History

The famous Viennese designer Karl Seidel was commissioned to design this magnificent residence. The mosaic was created by the painter A. Schram. The premises had been owned by Ernest Kinderman since 1891 and the palace itself was built 1907. The two-storey front building is accompanied by a southern outbuilding of the same height. The outbuilding was adjoined by a one-storey servants’ house. After the end of the Second World War, arcaded openings were pierced in the northern wall which provided access to the coach gateway.

Description

The seven-axial façade of the two-storey front building is accentuated by porous, shallow, rusticated plasterwork on the ground floor. On the upper storeys, the rustication is delicate, with a smooth finish. All the window openings and the coach gateway are topped with full arches. On the ground floor, the openings have rusticated surrounds. On the first floor, the windows are placed in rectangular decorative panels framed by narrow, delicate, profiled surrounds. The windows are flanked by slender semi-columns with smooth shafts, finished with composite capitals, which support profiled, narrow crowning arches. The surfaces above the arches are accentuated by small rosettes in the upper corners. Only the balcony window in the southern part of the façade, on the axis adjacent to the extreme axis, was finished in a different way. The window here is only framed by a profiled surround. The balcony slab rests on two massive, corbel-like brackets. It is secured with a heavy balustrade made of stone balusters, corner posts and a balustrade. The window openings of the second floor are accentuated only by wide, smoothly plastered surrounds in the upper part and by modest stepped slats under the window sills. The window above the balcony window on the first floor has a decorative window sill with a low metal railing. The front elevation features a shallow avant-corps in its northern part and a prominent bay window placed on the first floor, above the coach gateway. The bay window rests on massive corbels and is topped with a brick openwork balcony balustrade next to the window on the second floor. The front section of the bay window is flanked by slender columns with smooth shafts, topped with composite capitals. The capitals support the wide crowning surrounds, accentuated with spirally twisted ornaments in the form of thick ropes. A similar decorative element was used in the corners of the bay window. On the sides of the window, there are narrow, rectangular window openings, similar to those in the side walls of the bay window.

The horizontal divisions of the elevation are accentuated by: a shallow stepped cornice under the windows of the first floor, a cornice running between the window openings of the second floor and a prominent eaves of the roof.

The symmetrical western elevation is highlighted by rusticated plasterwork on the ground floor, identical to that adorning the front elevation. The walls above are coated with smooth plasterwork. Similar decorations were used in the northern wall of the outbuilding.

In addition to the avant-corps, a part of the elevation is decorated with a rich, colourful mosaic, which borders with a smoothly plastered surface over the window next to the one furthest away from the centre. In the field above the opening, there is the date MDCCCCVII (1907).

Inside, the noteworthy items include the preserved stucco decorations, wood panelling, built-in wardrobes with wood grain decorations and small floral patterns, the polychromed ceiling in the vestibule and decorative wall ceramics in the bathroom. Other ornamental items include the colourful stained glass window in the staircase, bronze sculptures, lamps and a lavabo.

The palace can be visited upon prior arrangement with the secretary’s office of the Polish Teachers’ Union.

Compiled by Patrycja Podgarbi, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Łódź 14 December 2017

Bibliography

• Bandurka M., Rosin R., Łódź 1423-1823-1973. Zarys dziejów i wybór dokumentów, Łódź 1974
• Paszyn I., Łódzka willa fabrykancka, Kwartalnik Architektury i Urbanistyki, vol. XXIX, 1984, parts 1-2
• Stefański K., Jak zbudowano przemysłową Łódź. Architektura i urbanistyka miasta w l. 1821-1914, Łódź 2001
• Stefański K., Atlas architektury dawnej Łodzi do 1939 r., Łódź 2008
• Strzałkowski J., Architekci i budowniczowie w Łodzi do r. 1944, Łódź 1997
• Warszawa J., Ertman M., Record sheet of monuments of architecture and construction, Palace, October 1985