Old Chemistry (the former School of Building Trades) in Szczecin

The building at Pułaskiego 10 in Szczecin's Turzyn district, popularly known as the Old Chemistry (Stara Chemia), was built in 1902-1904 for the Royal Prussian School of Building Trades. The design was prepared by the Szczecin architect Wilhelm Meyer-Schwartau. The building still serves education, and since 1995 it has been entered in the heritage register.

Building school and university

For the first decades a building school was housed here, whose name changed several times, up to the State Higher School of Civil Engineering of 1936. Study ended with a master's examination. In 1944, during Allied air raids, the crowning of the central projection was destroyed: a tall hipped roof with a clock turret. After the war it was not restored to its former form and the projection was covered with a plain, flat roof. In December 1947 the Chemical Faculty of the Higher School of Engineering began operating in the building, today the Faculty of Chemical Technology and Engineering of the West Pomeranian University of Technology.

Architecture

It is a four-storey brick building on a stone plinth, covered with red roof tiles. The eleven-bay facade is symmetrical about the central projection, and the main entrance leads beneath arcades. Above the side projections the original gables decorated with pinnacles have survived, and the corners of the projections are decorated with panels with heraldic shields. The side walls are divided by polygonal projections topped with conical helms with lanterns. Next to it stands the building of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, and nearby the Basilica of St John the Baptist.

Practical information

• Address: ulica Kazimierza Pułaskiego 10, Szczecin-Turzyn.
• The building is a working university building, so it is easiest to see from outside, from the street.
• The building was entered in the heritage register in 1995 (number A-1895 according to Wikipedia; zabytek.pl also gives an entry A-1283 from 1995 and A-1895 from 2020).