Bar Angielski'', was set up near the cinema where one could dance to the beat of live performances by Jazzband Orlowski. Another restaurant was also housed there at the same time, ''Zagloba'', owned by M. Grabowski. In 1921, the Poznański Bank Ziemian installed offices on Gdańska Street, and in 1944 the German Cashier of Bydgoszcz District () was located in the building. In 1946, ground and first floor premises were allocated to the State Agricultural Bank (): renovation works were then supervised by architect Jan Kossowski. In 1948, the building was renovated. In the postwar period the old factory premises housed the International Press and Books Club, and, since 1994, a club, ''Mózg''. At the beginning of 2017, the ensemble has been purchased by company ''Moderator Inwestycje'', which planned to re-open there a theatre, with a scene.

Architecture

The building was rebuilt in the style of early historical

modernism Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

by Fritz Weidner. The two lower floors keep large windows that were once part of a department store. The facade, originally adorned with

art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

solar motifs

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...

es, has lost most of them with following reconstructions (especially in 1948). During the theater construction,

reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete, also called ferroconcrete or ferro-concrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having higher tensile strength or ...

, a pioneering technology at the time, was used. Facades have been standardized and given the

modern architecture Modern architecture, also called modernist architecture, or the modern movement, is an architectural movement and style that was prominent in the 20th century, between the earlier Art Deco and later postmodern movements. Modern architectur ...

style.

Gallery

File:1928 ad GDka 165.jpg, Advertisement for restaurant Zagloba, 1928 File:Bdg Gdańska 10 elewacja płd.jpg, South facade File:Bdg Gdańska 10 pion 3.jpg, Corner File:Bdg Gdańska 10 pion 1.jpg, Frontage from Gdańska street File:Gdanska (5).JPG, Detail of facade File:Gdanska (3).JPG, Detail of facade File:Gdanska (4).JPG, Detail of facade File:Bdg Gdanska noc pocz 5 07-2013.jpg, By night File:Kino Pomorzanin 2017.jpg, Interiors in 2017

References

Bibliography

External links

Club ''Mózg''
{{Bydgoszcz historical housing Buildings and structures on Gdańska Street, Bydgoszcz Residential buildings completed in 1863 Commercial buildings completed in 1914 Modernist architecture in Bydgoszcz