Max Rosenthal Tenement

Max Rosenthal House is a historical tenement located at 42 Gdańska Street in downtown Bydgoszcz, Poland, built when the city was part of the Kingdom of Prussia. It is registered on the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship Heritage List.

Max Rosenthal Tenement
Kamienica Maxa Rosenthala w Bydgoszczy
View from Gdańska Street
General information
Type	Tenement
Architectural style	German historicism
Classification	Nr.601299-Reg.A/1059, August 26, 1996
Location	42 Gdańska street, Bydgoszcz, Poland
Country	Poland
Coordinates	53°7′45″N 18°0′26″E
Construction started	1905
Completed	1906
Client	Max Rosenthal
Technical details
Floor count	5
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Fritz Weidner

Location

The building stands on the eastern side of the street, between Krasiński and Słowackiego streets. It is adjacent to the Stanisław Miaskowski house.

History

The building was constructed between 1905 and 1906 on the site of a previous house dating from 1874. At this time, the address was 149 Danziger Strasse, Bromberg. It was designed by the architect Fritz Weidner, following a commission from the shipping investor (German: Spediteur) Max Rosenthal. The first tenant was Friedrich Herzer, who ran a men's fashion salon offering elegant clothing, uniforms and sportswear until World War I.

A notable doctor, Elmiar Schendell, lived there from the 1910s to the 1930s. During First World War, he gave nursing courses to young mother at the Infant Dispensary on Kościelecki Square.

Fritz Weidner was a German builder who came to Bydgoszcz at the end of the 19th century. He conducted frantic building activity in the city between 1896 and 1914. From 1912, he lived in the house he built for himself at 34 Gdańska.

In the same area, Fritz Weidner built houses at the following addresses:

• Mix Ernst tenement and movie theatre at 10 Gdanska St. in 1905;
• Thomas Frankowski Tenement at 28 Gdanska St. in 1897;
• George Sikorski Tenement at 31 Gdańska St. in 1906;
• Ernst Bartsch tenement at 79 Gdańska St. in 1898;
• House at 3 Freedom Square in 1903.

In 1918, the merchant Bronisław Kentzer bought the tenement to set up there the "Colonial Goods Wholesale and Coffee Roaster B. Kentzer i Ska" (Polish: Hurtownia Towarów Kolonianych i Palarnia Kawy B. Kentzer i Ska). The firm became one of the largest trading companies in Pomerania and Greater Poland.

End of 2017, a thorough refurbishment of the building has anew underlined the features of the elevation on Gdańska street.

Architecture

The tenement at the time reflected the new artistic trends in architecture during the first decade of the 20th century in Germany, where the stucco decoration is reduced to a minimum, leaving room for the system of architectural elements that make up the facade.

The tone of the facade underlines the pair of gallery-connected balconies, supported by massive corbels. The whole is crowned with a broken-semicircular mansard roof.

The interiors have still preserved stoves, staircases, glass elevators and stained glass windows.

The building has been put on the Pomeranian heritage list (Nr.601299-Reg.A/1059), on 26 August 1996.

Gallery

• 
  View from Gdanska street
• 
  Detail of a facade adornement
• 
  Main door on the street
• 
  Advertisement For Max Rosenthal in Bromberg

See also

• Gdanska Street in Bydgoszcz
• Kościelecki Square in Bydgoszcz
• Zygmunt Krasiński Street in Bydgoszcz
• Słowackiego Street in Bydgoszcz
• Fritz Weidner
• (in Polish) Downtown district in Bydgoszcz

Bibliography

• Bręczewska-Kulesza Daria, Derkowska-Kostkowska Bogna, Wysocka A. (2003). Ulica Gdańska. Przewodnik historyczny. Bydgoszcz: Wojewódzki Ośrodek Kultury w Bydgoszczy. ISBN 9788386970100.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)