It was probably built according to the design by Franciszek Ksawery Kowalski, the most eminent architect of that period living in Kielce.

History

The palace was probably built between 1876 and 1880, according to the design by Franciszek Ksawery Kowalski, builder in the Kielce Governorate. The construction was initiated by Jan Hönigmann, local merchant, who, after its completion, presented it to his wife Maria née Krauze. The palace remained the property of that family until 1941, when, after the death of the last representative of the family, Maciej, it was taken over by the Sulimierski family. During World War II, it was seriously damaged, and after the war it was reconstructed and converted into offices, shops and residential premises. Since around 1948, the palace has been owned by the Trade Union of Building and Ceramic Industry (Trade Union of Building and Ceramic Industry). In the next few decades, it was repaired many times, which degraded its sculptural décor and disrupted the original spatial layout of the rooms. In the 1960s, a rectangular wing was added to the north-eastern avant-corps. In 1986, stone visual arts and stucco underwent conservation. After the palace had been purchased by a private company or an individual in 1997, and in 1999-2000 it underwent full-scale modernisation with adaptation of the monument into the bank’s seat. At that time, stuccoes on the façades were again renovated, and window woodwork, central heating systems, electrical system and part of door woodwork and balustrades were replaced. In addition, the fence of the building was repaired and the area surrounding the building was cleaned up.

Description

The palace is located at the outskirts of the former inner-city buildings of Kielce (now the city centre). It is situated in the middle of the plot of land at the intersection of Kopernika Street and Kościuszki Street, adjacent to Moniuszki Square and a large car park adjacent to the nearby modern building of the Kielce Cultural Centre. The area is surrounded by a fence made of brick and cast iron, to the east of which a small building (currently a warehouse) was later added. The neoclassical structure is built on a floor plan having a shape approximating that of a fragmented rectangle with avant-corps in the corners, and a rectangular wing added to the north-east. There are basements under some parts of the building, and the building consists of a ground floor with the main entrance preceded by a terrace and two-storey side wings featuring avant-corps with ridge perpendicularly to the road, ground floor halls, and colonnaded portico. Each of the separated parts of the building is covered with a gable roof.

The palace was built of ceramic brick, on foundations made of crushed rock gravel, which was also used in the walls of the brick-vaulted basements; the structure features barrel and sail vaults. The rooms of the upper storeys are covered with modern ceramic ceilings and the main hall of the ground floor features a reinforced concrete coffered ceiling. The interiors are adapted to the banking business and feature modern elements.

The façades have a varied architectural expression, which fits within the framework of the neoclassical style found there; the rear façades feature a modest décor and are almost smooth, with over-storey cornices, corner lesenes and window surrounds in some parts as the only variations. Against this background, the notable feature is the front façade (western façade overlooking Kościuszki Street), whose central ground floor part has a shape reminiscent of the triumphal arch; it was partitioned with embedded Tuscan columns and has a rectangular finial on the entrance axis. The avant-corps flanking the front façade is distinguished by corners framed by Tuscan pilasters, window surrounds, decorative porch and niches located on the ground floor, with partly preserved busts. That part of the structure is also enlivened by sculptural decorations in the form of panels with festoons, rosettes, palmettes, and a corbel. Other valuable components of that façade include decorative cast iron balconies and balustrade of the terrace.

The building is open to the public from the outside; only parts of the palace interior are open during the working hours of the bank.

compiled by Łukasz Piotr Młynarski, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Kielce, 04-07-2014.

Bibliography

• Adamczyk A., Adaptacje i remonty kieleckich zabytków architektonicznych, “Renowacje i Zabytki” 2012, no. 44 (4/2012), pp. 50 - 61
• Adamczyk J.L., Przewodnik po zabytkach architektury i budownictwa Kielc, Kielce 1997, p. 61;
• Pazdur J., Dzieje Kielc 1864—1939, Wrocław-Warszawa-Kraków-Gdańsk 1971;
• Wrońska-Gorzkowska R., Gorzkowski E., Album kielecki. Starówka. Przewodnik, part I, Kielce 1994, pp. 102-104;
• Szczepański J., Architekci i budowniczowie. Materiały, Warsaw - Cracow 1990, pp. 74-77;
• Zabytki architektury i budownictwa w Polsce, województwo kieleckie, H. Krzyżanowska (ed.), Warsaw 1995, p. 106.
• Traczyński E. (text), Record sheet of architecture and historic buildings, KOBiDZ in Warsaw, 2005.