The three-storey building with a basement, with diversified architectural detail, has eclectic stylistic features. 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 building 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 demarcated 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.

A small number of archival records on the tenement house have survived. The building was erected in the early 20th century as the first building on the northern side of the eastern frontage of Reja Street. Until 1945 it belonged to Heinrich Schaffran, a carpenter. 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 building and since that time it has been occupied for residential purposes. Unfortunately, documentation concerning the course of later construction and preservation works conducted in the building has not survived. No major alterations have been made to the structure. Minor changes were applied to the ground floor functions and consisted in cutting out secondary window openings and opening a service facility. The original building was probably expanded by adding a usable attic. It is believed that this reconstruction took place in the second half of the 20th century. Currently the tenement house includes apartments and a utility premise. The feature 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 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 two utility buildings. The building was built of brick on a floor plan which approximates the  shape of a square; a basement extends under the whole building; the  feature’s walls are plastered on both sides. It has three storeys covered with a pent roof topped with roof tiles; on the sides there are dormers covered with small pent roofs. A five-axis facade of the  building is crowned with a corrugated gable. A rusticated ground floor, separated from upper floors by a broad cornice. Secondary windows on the  ground floor; a large industrial window on the southern side. The main entrance is preceded with stairs clad with contemporary ceramic tiles. An entrance gate leading to the feature’s yard is located in the extreme axis of the facade. Serial balconies are located centrally on the first and second floor. Brick balcony baskets, plastered, with pointed-arch motifs. Facades of other floors are pierced with rectangular window openings with surrounds. The plane of upper storeys’ walls is partitioned by pointed arches. The façade is crowned with a straight brick strip with a cube-patterned frieze. 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 tenement house is built in the historicism convention and refers to the Gothic period as regards details. The interior houses an original wooden staircase with embossed balusters and fragments of a ceramic floor in the hallway.

The tenement house is a monument owned by the self-government and private entities. Due to the fact that it hosts utility 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.