Józef Weyssenhoff Square, Bydgoszcz

The area links Adam Mickiewicz Alley, Ossoliński Alley and Powstańców Wielkopolskich alley. Northern facades date back to the late 19th century style, while southern ones display modernist features from the first decade of the 20th century.

• 1906–1920, Bülowplatz, after Bernhard von Bülow;
• 1920–1933, Plac Zacisze ("Tranquility Square")
• 1933–1939, Plac Józefa Weyssenhoffa, after Józef Weyssenhoff, Polish writer and literary critic, who lived at Nr.1 from 1924 to 1928;[1]
• 1939–1945, Johann Fichte Platz, after Johann Gottlieb Fichte;
• Since 1945, Plac Józefa Weyssenhoffa.

The current name refers to Józef Weyssenhoff (1860–1932), a Polish writer, novelist, poet, literary critic, publisher who lived at the tenement at Nr.1 in the 1920s.

Bülowplatz, ca 1911

The square was founded in 1903 in the same conditions as Adam Mickiewicz Alley. It is a triangular square from which radiated:[2]

• Bülow straße (today Adam Mickiewicz Alley) to the north west;
• Hohenzzolernstrasse (today Ossoliński Alley to the south-east;
• in the late 1930s, Powstańców Wielkopolskich alley to the east.[3]

In the middle was planted flowerbeds, shrubs and trees. In 1926, coniferous and deciduous trees were put.[4] Between 1905 and 1911, a frontage of five-story apartment buildings have been built, following Art Nouveau and Historicism styles.

Frontages of Józef Weyssenhoff Square compose a complex of townhouses inscribed in the German variant of Art Nouveau architecture (German: Jugendstil). Predominant forms evoke quietness, through varied bay windows, divided balconies and loggias integrating wavy lines, wavy gables, vaulted windows and portals. Decoration combines organic themes with geometric forms, like rectangular and square shapes, grouped in series and friezes. The ensemble reminds also Baroque style at by applying domes avant-corps and towers topped with peaks.[5]

Some of the architects who designed those buildings had a significant influence on Bydgoszcz urbanism:[6]

• Rudolf Kern who built also tenements in Gdańska Street at 5, 67, 66–68 and 71;
• Erich Lindenburger who constructed also at 41,43,45,47 Dworcowa Street;
• Paul Böhm who realized houses at 1 and 3 August Cieszkowski Street in Bydgoszcz;
• Józef Święcicki, known for its dozens of realization in Gdańska Street;
• Bogdan Raczkowski, designer of the Polonia Bydgoszcz Stadium and the Antoni Jurasz university hospital in the 1930s.

For almost the entire post-war period, tenements have been property of the state. In 1990, the city of Bydgoszcz owned them back, but at the time, they were falling into disrepair as a result of underinvestment, lack of maintenance and general neglect of Art Nouveau monuments. Buildings have been restored after 2002.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Weysenhoffa Square in Bydgoszcz.

• Bydgoszcz
• Józef Weyssenhoff
• Ossoliński Alley in Bydgoszcz
• Adam Mickiewicz Alley in Bydgoszcz

• Library of UKW – University of Bydgoszcz

• (in Polish) Bręczewska-Kulesza, Daria. Przegląd stylów występujących w bydgoskiej architekturze drugiej połowy XIX i początku XX stulecia. Bydgoszcz.
• (in Polish) Jastrzębska-Puzowska, Iwona (2005). Od miasteczka do metropolii. Rozwój architektoniczny i urbanistyczny Bydgoszczy w latach 1850–1920. Toruń: Wydawnictwo MADO. ISBN 83-89886-38-3.
• (in Polish) Umiński, Janusz (1996). Bydgoszcz. Przewodnik. Bydgoszcz: Regionalny Oddział PTTK. "Szlak Brdy".
• (in Polish) Czachorowski, Antoni (1997). Atlas historyczny miast polskich. Tom II Kujawy. Zeszyt 1. Bydgoszcz. Toruń: Uniwersytet Mikołaja Kopernika.
• (in Polish) Kuczma, Rajmund (1995). AZieleń w dawnej Bydgoszczy. Bydgoszcz: Instytut Wydawniczy "Świadectwo".

53.1313°N 18.0120°E / 53.1313; 18.0120