Due to the original architecture form preserved, it is a distinctive example of railway architecture from the turn of the 19th and 20th century in Greater Poland. The railway station building bears features of architecture reminiscent of buildings in Tyrol, while the water tower shows modest features of historicism typical for buildings from the 19th century. Historical and architectural values of the complex define its significance for the cultural heritage of the region. The railway station building in Wronki may be regarded a model solution implemented in the 19th century at railway tracks in Greater Poland. The railway station in Wągrowiec is of a similar type.

History

Wronki was mentioned as a town in 1279 in connection with the arrival of Dominicans, brought by Przemysł II. A ducal town, later royal, and from the 1515 - a property of the Górka family. From the 17th century, it was a property of Zofia Czarnkowska née Herburt, and later of the Łącki, Dzieduszycki, and Grabowski family. The centre of the urban complex is a quadrangular market square with eight streets entering at the corners. The town buildings date back to the 19th and 20th century. Near the parish the church, there is a post-Dominican monastery complex. In the late 19th century, a complex of prison buildings and a railway station complex were built.

- 1848 - the launching of the first railway line from Poznań to Stargard Szczeciński through Krzyż,

- 1880 - the construction of the current railway station,

- approx. 1900 - the construction of the water tower,

- approx. 1909-1910 - the construction of a second track and the railway station extension. Wronki obtained a connection with Oborniki Wielopolskie. At that time, a control room and a steam locomotive depot with a repair workshop were built;

- from 2000 onwards - the railway station restoration.

Description

Wronki - a town situated at the left bank of the Warta river, at the western edge of the Szamotuły district, by the old road from Poznań to Wieleń, Czarnków, and the Szczecin Pomerania. The railway station complex was situated along Dworcowa street, in the southern part of the city, on the railway line from Poznań to Szczecin. In front of the station, there has been a bus stop since the 1970s. The complex consists of the railway station and the water tower listed in the decision on entry into the register of monuments. The complex is supplemented by residential buildings no. 3, 4, 5, 6 situated on the northern side of the tracks, a steam locomotive depot, a warehouse, and a control room (in accordance with the appendix to the decision on entry into the register of monuments). The railway station complex was supplemented by employees’ houses situated to the north-west from the station, between Dworcowa and Polna streets, enclosed with gardens. These are buildings at Dworcowa street no. 15, 6, 8, 10, and 13 (currently, police buildings). Those houses were included in the Communal Inventory of Monuments and are located within the urban layout entry.

The railway station, situated to the north of the railway tracks, bears features of eclecticism mixed with elements borrowed from Tyrol architecture. It particularly concerns wooden roof elements in the form of wide and decorative eaves. The building was built of ceramic brick, with walls on the first floor and an attic featuring a post-and-beam structure. The ceilings are ceramic in the basement, made of wooden beams on the upper floor, while the ceiling over the station hall was made of reinforced concrete. The building was built on a fragmented floor plan. The central part is occupied by the railway station hall with auxiliary rooms at its both sides. In the western part, there are ticket offices and social facilities; in the eastern part - a waiting room and a buffet. Additionally, staircases leading to first-storey flats were situated on both sides. The railway station of a diversified body is a mainly two-storey and one-storey building, topped with a gable roof covered with ceramic roof tiles. The central part is accentuated with a small avant-corps crowned with a decorative gable. The eastern part is covered with a roof with a ridge perpendicular to the building’s axis.

The façades were made of red repointed brick. The window casings and doors are made of white plaster. The windows and doors are topped with a segmental or basket arch. A wide white plaster strip runs on the ground floor at the height of the window sills, around the whole building. An identical strip also accentuates the top section of windows on the first floor. The façades: the front one - south-western, the one on the side of Dworcowa street, and the one on the platform side are asymmetrical of diverse height and windows and doors layout. Inside the façades and gables, there are wide eaves supporting decoratively carved ends of the rafters. The gable roof projects ahead of the face of the façade for approx. 1 m, rests atop a lavishly decorated wooden structure consisting of openwork arches combining the faces of purlins on wooden braces. The gables are crowned with decorative wooden pinnacles.

The water tower is situated on the northern side of the tracks, in the south-eastern part of the railway station complex, near three residential houses, approx. 150 m from the station. The tower is built of bricks on a square floor plan. From the east, a residential building adjoins the tower. It is a three-storey building with no basement. The structure is an example of a “single-module tower” whose façade is not divided into a stem and a head covering the water tank (as noticeable in the case of “mushroom” water towers). The tower is covered with a gable roof, just like the adjoining residential building. The detailing of the façade is very modest in the form of windows topped with arches, brick window sills, and simple brick cornices. The water tower in Wronki comprises a modern water tank of the Intze type, but it architecturally corresponds to one of the archetypes of the 19th-century railway water tower known also beyond Greater Poland.

The site is open to visitors.

compiled by Teresa Palacz, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Poznan, 13-11-2014.

Bibliography

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