Sielanka is a housing estate developed in the 1910s in the heart of downtown city Bydgoszcz, Poland. Its completion spans almost 25 years, across the political changes of the period (from the Prussian occupation to the re-creation of the Polish state). It was created in the spirit of garden city spirit originating from the beginning of the 20th century and refers to eclectic forms. In addition, there are many modernist villas, fashionable in the interwar period.
Sielanka is part of the (meaning downtown) district of Bydgoszcz. It's roughly triangle-shaped, limited by the following roads:
The name Sielanka literally translates to Idyll.
The garden city movement was embodied by Ebenezer Howard, as this urban trend took off in the second half of the 19th century. The concept of garden city assumed the construction of urban bodies located around a centre harbouring a public recreational green area, with rings of housing estates comprising small plots with single-family houses, the outer rings hosting public utility buildings and further out production plants. Howard's idea was especially described in his book Garden Cities of To-morrow published in 1902. The first garden city was located in England (Letchworth-1903), with examples of such planning soon following suit in Poland: Zàbki near Warsaw (1912), Podkowa Leà Âna (1925) or Gdynia (1925).
At the beginning of the 20th century, the municipality of the then Prussian Bromberg had a vast area completely undeveloped, located between Braesicke-Schiller straÃÂe (Staszica and Paderewskiego st.), Fröner straÃÂe (Markwarta st.) and Hohenzollern straÃÂe (Ossolià Âskich Av.).
Despite the 1903 decision to erect the complex of the Institutes of Agriculture in the northern part, the district remained by and large bare from construction. Seeking development, the municipal authorities reached out to the urban engineer Josef Stübben with hopes of developing a concept layout of this city sector.
Stübben (1845âÂÂ1936) was a German architect, graduated from the Berlin Building Academy, who worked at the Technical Council of the Prussian Ministry of Finance (1904âÂÂ1920) and had chaired the Poznaà  expansion commission. At the time, he was a regarded urban developer, having devised many plans for important cities such as Aachen, Düsseldorf, Cologne, Luxembourg City, Madrid, Rostock, Warsaw. Josef Stübben won the first prize in the international competition for the urban planning of the greater Vienna. In Prussian Poland, he also worked in Poznaà Â, Gà Âogów and Waà Âbrzych.
His sketch, delivered in December 1912, became the blueprint for the project drawn up by Heinrich Metzger, the Bromberg city construction adviser, seconded by engineer Bernhard Hirsch. Following the garden city principles, the scheme planned constructing a green square at its centre and at each corner of the triangular area. Although the core plaza still exists at Turwid square, only one out of three others was achieved (today's square of Leszek Biaà Ây).
Metzger and Hirsch worked on the parceling of the land, establishing the size of each of the plots, the regular width of the front gardens, prohibiting the building of any workshops in the backrooms of the villas and dramatically limiting commercial and manufacturing activities within properties. Eventually, around 50 plots were laid down and approved for house construction.
In the first Prussian documents, the area was called Gartenstadt (); the name Eigenheimviertel () was also used to describe the entire domain. Once the building phase started, the first specific names appear to designate the places:
In 1914, the city office began to allocate plots to owners by the means of private selling. The first houses were erected on parcels located on both sides of Turwid square at 4, 6, 8 Wyspiaà Âskiego street and 14 Sielanka street. Another house was also built, albeit with a different interior layout, at 5 Kopernika street.
Villas of this time were characterised by complicated details: numerous turrets, bay windows and intricate roof structures. They generally refer to neoclassical and neo-baroque styles, as part of the historicizing period. At the outset of WWI, only 5 villas have been realised.
After the end of WWI, there was a ten-year stagnation period associated with the political situation (rebirth of the Polish state) and the low economic activity. The resuming of construction in this part of the district is inextricably linked with the April 29th 1925 Act on the expansion of cities, which imposed an obligation on municipalities to improve the housing situation and created preferential finacncial conditions for the development of villa-type accommodations.
New constructions set off in 1927, with the particular support of architect-engineer Bogdan Raczkowski, who had been appointed in December 1922 as deputy chairman of the urban management committee. Strict regulations were issued for the future buildings. Some of these limitations include:
Such constraints allowed buildings to maintain their character, even though the City Development Committee was inclined, when possible, to promote the construction of multi-apartment villas.
During this period, 18 new villas were built from 1927 to 1930, 17 new ones from 1930 to 1933 and 4 more shortly before the outbreak of WWII.
Named after Ryszard Markwart (1868âÂÂ1906), a Polish priest, who was a nationalist activist and head of the Bromberg parish from 1899 till his death, the street delineates the southern border of Sielanka estate, with most of its northern side features villas dating back to this project.
Laid out in the early 1900s, it marks out the eastern border of the Sielanka estate. To the east, most of the plots belong to the buildings of the Institute of Agriculture, established in 1903âÂÂ1906. A significant share of the western frontages display functionalist or Polish National style features.
The plaza is located at the northern tip of Sielanka area. Due to its earlier development, only the southern frontages are related to the project, the others having been erected at the beginning of the 20th century.
Sielanka Street is a small and twisty road, laid in the mid-1910s: consisting of a series of villas, each of which is unique in its architectural concept.
Short street where several villas are registered on the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship Heritage List. The street is named after Nicolaus Copernicus (1473 1543).
1932âÂÂ1933, by Bogdan Raczkowski
Early Modernism
Located at the corner with Kopernika Street, the architect Bogdan Raczkowski designed it to be his own house. Later, WÃ Âodzimierz Raczkowski took ownership of the villa.
Part of the garden is dedicated to a tennis court.
1939, by Bogdan Raczkowski
One of the last houses built as part of the Sielanka estate project before the start of World War II.
1933âÂÂ1934, by Bolesà Âaw Polakiewicz
One can notice the distinctive stained glass panels highlighting the staircase.
1933âÂÂ1934, by Bolesà Âaw Polakiewicz
First owner was Klemens Stark, a merchant.
1932âÂÂ1933, by Witold Eysymont
Stanisà Âaw Dziurzynski, an engineer, was the commissioner of this house in the beginning of the 1930s.
1927âÂÂ1931, by Bronisà Âaw Jankowski
Polish National Style
The owner of the villa was Paweà  Aleksandrowicz, a reserve colonel. Living initially at 4 à Âniadeckich Street, he moved there in 1936âÂÂ1937.
1933âÂÂ1934, by Jan Kossowski
The initial investor was a doctor, Stefan Gaszyà Âski. Before the completion of construction, the house was bought by lawyer Stanisà Âaw Kaszyà Âski, who had his office at 17 Gdaà Âska Street.
The villa is decorated with a glazed, rounded bay window, terraces and balconies resembling ship captain's bridges (see e.g.: bent metal balustrades). Large windows on the ground floor connect the interior with the garden greenery.
1927âÂÂ1928, by Bronisà Âaw Jankowski
Polish National Style
The oldest house in Asnyka street, originally commissioned by Brigadier General Aleksander Ehrbar, who commanded the 16th Uhlan regiment. Before moving there in 1933, he was living at 7 Reja Street.
1927âÂÂ28, by Tadeusz Mieczkowski
Early Modernism and Polish National Style
Tadeusz Mieczkowski, an engineer, designed the villa and lived there until the outbreak of the Second World War.
1914âÂÂ1915, by Gustaw Burschat
Late Art Nouveau and Polish National Style
Leopold Siedlecki is the first registered owner in the early 1920s, although the house is part of the batch of the first realizations during the Prussian period. The style reflects this, exhibiting Art Nouveau elements, in particular around the portal.
1914, by Rudolf Kern
Late Art Nouveau and Polish National Style
Kurtz Seydler ran a wallpaper business downtown, at Dantziger StraÃÂe 158 (today's 24 Gdaà Âska Street). Here, one can notice the grand portal flanked by columns, topped by a wrought iron-motifs balcony, the two rosettes surrounded by lesenes and the oeil-de-boeuf on the top of the facade.
1914âÂÂ1917, by Theodor Patzwald
Polish National Style
Completed just before the start of the First World War, Paweà  Schönerstädt (or Schoenerstaedt), a factory manager, was its first owner. Here, the portal is brought up to a higher level of decoration resembling the Neo-baroque style, including a large triangular pediment supported by four marble Corinthian order columns. Furthermore, the entrance door is heavily adorned with floral motifs and another couple of pink columns. The rest of the facade is highlighted with pilasters, a crowning frieze and a half-moon oeil-de-boeuf.
1928âÂÂ1930, by Józef Grodzki
Early Modernism and Polish National Style
Dr. Kazimierz Panek was a professor at a university. His widow survived him in the house until WWII. The villa is located at the corner with Sielanka Street. The main elevation on Wyspiaà Âskiego street displays a nice transom light door highlighted by pilasters and wall lesenes.
1927âÂÂ29, by Bronisà Âaw Jankowski
Polish National Style
The first registered owner was an engineer, Teodor Krieger. Today, the house harbors the seat of the Chamber of Commerce "WodociÃÂ gi Polskie" (), the only economic self-government organization in the water and sewage sector in Poland, established in September 1992.
1933âÂÂ1934, by Bolesà Âaw Polakiewicz
The first known landlord was Wà Âodzimierz Hordyà Âski, the director of the bank Spóà Âdzielcza Kasa OszczÃÂdnoà Âciowo-Kredytowa (SKOK), with headquarters located at 1 Hermana Frankego street (present day Stary Port Street).
This short street path is located between the Leszka Biaà Âego Square on the south and Bydgoszcz University building Copernicanum on the north.
Initially named "Wilsona street" in reference to the American President Woodrow Wilson, this tiny path is bordered on its western flank by the Copernicanum and the Kopernika Square, while its eastern side stems from the Turwid Square and crosses Sielanka street to end at Kopernika street.
The original square design has been modified in 1925 by the engineer Marian Guntzl, who created a new garden layout, in the same way he will later design the nearby Botanic Garden. It has been named in reference to Marian Turwid (1905âÂÂ1987), a Polish writer, painter and cultural activist in Bydgoszcz.
The Sielanka project included this square as a property of the Province of Posen (), not owned by the municipality. After the rebirth of Poland in 1918, the area was ordered to be constructed, with nothing actually being completed. In the 1960s, a memorial was built to commemorate the Millennium of the Polish State (). Designed by Polish artist Stanislaw Lejkowski, it was unveiled on July 22, 1967. The entire scheme, however, was never achieved: the nest in the tripod was supposed to be crowned with the Piast eagle, considered by the communist authorities to be too similar to the symbols used during World War II by the Polish Armed Forces in the West. In 2011, the city even had plans to demolish it. It didn't follow through with them, as the deconstruction turned out to be too expensive.
The site has been given the name of Lieutenant Leszek the White in November 2013. Leszek the White was a hero of the Home Army during the Second World War. His father Ludwik lived at 1 Sielanka Street. Under the codename Jakub, he was arrested in February 1945 by members of soviet controlled Ministry of Public Security and was murdered during interrogations on March 3, 1945. In October 1956, his remains were discovered in the basement of the UB building then located at 4 Markwarta street. A renovated stone memorial to honor Leszek Biaà Ây and his heroic comrades has been unveiled in 2013.
Kopernika Square is a green area landscaped in 1973. Its statuary includes a metal sculpture of a female figure by Maria Chudoba-Wià Âniewska, a mid-20th century sculptor of Poznaà Â. The sculpture weighs 864 kg and is 4,57m tall. The sculpture was erected during the National Open Air Sculpture Festival (Ogólnopolski Plener Rzeà ºbiarski) which took place from August to September, 1973. Round shaped stones can be found on the grass, positioned on ellipse rings surrounding the statue: they represent the astronomical objects of the Solar System in orbit, including the Sun and the Moon.