History

The house was built for Adolf and Feigla Rose in years 1912-1914. The designer was Henryk Lamensdorf (his design was selected from among a number of proposals, including one by Jan Zawiejski). The first stone building in this place was erected around 1313 and was gradually expanded. It became a patrician residence, later extended by a porch and the first floor. In the 15th and 16th centuries, it was home of Jan Haller, one of the wealthiest Kraków residents, a wine merchant and a famous printer, very merited to Polish culture (he published about 250 volumes, including the first Polish text of Bogurodzica contained in Statut Łaskiego, 1506); he also published the scientific output of the professors of Kraków Academy, e.g. Jan of Stopnica, Jan of Głogów, liturgical texts, classical literature and works by Polish and Latin poets). Haller’s house was regarded as one of the so-called ornamental buildings. From 1582, the house belonged to the councillor Stanisław Szembek. He rebuilt and broadened it. A brick annex and a staircase were erected, the layout of the ground floor was altered, and a new façade was added crowned with a Mannerist gable. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the site was named the Biderman and Barszcz house, from the names of the changing owners. In the years 1819-1820, the building was reconstructed by Szczepan Humbert to fit a more classicist design. Another project from 1898, conducted by Beniamin Torbe (Lamensdorf was his student at the Industrial School of Kraków) for Amalia Eibenschütz, left the building in the eclectic form; the interior was converted to house a department store.

Description

The house occupies a spacious plot of land reclaimed after this section of the square was demolished in 1907. The four-level building was topped with an attic, aligned with the height of the adjacent Czynciel house. However, the architect was not as bold as Ludwik Wojtyczko and attempted to adjust the building to historical forms. A rather angular and massive building with modernist façades was erected, which, however, fits surprisingly well with the layout of the market frontage. In 2002 full-scale refurbishment was completed, and the renovated house still serves commercial and catering purposes.

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
• Rożek M., Przewodnik po zabytkach i kulturze Krakowa, Kraków 1993