History of the structure

The “Dziekanka” hospital, currently the A. Piotrowski Voivodeship Neurological and Psychiatric Hospital in Gniezno, was established in 1889 by the National Assembly in Poznań and was located in the village Dziekanka near Gniezno, from which it took its name. It was designed for 1,000 patients and was one of the most modern neurological and psychiatric hospitals in the country. The complex of buildings, consisting of 21 hospital pavilions and 29 buildings for various purposes, was built in 1890-1894 according to Braun’s project. The hospital with the park established in the late 19th century occupied an area of 25 hectares. The hospital owned a 100 hectare hospital farm and a 32 hectare farm in Modliszewo. In 1894, the first patients were admitted. In 1895 on the hospital grounds a two-denominational chapel with two altars for Catholics and Evangelicals was completed, now the Blessed Michał Kozal Church. In the years 1914-18, part of the hospital was allocated to a military hospital. In 1919 the first Polish director became a prominent physician Aleksander Piotrowski, who led the facility to the forefront in terms of patient care. He greatly improved the social conditions of the patients and improved the treatment and rehabilitation methods. During World War II, the then director Dr Wiktor Ratke accepted German citizenship, became a member of the NSDAP, and carried out the extermination of the hospital’s 3586 mentally ill patients. In the post-war period, in the 1960s, the buildings were repaired and modernized, the heating system and sanitary facilities were replaced. In 1966, a modern hospital primary school for children with personality disorders was established next to the hospital The present hospital has 25 wards, including 8 psychiatric wards, two wards for chronically ill patients, psychosomatic wards, psychiatric wards for children and adolescents, detoxification ward for alcohol addicts, psychogeriatric ward, addiction treatment ward, psychiatric rehabilitation ward, ward for tuberculosis patients, two day care wards, and internal neurological and geriatric wards. The hospital complex includes 13 buildings entered in the register of historic monuments in 2001. They include: an admission room, now a porter’s lodge, the main hospital building (now an administrative building), the female ward (buildings no. 4 and 5), director’s villa, doctors’ villa, an outbuilding, a ward (building no. 10), the male ward (buildings no. 15 and 16), a ward - building no. 19, a prosectorium and gardener’s house. The buildings are located in the hospital park.

Description of the structure

The hospital complex in Gniezno, located at 15 Poznańska Street, consisting of a large complex of buildings and a park, covers the area of 25.72 hectares. The hospital grounds are bounded on the north by Poznańska Street, on the east by Kostrzewskiego Street, on the south by a dirt road, the former Orzeszkowej Street, and on the west by agricultural lands. The symmetrical compositional layout is determined by the main axis of the complex, running from north to south and formed by centrally located buildings with two parallel lime tree alleys. The axis opens with an entrance gate at Poznańska Street, then runs through a large oval gazebo in front of the entrance to the main hospital building (no. 2, currently the administration building), next it leads to the outbuilding (no. 7) and to the prosectorium (no. 12) located at the end of the complex. In terms of space, the composition of the complex is emphasized by regularly spaced hospital pavilions surrounded by greenery, situated on both sides of the alley, connected with each other by a simple network of roads. All the historic hospital buildings are constructed of brick, with unplastered elevations and accented architectural details in the form of lesenes, window and door surrounds, and crowning cornices with corbels and eaves. In most of the buildings, large wooden terraces with canopies supported by decorative profiled beams were placed on the ground floor at the front. The architecture of the complex is in the style of historicism. The buildings have retained their original layout, the park’s original composition, with most of the 100-year-old trees preserved. Some of the buildings are devoid of authentic furnishings due to subsequent renovations.

Visitor access. The site can be accessed from the outside. A history room, opened in 1994 for the hospital’s 100th anniversary, was open to the public in one of the hospital pavilions.

Compiled by: Radomiła Banach, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Poznań, 19.12.2017

Bibliography

• Dzieje szpitala Dziekanka 1894-1994, M. Jaska, A. Piotrowski, Wrocław 1994
• Encyklopedia Gniezna i Ziemi Gnieźnieńskiej, TMG 2011