Wroclaw - Architecture

History Architecture Information

Wroclaw's official site

A tour around the architectural landmarks in Wroclaw can become a journey across time. It is convenient to start the tour at the Tumski Ostrów (‘Cathedral Island’), the oldest part of the city, with the cathedral towering above the rooftops. The Gothic cathedral comes from the 13th and the 14th centuries, and in 1992 the towers were topped with new spires. An interesting church is also the two-level hall church of the Holy Cross, founded in 1288 by Duke Henry IV the Probus. It is rightly considered to be one of the most beautiful Gothic structures in Silesia. The two churches, and a dozen or so other ones, constitute a complex of Gothic buildings ranking among the best in Europe. A gem among Wroclaw buildings is the late Gothic town hall, one of the most beautiful halls in Europe. Particularly interesting are the eastern and the southern facades, with numerous exquisite sculptures. A number of especially attractive buildings can be found along the main street in the city – the Œwidnicka street, with the Gothic churches, Neoclassical opera house, Monopol hotel and the department stores.

Inside the Baroque university building the Aula Leopoldina – a representative hall – is the most noteworthy item. The profusion of wall paintings and sculptures make it an exceptional interior. A point of interest is that the architect used illusion techniques to extend the room and make it higher.

Numerous valuable architectural structures were erected in Wroclaw at the start of the 20th century. These include buildings which were ahead of their times in the use of reinforced concrete, such as the Jahrhunderthalle (now Hala Ludowa), designed by Max Berg, the covered market by Richard Plüdemann and the department store (now a bank) in £aciarska street, designed by Hans Poelzig. The Kameleon department store, conspicuous because lined with travertine and with a characteristically rounded corner, was designed by the eminent architect Erich Mendelsohn in 1927.

Another important structure is the brick water tower in Wiœniowa street, erected in 1904 according to the design by Karl Klimm. In the 1920’s several modern housing estates for poorer inhabitants were constructed in Wroclaw. Such estates as Biskupin, Sêpolno, Grabiszyn, Pilczyce, Kowale, Muchobór or Ksiê¿e Male were designed individually by various architects. As a rule they were very functional, with shops, schools, green areas, recreational facilities, etc. The achievements of the architects were summed up in 1929 in an exhibition called WUWA (Residential houses and workplace). Among the buildings especially constructed for the exhibition an eminent structure was the house for single people, in the Kopernika street, built to Hans Scharoun’s design.

In today’s Wroclaw the most interesting structures are churches, such as the church of the Holy Spirit in the Bardzka street, the church of the Mother of God in the Wejherowska street, the church of Christ the King in the Mlodych Techników street. A building also worth seeing is the Medical Diagnostic Centre Dolmed in the Legnicka street.

A conspicuous feature in the city landscape is the Grunwald residential area, with its high-rise buildings having characteristic exterior walls. In recent years in Wroclaw numerous single multi-flat houses have been built, filling in gaps in the rows of houses. They are often quite sophisticated and are an interesting note in otherwise monotonous streets. One may hope that the exceptional dynamism of this type of building activity means that we will soon see many changes in the quantity and quality of architectural structures in Wroclaw.