The building has diversified architectural detail and was erected in the eclectic convention. The building is an important element in the spatial layout of Zielona Góra.

History

The process of development of individual zones and streets of the suburbs of Zielona Góra began as early as in the 14th century. The growing town needed land for residential, commercial and craft development. The area where the tenement house is located evolved behind defensive walls quite late, only in the 17th century. Today’s Reja Street (Klietestrasse during German times) is marked as suitable for horse carriages and surrounded by pastures on the Büttner’s plan of 1864. This area was a wetland - a stream feeding the Złota Łącza river was running there. The feature was also located next to an old moat that surrounded the town in the Middle Ages. Parts of today’s Reja Street were developed as far as the gardens of houses located at Wandy, Jedności and Kasprowicza streets. The Reja Street was delineated in 1901, whereas construction works and laying of the pavement were completed in 1904. The street was regulated and plots of land were demarcated for future development. The erected development was shaped mainly in the early 20th century. Affluent residents of the city owned the buildings. Newly established structures included mostly two or three-storey tenement houses built in a convention of historicism as well as Art Nouveau and modernist ones.

Owing to the surviving part of archival documents, we know that the plot owner, G. Streicher, applied for a building permit to the Construction Police Office in September 1901. Construction of the building was completed in 1902. Hostilities of the Second World War did not lead to major damage to the building. After the war, the local government took over ownership of the tenement house and since that time it has been occupied for residential purposes. In 2013, owing to funds from the urban revitalisation programme, its external façade was renovated. No major alterations have been made to the structure. Currently, it hosts office and residential units. The structure is one of the most representative buildings in the city.

Description

The tenement house is located in the centre of Zielona Góra, west of the old town’s marketplace. It is a part of the dense development of the street. The Reja Street is an extension of Moniuszki Street towards the north, functions as a small section between Jedności Street and Bohaterów Westerplatte Street and is located in the strict urban monument preservation zone.

The building is located on a small plot and its facade is facing the street. Its facilities include a small yard with a utility building. The tenement house with a basement was built of brick on a plan roughly resembling a rectangle. Its walls are plastered on both sides. It has three storeys covered with a mansard roof topped with roof tiles; on the sides there are dormers covered with small roofs. The building has a five-axis facade crowned with a corrugated gable. The end wall includes a cartouche with a construction date: 1902. A bay window resting on a support is located on the first floor. Columns were made in the bay window’s corners. The building’s ground floor is rusticated and has rectangular windows that terminate in segmental arches. Main entrance is located in the front facade’s extreme axis. The tenement house’s facade contains varied architectural detail. Other storeys are pierced by rectangular window openings terminating in surrounds and ornamental panels. Part of the original window and door woodwork has been preserved. The body of the building has been preserved in its original state without major changes. The interior hosts an original wooden staircase with embossed balusters.

The tenement house is a monument owned by the self-government and private entities. Due to the fact that it hosts office and residential units, the building is not widely available to the public.

Compiled by Krzysztof Słowiński, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Zielona Góra, 08-07-2014 r.

Bibliography

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