PAST (; Polish Telephone Joint-stock Company), less often known as PASTa, was a Polish telephone operator in the period between

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and

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 ...

. Tallest building in Europe in 1908-1911. It is notable for its main headquarters in the North Downtown (''Śródmieście Północne'') neighbourhood in

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 at the time of its completion was the first

skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Most modern sources define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition, other than being very tall high-rise bui ...

in Poland and the tallest building in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. The fight for the building 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 ...

of 1944 also added to the legend of the place.

History

The Swedish-owned company Cedergren 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 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" (). During the German occupation of Poland, it was the regional telephone centre for

General Government The General Government (, ; ; ), formally the General Governorate for the Occupied Polish Region (), was a German zone of occupation established after the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, Slovak Republic (1939–1945), Slovakia and the Soviet ...

. During the

, on August 20, 1944, the building was captured by Polish insurgents of AK battalion "Kiliński” after 20 days of bloody fighting. The building was severely damaged. It was rebuilt in a simplified architectural form after

. 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, a

emblem of the Polish Underground State and '' Armia Krajowa'', was placed on top of the company's former headquarters.

Gallery

File:Ulica Zielna w Warszawie na początku XX wieku.jpg, Pre-war look of the ''Large PAST'' (background) and ''Small PAST'' (foreground) buildings File:Cedergren skycraper in Warsaw (1910).jpg, Cedergren skyscraper in Warsaw, 1910 File:PAST smoke.JPG, The PAST building burning during the

File:PAST2 DSC0053.JPG, Present-day view of the company's former headquarters

References

External links

{{commons category-inline, PAST building in Warsaw
Old and modern pictures of PAST building

Old and modern pictures of neighbouring building

1938 Warsaw telephone directory
published by PAST (large .pdf file)
PASTa - page about Warsaw architecture
Buildings and structures in Warsaw Defunct companies of Poland Warsaw Uprising Śródmieście Północne

History

Gallery

See also

References

External links