Noteworthy is the composition of its front elevation with a symmetrical arrangement of pointed-arch window openings and a central bay window on the first floor, overhanging the main entrance to the building. From 1872 to 1880, it was inhabited by Dr Robert Koch (1843-1910), a German physician and scientist, one of the founders of medical microbiology, discoverer of the bacteria that cause anthrax and cholera and the tubercle bacillus, Nobel Prize winner (1905). The building houses, among others, the Dr Robert Koch Museum which is a branch of the Regional Museum in Wolsztyn.

History of the structure/dating of construction phases

The building was erected in the years 1842-1846 from the foundation of the Englishwoman Maria Pearce, staying in Wolsztyn at the invitation of the Gajewski family, intended for the seat of the hospital under the name “The House of the Samaritan”, and partly for apartments for the staff. In 1872-1880, Dr Robert Koch, a German physician (then from Babimojski District) and bacteriologist, the discoverer of bacteria that cause anthrax and cholera, as well as the tubercle bacillus (he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1905 for his research on tuberculosis), lived and worked in the building.

At the beginning of the 20th century, when a new hospital located between Wschowska and Strzelecka Streets was opened (currently the District Hospital in Wolsztyn), the building was entirely devoted to residential purposes. In the years 1958-1973 it housed a memorial chamber dedicated to Dr Robert Koch. In 1995 a general renovation of the building was carried out and the rooms on the ground floor in the eastern part were adapted for museum purposes. In 1996 the Dr Robert Koch Museum was opened.

Description of the structure

The building is situated in the centre of Wolsztyn, on the south side of R. Kocha Street (opposite the exit of Krzywa Street), under number 12. The building is situated in a continuously built-up area (its gable walls are connected with the neighbouring buildings), with its front elevation facing north. On its south side, a detached outbuilding is located on a separate lot.

The building was constructed in Neo-Gothic style, on a plan similar to a parallelogram, made of brick and plastered. It is a two-storey building, partly cellared, cuboidal in shape, diversified with a triangular central bay window in the front elevation, overhanging the gate, and a narrow, polygonal, two-storey annex at the rear elevation, moved westward with respect to its axis. The building is covered with a gable roof with the ridge parallel to the street, covered with tiles. The roof over the avant-corps is separate, covered with sheet metal.

The front elevation is two-storey, topped with a profiled cornice with a frieze, five-axial on the ground floor with a gate on the axis, seven-axial on the first floor, accented with a central, three-axial bay window. The window openings are topped with a sharp arch, surrounded with profiled surrounds made in plaster, on the ground floor they have wooden, external shutters. The central window in the first floor bay is flanked by triple engaged columns. The wide rectangular opening of the gate is closed with a three-centred arch. The gate is wooden, double-leaf with a skylight. The rear elevation is devoid of decorative details, and is varied by a single-axis polygonal annex on the western side of the gate. The window openings are rectangular in shape. The eastern and western gable elevations are devoid of divisions (only the upper part of the western wall has two small windows) and are connected with similar walls of the neighbouring buildings.

The building has a two-bay layout with a hallway on the axis, extended on the western side in the southern suite of rooms by a staircase with wooden, single-flight, stringer stairs. The ceilings above the ground floor and first floor are wooden. On the ground floor, in the eastern part of the building, there are two rooms of the Dr Robert Koch Museum, in the western part and on the first floor - apartments. Original furnishings include a wooden staircase and doors preserved in some rooms. The exhibition of the Dr Robert Koch Museum presents memorabilia related to him and equipment from his workshop.

Visitor access. The monument is available in the part housing the Dr Robert Koch Museum, which is a branch of the Regional Museum in Wolsztyn. More information about it, including the opening hours, is available on www.muzea-wolsztyn.com.pl (accessed 13/12/2017).

Author of the note: Anna Dyszkant, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Poznań, 13-12-2017

Bibliography

• Adamczak M., Ziemia wolsztyńska. Przewodnik, Poznań – Wolsztyn 2014, pp. 55-57, 70-72.
• Katalog Zabytków Sztuki w Polsce, Vol. V: Województwo poznańskie, z. 28: Powiat wolsztyński, ed. T. Ruszczyńska and A. Sławska, Warsaw 1970, p. 33.