Tenement Freedom Square 1 is an historic house of Bydgoszcz. It is often displayed on postcards as one of the turn of the century iconic building in Bydgoszcz. The architect, Józef à ÂwiÃÂcicki, is also the builder of the "Pod Orà Âem" hotel (Under the Eagle), the oldest hotel in downtown Bydgoszcz. The building is located on the east side of Gdaà Âska Street, on the corner of Plac Wolnoà Âci.
The piece of land on which the house stands was already built in 1850. The building facing Gdaà Âska Street was devoted to residential purposes, whereas the one giving onto Plac Wolnoà Âci was used for business purposes.
From 1855 to 1876, the property belonged to the widow of Fryderyki Götz, a teacher, then to another teacher, Carl Wolff; in 1895, his son, Captain Ernst Wolff, inherited the building. The new owner sold part of the property (at 5 Plac Wolnoà Âci), and raised funds for the construction of a new, stately townhouse corner. Its designer, Bydgoszcz builder Józef à ÂwiÃÂcicki, gave to the new tenement the characteristics of an urban and commercial building.
Construction started in October 1896, and the reception happened on January 28, 1898. Local companies were employed, such as master bricklayer Hermann Lewandowski, master roofer Julius Jakoby, carpenter Menning. The ground floor was devoted to shops and restaurants, while the upper ones displayed for luxury apartments. In 1898, the first electric lift in the city was installed in the building, imported from Berlin. The corner location of the building enabled its symmetrical shape, the symmetry axis being underlined by a tower covered ending in a bulbous dome.
Ernst Wolff was the owner of the building until 1916, then his widow Martha Wolff until 1919. At this time, the property included Carl Brasch's photography workshop, as well as two restaurants, "Kaiser-Cafe" and "Falstaff 2", and various other shops. Flats tenants were well-known traders, industrialists, officials and officers, including:
In 1919, the building was owned by a merchant, Stanislaw Czarnecki, then in 1922 by Bank Handlowy in Warsaw which used the ground floor to set up its branch office in Bydgoszcz.
Between 1929 and 1933, the owner was Romuald Turasiewicz, deputy of Bydgoszcz District Court, then Eugenia Preiss. In 1927, a car dealer was inaugurated, in front of a gas station. The building also housed Wedel's store.
Upon basis of receipts issued in 1939 by the Germans, it was established that Stanislaw Hass, a master confectioner born in Grodzisk Mazowiecki in 1899, was running a café "Cristal" at Nr.1. Stanislaw Hass later owned the restaurant U Hassa at Jezuicka Street 24.
After the entry of Soviet troops in the city, an NKVD office was set up in the building in 1945. To commemorate Poles killed there during the Soviet period, a wall plaque was unveiled in 1993.
After World War II, the building house became the property of the "Administration of Urban Houses" in Bydgoszcz. In 1972, interior renovations were carried out, dividing flats, setting up independent kitchens and bathrooms, and removing the central heating system. During these works, part of the rich interior design, including stucco and decorated stoves were destroyed. In 1992, McDonald's company set up on the ground floor its first restaurant in the city: for this occasion, the building was entirely restored.
In December 2016, ground premises were renovated to house a new restaurant à Âródmieà Âcie, replacing the fast-food facility.
The building has got rich architectural details designed in the Eclectism style with a predominance of Neo-baroque forms Its footprint is rectangular, with an inner courtyard as a well and two wings running along Gdaà Âska Street and Plac Wolnoà Âci.
The building has three storeys, a cellar and an attic. Facades are richly decorated with pilasters, cartouche motifs and balconies ornamented with baluster railing. Above building cornices, bay windows are topped by gables. The tenement corner is rounded, topped with a tower covered with an onion dome. In the same area, Józef à ÂwiÃÂcicki also realized many other edifices, among others the Hotel "Pod Orlem" at Gdaà Âska street 14; the Oskar Ewald Tenement at Gdaà Âska street 30; the Józef à ÂwiÃÂcicki tenement at Gdaà Âska street 63; as well as the Tenement at Gdaà Âska street 86.
The building has been registered on the Pomeranian Heritage List (Nr.601429-Reg.A/1041) on the 20 October 1990.