The house has an original and decorative façade, perfectly mirroring the contemporary trends in the Kraków artistic milieu.

History

This merchant house was erected in the years 1907-1908 by Celestyn Czynciel. The new project replaced the previous Delpacowska house (or Barszczowe) built as early as in the 1st quarter of the 14th century. Changing hands many times, it was gradually expanded. An important phase of development was the Renaissance reconstruction by the wealthy merchant Stanisław Czipser. The house was adjacent to the St Mary’s Basilica graveyard. As late as at the end of the 18th century, it touched a graveyard wall which ran in front of the church porch and further along the north side of the basilica towards ul. Mikołajska and up the vicar’s house closing the graveyard premises. The name Barszczowe alludes to the Bartsch family, wine wholesalers who made a career as city councilors and mayors in the second half of the 18th century. During that time, the building received a tympanum with an image of the Holy Trinity, and the local winery was known for heated political disputes during the Four-Year Sejm. In the 19th century, the house was rebuilt several times with the intention of adopting it to the modern forms of trade. The most famous resident of the house was Stanisław Wyspiański. He occupied a room with two windows on the second floor. His contemporaries called it “literary studio.” In in the years 1900-1901, he worked here on his play, Wesele. Today, the renovated building still serves commercial and catering purposes.

Description

A commercial building in the heart of the main square designed by Rajmund Meus and Ludwik Wojtyczka. The design was selected in a public competition held by the Society for the Renovation of the City of Kraków. The building housed Kraków-first modern department store, and the stores were arranged both on the ground and first floor. Wojtyczko was ranked among the Polish architects who aspired to create a national architectural style, however later on, he óturned to radical Modernism. The façade was decorated with Art Nouveau decorations alluding to folk and merchant motifs (caduceus) in harmony with the tradition of historical Kraków architecture. Nothing was left of the former building, and the stonework detail collected during demolition was donated to a museum. At the time of construction, the house aroused much controversy and was even mocked by the local Green Balloon literary cabaret. The wavy attic, frieze and double-arched windows, fashioned after Renaissance tombstones, were subject to criticism. However, over time, the building blended into the market square frontage. In the 1950s, some decorations were destroyed; they were restored during a major renovation in 2001. From the side of pl. Mariacki, there is a 1932 plaque commemorating Stanisław Wyspiański by Karol Hukan. Disassembled during WW2 by the Germans, it was reconstructed later on.

The site is partly available: freely from the outside but inside only during the working hours of the stores.

Author of the note Roman Marcinek, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Kraków 20-07-2017

Bibliography

• Encyklopedia Krakowa, Warszawa – Kraków 2000. 
• Fabiański M., Purchla J., Historia architektury Krakowa w zarysie, Kraków 2001
• Komorowski W., Sudacka A., Rynek Główny w Krakowie, Ossolineum 2008
• Łuszczkiewicz W., Sukiennice krakowskie. Dzieje gmachu i jego obecnej przebudowy, Kraków 1899
• Marcinek R., Kraków, Kraków 2001
• Rożek M., Przewodnik po zabytkach i kulturze Krakowa, Kraków 1993