Historic sites
Emil Drews's Neo-Baroque palace with the arms of Pomerania, now the Faculty of Music of the Academy of Art
Historic sites
the only surviving pre-war tenement house of its block, known as the Sandwich, with murals and a restored façade
Historic sites
an eclectic tenement house with oriel windows and sculptures, which survived the war on a destroyed stretch of Piłsudskiego Street
Historic sites
a brick Neo-Gothic building of 1905 with portals for luggage trams, still a working post office
Historic sites
a brick building of the Prussian archive of 1901, still the seat of the state archive
Historic sites
an eclectic townhouse of 1898 with a preserved pharmacy with wooden panelling and a clock
Historic sites
Art Nouveau tenement house of 1902 with eagles above the portals, oriels and a courtyard with a fountain
Historic sites
tenement house of 1892 with putti above the gate and a corner oriel with a helmet on Grunwaldzki Square
Monuments in Szczecin's Centrum: Art Nouveau and eclectic townhouses, the Pomeranian Landschaft palace, a brick post office and an old archive.
Szczecin's Centrum is development from the turn of the 20th century, into which several public buildings and tenement houses are woven. Many still serve their original purpose, so sightseeing usually means a walk along the streets and looking at facades.
Begin along Niepodległości Avenue and by Grunwaldzki Square, where the grandest buildings are. The avenue offers a palace and a post office; the square offers tenements with corner bays and a pharmacy that kept its century-old fittings.
The Pałac Ziemstwa Pomorskiego (Palace of the Pomeranian Landschaft) stands at Aleja Niepodległości 40. The Neo-Baroque building of 1893-1895 was erected for the Pomeranian Landschaft Society, and today it belongs to the Academy of Art, where the Music Department works.
A few steps on, where Bogurodzicy street meets the avenue, is the post office building, numbers 41/42. In this 1905 brick Gothic Revival block, two huge portals and railway tracks in the yard catch the eye. A working post office occupies it, so you view it from the street. It is a good example of the brick architecture typical of Szczecin and West Pomerania.
Five townhouses stand out for their detail, unusual plan or rarity. Each tells a different story of the city, and together they show how varied burgher housing was before the war.
Where Aleja Papieża Jana Pawła II meets Śląska stands the Kamienica Augusta Mintza w Szczecinie (August Mintz Townhouse), an eclectic block of 1898 numbered 42. A pharmacy opened in 1900 trades on the ground floor and preserves the furnishings of its original dispensing room.
Number 38 on Śląska street is the Kamienica Wilhelma Gramtza (Wilhelm Gramtz Tenement House), raised in 1892-1893. Putti crown the gateway, and a corner oriel with a helmet closes the angle. Together with its twin at Rayskiego 29, it forms the south-western frontage of Grunwaldzki Square.
Piłsudskiego 7 w Szczecinie (Piłsudskiego 7 in Szczecin) was designed by the Szczecin architect Georg Sommenstuhl and finished in 1897. Of the whole eastern frontage of Piłsudskiego street, this house alone remains. On the third floor, look for the bay windows and carved female figures.
Malczewskiego 34 has an entirely different character and is nicknamed the Sandwich. It was built in 1885-1888 on a U-shaped plan as the only surviving prewar townhouse in the block between Matejki, Malczewskiego, Piłsudskiego and Wyzwolenia Avenue. The monument register added it in 2004.
An Art Nouveau townhouse of 1902-1903 by Friedrich Liebergesell occupies św. Wojciecha 1. Much of its original ornament survives, and a fountain stands in the courtyard behind the rear wing. Wikipedia counts it among the few Szczecin examples of Art Nouveau.
Besides the palace and the post office, Centrum has kept a brick building of a former archive. It still serves its original function, so it is seen mainly from the street.
The Archiwum Państwowe w Szczecinie (State Archive in Szczecin) is at św. Wojciecha 13, at the corner of Jagiellońska. Opened in 1901 as the Prussian Staatsarchiv, the building joined the monument register in 1980.
When you finish with the monuments, see the categories Klimatyczne miejsca: Centrum or Cmentarze i pomniki: Centrum. The district as a whole is on Centrum, and monuments from across the region are gathered in Zabytki. A car-free route through the city is offered in Weekend in Szczecin, and museums are described in an article on Szczecin's museums.
Half a day is enough to see all the buildings from outside, because they lie in a few neighbouring streets. Going into the Mintz pharmacy takes longer, if it is open to visitors.
The post office on Niepodległości Avenue, the State Archive and the pharmacy in the Mintz townhouse still operate. The Palace of the Pomeranian Landschaft is occupied by the Academy of Art.
An example is the townhouse at św. Wojciecha 1 from 1902-1903, with original ornament, a rear wing and a fountain in the courtyard.
That is Malczewskiego 34, known as the Sandwich. Piłsudskiego 7 is similar, as the lone survivor of its street's eastern side.
