The building was one of the most important elements of the railroad infrastructure system and is an example of the application of unique technical and construction solutions.

History of the structure

Social rooms, central heating boiler houses, a diesel engine room with a transformer station and a wagon repair shop were also built. After the end of World War II, the dispatch room served its original functions until 2009. Currently design works are carried out on the development of the areas of the historic complex of the Gniezno station, including the dispatch room.

Description of the structure

The railway station complex is located in the southern part of Gniezno, away from the oldest part of the city. The junction brings together several important railway lines from Wrocław, Poznań and Jarocin. It consists of building and engineering structures dating back about 100 years. The spatial layout of the station is made up of legible sub-complexes. The dispatch room of the railway depot occupies a central place in the post-industrial complex. It is situated between two buildings of the railway depot and the track bed, in the vicinity of the water tower on a small plot of land. The dispatch room has retained the plan, shape, construction, and materials from the time of its construction. It was designed in such a way as to allow three locomotives to pass at the same time, therefore the dispatcher’s rooms were placed in the head supported by massive pillars. The building is a two-part structure consisting of a ground floor with a staircase and a first floor with a dispatcher’s room. The building is made of brick. The building uses an unusual gantry structure for the load-bearing structure, on which the grate ceiling is based, supporting the head of the dispatch room. The ground floor plan consists of a narrow rectangle with a staircase and four massive brick columns. On them, at a height of 4.85 m, there is a reinforced concrete grate supporting the brick structure of the dispatch room head. The entire structure was covered with a high ceramic hipped roof. The characteristic element is a wooden glazed bay window on a reinforced concrete base, located on the south side of the head.  

Visitor access. The Gniezno railroad station complex can be viewed from the outside. It can be visited by prior telephone arrangement with Krzysztof Modrzejewski, president of the Gniezno Association of Railway Enthusiasts.

Compiled by: Radomiła Banach, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Poznań, 10.11.2017

Bibliography

• Zabytkowa stacja kolejowa Gniezno, Miron Urbaniak, Łódź 2009
• Krajobraz z koleją Drogi żelazne Wielkopolski, Grażyna M. Balińska, Jerzy A. Baliński, Dorota Balińska, Wrocław 2011, pp. 196-7, 226.