Type Tenement Address Gdanska Street 10 Renovated 1913-1914 Opened 1905 Architectural style Modern architecture Architect Fritz Weidner | Location Bydgoszcz, Poland Completed 1905 Floor count 5 Floors 5 Groundbreaking 1863 | |
 | ||
Similar August Mentzel Tenement, Villa Fritz Heroldt in Bydgoszcz, Emil Bernhardt tenement, Alexander Timm House, Julius Grey house in Bydgoszcz | ||
The house Ernst Mix in Bydgoszcz is located at N°10 of Gdańska Street in Bydgoszcz.
Contents
Location
The building stands on the eastern side of Gdańska Street, between Drukarnia shopping mall and Parkowa street.
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 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 conducted frantic building activity in the city between 1896 and 1914. From 1912, he lived in the house he built for himself at Gdańska 34.
In the same area, Fritz Weidner built houses at the following addresses:
- Thomas Frankowski Tenement at Gdanska St. 28 in 1897;
- George Sikorski Tenement at Gdańska St. 31, in 1906;
- Max Rosental Tenement at Gdanska St. 42 in 1905;
- Ernst Bartsch tenement at Gdańska St.79, in 1898;
- House at Freedom Square 3, in 1903.
From 1863 until World War II, Ernst Mix's company operated a soap and candle factory in this facility. The address then was "Danziger strasse 42".
In 1910, the owner adapted the building for commercial purposes. The two lower floors were then used as a Department Store, Modehaus Bromberg. A reconstruction took place between 1913-1914 under the supervision of Fritz Weidner.
"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 30s;
- "Ufa Westpreussen" during World War II;
- "Pomorzanin" between 1945 and 2003.
The theater was planned to host 478 people, 286 located up in a long gallery. 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, 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 Gdanska Street, and in 1944 the German Cashier of Bydgoszcz District (German: Sparkasse des Kreis Bromberg) was located in the building. In 1946, ground and first floor premises were allocated to the State Agricultural Bank (Polish: Państwowy Bank Rolny). 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.
Architecture
The building was rebuilt in the style of early historical modernism 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 solar motifs stuccoes, has lost most of them with following reconstructions (especially in 1948).
During the theater construction, reinforced concrete, a pioneering technology at the time, was used. Facades have been standardized and given the modern architecture style.