Odbudowa zabytkowych zespołów Gdańska po 1945 r.

• Authors: Stankiewicz Jerzy

Title variants

EN

The reconstruction of Gdansk's historic complexes after 1945

• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

Basing on his own reminiscences and observations as well as on the reports o f other participants in the reconstruction o f Gdańsk over a distance o f twenty-five years, the author draws an outline o f the history o f the reconstruction of the Main Town against the background o f the post-war situation in the country and in the demolished town and o f the pactual possibilities existing at that time. The author makes also an attempt to assess the works accomplished from the perspective o f time and vast experience and from conservatory, architectural, historic and creative standpoint. The decision to rebuild the Main Town with due respect paid to a historic layout o f streets and a reconstruction o f the former décor o f façades was made in 1948, after two-year long discussions on the rebuilding of Gdańsk in general and after carrying out indispensable town-planning studies and archival searches. The reconstruction o f façades o f the majority o f rebuilt houses proved to be possible thanks to the preservation o f rich collections of old etchings and drawings, photos and files o f the building police. A lot o f valuable source information and practical suggestions were provided by studies and field research works on the ruins o f old buildings and remnants of their architectural and sculptural decor. Of great help were also good and bad experiences o f Gdańsk architects and conservators gained in the inter-war restoration o f more valuable and interesting façades, entire sections o f streets and of fancy terraces — ante-thresholds typical o f old Gdańsk houses. The need for a fast rebuilding o f the Main Town as a living settlement, raised with the state’s funds and adjusted to the binding standards and requirements o f today’s man, compelled designers o f the rebuilding, town-planners, architects and constructors to make a number o f deviations from the principles and from historic and conservatory dogmas. In the first place they not only gave up the recreation o f historic constructions o f the interior o f houses and outbuildings in favour of vast courtyards with play grounds, lawns, kindergartens and nurseries but also increased interiors o f buildings resigning from former depths of front houses. This made it impossible to reconstruct former plans o f the buildings with typical, richly decorated anterooms and staircases and also rendered difficult the adaptation o f preserved medieval walls and vaultings. The principle o f integrating neighbouring houses into one functional entirety with a joint staircase as well as limitations in recreating too high or too low storeys resulted in a number o f deviations from historic proportions o f reconstructed façades. Occassionally, these deviations simply did not allow for the use of preserved parts of elevations or relics o f their stone décor. Only few buildings were rebuilt in the fill depth with a view to reconstruct their rich interiors (Uphagen’s house at 12, Długa Street). However, no interior o f a traditional Gdańsk house has been reconstructed as yet. Relatively slight deviations from the historic arrangement o f streets in the Main Town were affected by either a need to adapt them to the requirements o f a modern settlement (abandoning a development o f some buildings or street arteries) or by composition reasons. The rebuilding o f the Main Town was facilited by the ideology o f the so-called socialist realism prevailing at that time in the Polish architecture, which propagated to employtraditional national forms in modern architecture. At the same time, for the reasons o f prestige, the traditional artery o f the Main Town, i.e. Długa and Długi Targ streets referred to as Droga Królewska (The King’s Road), acquired an additional, albeit too rich, new artistic decor : polychromy, sgraffito, bas-reliefs etc. Apart from the adapted, reconstructed and stylized architectural and artistic décor, a number o f valuable elements o f architecture and plastic arts worthily representing modern creative thought, have been introduced harmonously into the rebuilt Main Town. The rich experience formerly gained was made use o f in reconstructing in the sixties the most valuable and beautiful Gdańsk street, namely the Mariacka Street. This permited to avoid many mistakes made in the past. Thanks to this, the picturesque Mariacka Street can best distinguishitself with not only the authencity o f forms but also with the authencity o f the old substance largely employed anew and adapted with a great care in reconstructed terraces (ante-thresholds). The author holds up his thesis, extensively motivated in this other publication, on an unquestionable, despite all reservations, values o f the reconstructed Main Town, both as a work o f art and as a produce o f conservatory thought.

• Publisher: Narodowy Instytut Dziedzictwa
• Journal: Ochrona Zabytków
• Year: 1979
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 177-191

Dates

published

1979

Contributors

author

Stankiewicz Jerzy

• prof, dr, Politechnika Gdańska

References

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