Posejdon Center

Posejdon Center is an office and commercial building at Aleja Niepodległości 60 in Szczecin, right next to the Port Gate. The building has had several incarnations: a department store with a cinema, the post-war Universal Department Store “Posejdon”, and then Galeria Centrum with an Empik.

A department store with the UFA Palast cinema

The original building was begun in 1928 on the site of the former guardhouse by the Port Gate, and was opened the following year. It was the Familien Kaufhaus department store of the DeFaKa chain, designed by Max Bischoff. It housed shops, restaurants, cafes, a patisserie, a beer hall, a winter garden and a cabaret. The main feature was the UFA Palast cinema hall on the ground floor, which could seat more than 1200 spectators. The first sound film was screened here in 1930.

Posejdon and Galeria Centrum

During the air raids of 1944 the building suffered heavily: the cinema hall and the modernist facade were destroyed, and the reinforced-concrete frame survived. The surviving part was rebuilt to a design by Franciszek Kocimski and opened on 31 December 1951 as a department store. The name “Posejdon” was chosen in 1968 by the readers of “Kurier Szczeciński”. In September 1993 the department store was transformed into DT “Centrum”, and later Galeria Centrum operated here, which closed in 2009.

Reconstruction in 2016-2019

The modernisation and extension, to a design by the Federacyjne Biuro Architektoniczne (Federation Architectural Office), were carried out in 2016-2019. The front facade was restored to an appearance close to the pre-war one, wings were added along Kaszubska Street and Victory Square, and a two-level car park was built beneath the building. In the inner courtyard a vertical garden of about 6500 plants on an area of 150 m² was created, described as the largest such structure in Poland. The source also mentions a viewing terrace on the roof.

Practical information

• Address: Aleja Niepodległości 60, Szczecin.
• The building today serves office and commercial functions, so it is easiest to view from the outside, together with the facade and the area around the Port Gate.
• Whether the roof terrace and the green wall are open to visitors, check with the building's manager before your visit.