34 Daria Bręczewska-Kulesza
The second group of buildings, featuring elements rem-
iniscent of Gothic architecture, reected the contemporary
fashion for “picturesqueness”. The design of the building
at the intersection of Warszawska and Kazimierz Jagiel-
lończyk Streets was created by Berlin architects Hermann
Solf and Franz Wichards, who also designed almost the
entire western frontage of Kazimierz Jagiellończyk Street.
This type of solution can be found in the work of other
leading Berlin architects, such as Alfred Messel (Berlin und
seine Bauten, 1896, 216–217).
Other forms were used in the tenements on Sukienni-
cza and Szczytna Streets. The division into vertical panels
may have referred to burgher houses in Toruń, where it oc-
curred, but from the second storey onwards. However, the
“donkey’s back” or curtain arch nials used here are not
known from Toruń. Whether this is a deliberate reference
to late Gothic architecture or merely a coincidental stylisa-
tion is dicult to determine at present. This is a subject for
a separate, detailed study.
The third group comprises buildings with modest and
unremarkable designs, which can be found in many cities.
Such designs were often recommended to less auent cli-
ents in pattern books and architecture textbooks.
Analysing the historical context has enabled us to
study how the importance of Gothic tenements changed
in Toruń’s residential development in the 19
th
century. The
city was a large, prosperous centre in the Middle Ages,
wealthy enough for independent local housing trends to
emerge, as research has shown. Wealthy merchants built
residences here to demonstrate their wealth and the reliabil-
ity of their businesses. Subsequent eras have left their mark
on Toruń’s Gothic tenements, with many of them being
rebuilt. In the 16
th
century, the upper storeys were no lon-
ger used for storage and the façade decoration was altered.
During the Baroque period, Toruń’s tenement façades were
enriched with stucco decorations featuring oral motifs and
Italian stylistic elements.
In the 19
th
century, Toruń was a medium-sized provincial
town. Although it developed slowly, demographic growth
continued to create an increased demand for housing. Fur-
thermore, the city was enclosed by fortications for a long
time, which hindered urban development. Many dilapidat-
ed buildings were demolished. New, larger houses were
then built on connected plots of land in their place. A lack
of legal protection for townhouses, coupled with economic
factors, led to the conversion of numerous buildings with
Gothic origins. The demand for rental housing and com-
mercial premises led to conversions and alterations. Of the
few surviving tenements, some made distant references
to their medieval predecessors (Prarat, Zimna-Kawecka
2020, 19–21). According to Rymaszew ski (1966, 112),
several dozen historic tenements were signicantly rebuilt
at this time. In terms of functionality, the Gothic tenements
were not suitable for conversion into comfortable, modern
dwellings that met 19
th
-century standards. Consequently,
the historic bourgeois tenement houses in Toruń were not
valued by the city’s residents at the time. They were not
particularly suited to modernisation, and most were in poor
condition. Unsurprisingly, Neo-Gothic was not popular in
the town that is now considered a centre of Gothic archi-
tecture. In the eyes of its 19
th
-century inhabitants, it can
be assumed that the rebuilt and dilapidated townhouses
were not attractive models to follow, unlike the works of
the Hanoverian school. Today, after years of research and
ongoing restoration work, the town presents a very dier-
ent image.
The following questions remain: what were the reasons
behind investors choosing Neo-Gothic stylisations and
where did these patterns come from? As previously men-
tioned, original Neo-Gothic designs among Toruń’s resi-
dential buildings were few and far between. Both Gothic
and 19
th
-century buildings served a representative function,
but other stylistic forms were considered more represen-
tative in both periods, hence the Neo-Gothic inspirations.
The investor who opted for this style probably wanted to
make his house stand out from the surrounding buildings.
This was successful, as evidenced by the reaction of the
local press (Pszczółkowski 2021, 274, 275).
Who were the investors? The tenement house at 15 Sien-
kiewicz Street belonged to Georg Soppart, a master mason
and construction entrepreneur who was active in Toruń.
It undoubtedly served as a showcase for his company.
Georg Plehwe, also a master mason, owned the villa at 85
Krasiński Street. The building’s original form showcased
the contractor’s skills. The most subdued of the described
properties, the villa at 4 Sienkiewicz Street, belonged to
Emil Dietrich, a town councillor and owner of a large
family trading company. The last property was owned by
Daniel Sternberg, a merchant. The building, with its exten-
sive shop and warehouse spanning the entire ground oor,
was a striking feature of the Szeroka Street development,
attracting customers with its unusual façade. All of the in-
dividuals mentioned were active participants in public life,
embracing a broad-minded approach, and were likely to
have recognised attractive architectural trends. Residents
of Toruń maintained close ties with Berlin, which, as the
capital at the time and a thriving architectural centre, was
a place where emerging trends intersected and compet-
ed. They probably travelled there “on business”, viewing
buildings and occasionally commissioning projects. Local
architects and builders were also members of nationwide
associations of engineers, architects, and builders. This al-
lowed them to follow the works of their colleagues in other
cities and regions.
In addition, the new Toruń post oce building was con-
structed in the early 1880s, on the market frontage. The
building’s design was created by Johannes Otzen, an ar-
chitect who was already working in Berlin at the time. He
was a graduate of the Hanoverian School and a pupil of
Hase (Kucharzewska 2002, 90). The post oce building
aroused great interest and could have inspired Neo-Gothic
designs. One such unrealised project was a tenement house
commissioned from Otzen by winemaker Johann Schwartz
and planned for Chełmińska Street (Pszczółkowski 2021,
275; Kucharzewska 2002, 89). As the architect wrote in the
Deutsche Bauzeitung (Otzen 1881, 580), the tenement’s
layout was designed in the Hanoverian style, analogous to
the forms of the post oce building.
The other most common route of pattern penetration
was through the professional press and building hand-
