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Water, or observation tower?
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Water, or observation tower?
One
of the most magnificent buildings in Warsaw, located at Krakowskie Przedmieście
at No. 30, currently houses the Faculty of Geography and Regional Studies of
the University of Warsaw. It is known under
several names Poniatowski / Czetwertyński / Uruski and Tyszkiewicz Palace.The observer may notice from the internal courtyard of the
building a mysterious tower, reminiscent of a modern water supply tower.
Photography: Małgorzata Łoś
According to numerous publications, it was to be part of the 17th century water supply built according to the design of Titus Liviusz Burrattini, from 1646 in Warsaw, from 1650 the royal architect and palace builder for Kazimierz Poniatowski, brother of the king. At the request of Seweryn Uruski (1817-1890), architect Andrzej Gołoński (1799-1854) demolished the existing buildings and erected here in 1844-1847 a completely new building, leaving "the water tower for the local water supply."
Another reconstruction
of the building, under the direction of Józef Huss (1846-1904), was in
1893-1895.
Photography: Małgorzata Łoś
The
preserved photograph from before the outbreak of World War II shows the tower
in all its glory.
Wikipedia, Warszawa1939
During the World War II, a bomb hit the southern pavilion of the building, destroying several of its rooms. After the fall of the Warsaw Uprising in 1944, the palace was burned by the Germans. His walls, although burned, without roofs and ceilings, survived. After World War II, the palace was transferred to the University of Warsaw, which rebuilt it for the needs of the Geographical Institute. The works, carried out under the direction of architect Jan Dąbrowski, lasted until 1951.
In 2013-2015 he was completely revitalized.
I
share the doubts of some researchers (Marek
Patakiewicz) as to the period of the origin of the tower. As far as one can
agree with the generally accepted information that in the 17th century a water
supply was created here according to the design of Titus Liviusz Burrattini
(1617-1681), the tower presented in the photo has a nineteenth-century look. It could have been a
water tower that stored water, which gravitationally flowed into the taps by
keeping the pressure on the local network. It could also be a
observation tower, today serving climatological measurements and also an
observation tower in the event of a local fire.
Fire brigade post from 1851 at Cłodna street 3
Sources:
Marek Kwiatkowski, Pałac Uruskich. Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, Warszawa 1974.
Zdjęcia: Małgorzata Łoś (2018, 2019).
https://wiezecisnien.eu/mazowieckie/warszawa_uniwersytet/
Także: Marek Patakiewicz, http://www.wieze.geotor.pl/wieze_cisn/warszawa_8/warszawa_8.htm
http://miaster.pl/miejsce/palac-uruskich-czetwertynskich/
170 years ago William Heerlein Lindley was born
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170 years ago William Heerlein Lindley was born
170 years ago William Heerlein Lindley was born, the first of four children of William Lindley and Julia Heerlein. His father briefly noted this fact in his diary: 30 January 1853 [Sunday] "William Heerlein Lindley (my first child) born at Hamburg, 50 Ferdinandstrasse 8 p.m."
We know from German sources that January in
Hamburg was a relatively warm month and that day the temperature was still
positive at 2 degrees Celsius.In the next two months, it dropped to about -3 degrees,
which meant a mild and healthy winter.
On that day, European opinion was
alive with the news of the wedding of the French Emperor Napoleon III Bonaparte
(1808-1873) and Eugénie Maria, a Spanish-Scottish aristocrat (1853-1871 Empress
of France).Their civil wedding took place on Saturday, January 29,
in the Salon of the Marshals, in the Tuileries, and a church wedding a day
later, in Notre-Dame Cathedral.
For William Lindley, the day of
the birth of his firstborn son was the greatest reason to celebrate..He was 45 at the
time.He made
the decision to marry when he was 44, so he was mature and certainly dreamed of
a successful future for his son.William Heerlein's baptism took place at the Evangelical
Lutheran Church of St. James (St. Jacobi) on Wednesday, September 7 this year. The witnesses
were William's
siblings - sister Caroline and brother Joseph, and father-in-law Martin Eduard
Heerlein.
Corner of Ferdinadstrasse and Gertrudenstrasse
The house at 50 Fedinand Street was located in the Old Town, near the of Inner-Alster Lake (a river of the same name, a tributary to the Elbe). It belonged to his wife's parents and was the mainstay of William's family during his European travels. His other children were born at this address. Currently, this house does not exist. At this point, the transverse street Gertrudenstrasse was pierced and part of the former residential house was occupied by a huge building of Hamburg's Hapag-Lloyd.
Christmas and New Year 2022/2023
These beautiful wishes were sent to us by the management of Warsaw
Waterworks. We share them with friends
of Societas Lindleiana!
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Christmas and New Year 2022/2023
"Christmas is a season not only of rejoicing but of reflection." Winston Churchill
Another difficult year is coming to an end. It is true that covid
no longer disturbs the festive atmosphere, but we are overcome with sadness
when we look at the fate of our eastern neighbors, brave Ukrainians.There are reasons to be happy, but we are also concerned about
the news coming to us from this part of Europe. Let's remember at the
holiday table those who are not given it.
Let's forget about the
disputes that divide us for a moment, let's enjoy the moment and do good around
us.
May this holiday, our dear friends, bring you a moment of oblivion, happiness and joy, and may the New Year 2023 make your dreams come true.
Societas Lindleiana
Alfons Grotowski (1833-1922), on the hundredth anniversary of his death.
Alfons Grotowski (1833-1922), on the hundredth anniversary of his death.
Alfons Grotowski, chief engineer of the city, councilor of the city mayor, builder of the Praga waterworks and, above all, deputy chief engineer of William H. Lindley, died in Warsaw on November 18, 1922, at the age of 90, almost five years later than the two decades younger British engineer. He was famous for his punctuality and longevity. Until 1919, he worked at the Water and Sewerage Office.
He had a great sense of humor and a few anecdotes were remembered by posterity. One of them was quoted by Feliks Ornowski years ago. During a water ceremony, a visiting participant, seeing a gray-haired old man bustling about briskly, approached him and apologized for his audacity and asked about… his date of birth. At first engineer Grotowski was surprised, but turning the whole thing into a joke, he replied: ‘Oh, there was no one in the world at that time’. Gentleman from the province continued ‘How about Adam? ‘But he was a gardener, not a man from our water supply branch, so he does not count’ calmly replied Grotowski.
Alfons Grotowski was born on February 23, 1833 in Żarnowiec, now a village in the Silesian Province. The future engineer graduated from the Gymnasium in Kielce and from 1850 began working in the Transportation Board in Warsaw. In 1868, he designed and built the Praga waterworks, which operated in the years 1869–1896. In 1875 he participated in the commission delegated to inspect water supply facilities in England. On the way back he visited Hamburg and Frankfurt am Main, where he got acquainted with the works of William Lindley. After returning to Warsaw, the Commission recommended that the city council commission the relevant projects by a British engineer. Grotowski was a member of the new Sewage and Water Supply Construction Committee. At the request of W.H. Lindley was nominated in 1888 as Deputy Chief Engineer.
He was a co-founder of the Hygiene Society and the organizer of the first hygiene exhibition in Warsaw. On May 31, 1906, on his way to work, he was shot by unknown perpetrators who blamed him for contributing to the arrest of the striking water workers, wrongly according to the domestic press. Engineer Grotowski survived this attack and lived to an old age.
In 1936, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Lindley's waterworks on pl. Starynkiewicza in Warsaw, a square named after him was created. Alfons Grotowski was buried at the Powązki Cemetery in Warsaw.
From our archival shelf
From our archival shelf
In front
of the Office of the Ochota District of the Capital City of Warsaw, at the main
entrance from ul. Grójecka, commemorative paving slabs, devoted to the memory
of people distinguished for Ochota, for Warsaw. One of the boards was dedicated
to the Lindleys - Father William and Son, William Heerlein.
It was here, in this
district, a central water supply was created with characteristic water supply
towers. The idea for launching in the pavement of honoring plates important for
the district was created a few years ago, when the City Road Administration
built a new pavement in front of the district office.
The originator of the
installation of commemorative plates was Piotr Żbikowski, councilor of the
Council of the Capital City of Warsaw Warsaw. It began with Konstanty Julian
Ordon, commemorated by Adam Mickiewicz in the poem "Reduta Ordon" as a
heroic defender of one of the forts from 1831.
Next was Maria Curie-Skłodowska,
a double Nobel Prize winner who is strongly associated with the Ochota
district. Here she built a radio institute, in which the Maria Skłodowska-Curie
Society operates and houses the House of Remembrance.
Then appeared a plaque dedicated to Socrates Starynkiewicz - who was the president of Warsaw in 1875-1892. The natural choice was a record dedicated to English civil engineers. The opportunity was the 150th century to swim the first filtered water in the taps of the inhabitants of Warsaw (2016)