Mug Shot — «Szczecin - Voivodeship Office»

City: Szczecin Country: Poland Edition: 2008 Icon Edition Belongs to: 391 users (24 trading, 129 seeking)

Szczecin is the capital city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in Poland. In the vicinity of the Baltic Sea, it is the country's seventh-largest city and the largest seaport in Poland. As of June 2011 the population was 407,811. Szczecin is located on the Oder River, south of the Szczecin Lagoon and the Bay of Pomerania. The city is situated along the southwestern shore of Dąbie Lake, on both sides of the Oder and on several large islands between the western and eastern branches of the river. Szczecin borders with the town of Police. The city's beginnings were as an 8th century Slavic Pomeranian stronghold, built at the site of today's castle. In the 12th century, when Szczecin had become one of Pomerania's main urban centres, it lost its independence to Piast Poland, Saxony, the Holy Roman Empire and Denmark. At the same time, the Griffin dynasty established themselves as local rulers, the population was converted to Christianity, and German settlers arrived. The native Slavic population was assimilated and sometimes discriminated against in the following centuries. In 1237/43, the town was built anew and granted vast autonomy rights, and it joined the Hanseatic League. After the Treaty of Stettin (1630) the town came under Swedish control. It was fortified and remained a Swedish fortress until 1720, when it was acquired by the Kingdom of Prussia and became capital of the Province of Pomerania, which after 1870 was part of the German Empire. In the late 19th century, Stettin became an industrial town, and vastly increased in size and population, serving as a major port for Berlin. During the Nazi era, opposition groups were persecuted and minorities such as the city's Jews and the few Poles living there were classified as subhumans and subjected to genocide. At the end of World War II Stettin's status was in doubt, and the Soviet occupation authorities at first appointed officials from the city's almost entirely German pre-war population. In July 1945, however, Polish authorities were permitted to take power. Stettin was renamed Szczecin and became part of the People's Republic of Poland, and from 1989 the Republic of Poland. After the flight and expulsion of the German population and Polish settlement, Szczecin became the administrative and industrial center of Polish Western Pomerania, the site of the University of Szczecin and Szczecin University of Technology, and the see of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Szczecin-Kamień. Szczecin was an important site of anti-communist unrest in the communist era.

Building of the Szczecin Voivodeship Office - a historic administrative building opened in 1911, located at the Wały Chrobrego in Szczecin. The main designer was Berlin architect Paul Kieschke. After his death in 1905, Paul Lehmgrübner continued the project and supervised the construction. Work began in 1906 on the land of a size of 12860 m², purchased for 392 000 marks. Due to the terrain shape and the residues of Fort Leopold located here before, appropriate construction work has been preceded by large scale earth works which included among others moat bridge, replacement of peat substrate, drainage area, etc. The building was built on the powerful, concrete foundations in places reaching 11 m below street level. The result of nearly six years of ongoing construction work was monumental complex of three buildings connected by a common, richly decorated facade. Style refers to the structure of German historicism, emphasizing in particular parts of the northern Renaissance. The complex has two inner courtyards and two towers, one of which, 72 m in height, surmounted by a figure of Sailor [picture]. Many rooms in the building has a representative character, and retains the original decoration (including: the main hall, stairway, conference). The building was completed in 1911. Its central part was taken by Regency office in Szczecin. The southern part was the district president's official home. In the northern part of the office complex, offshore institutions such as Maritime Authority, Lloyd's Agency, Police and Port Authority of Hydraulic Engineering were located. The investment cost amounted to 3.53327 million marks. The total area of buildings is 19451 m². The building was not hurt during the bombings of Szczecin during World War II. The present building of the Regional Office was the first seat of Polish municipalities with Piotr Zaremba in the lead, who on April 30, 1945 ordered to raise the Poland flag on the building. In 1985, the building of the Regional Office has been entered in the register of monuments. In 2011, due to 100 years anniversary of existence, the building is planned to be made available to the public, including attractive tourist routes covering both underground (with the uncharted, flooded by water tunnel [inline] running in the direction of the Oder river) and towers (here with in turn a collection of gargoyle, gathered by Germans in unknown purpose can be admired.

photo by lucky
edited by mobydick74

  Poland, Szczecin, MIC

Karma: 10 Added by Lucky 1 Comments