Project inception

The Directorate of Prussian Railways in Bromberg (now Bydgoszcz) was established in 1849 at Neuer Markt (now Nowy Rynek) 8, before moving in 1853 to the main train station building. As its activity expanded with the development of the Prussian Eastern Railway network, and despite the addition of large wings to the station in 1861, the edifice was almost entirely devoted to administrative purposes. The old station proved to be too narrow, and some departments had to be transferred to nearby rented houses (11 houses were rented in 1880).^[1]

It soon became necessary to construct a new building. The architectural company for this project was chaired by Berlin architect Martin Gropius and economist Heino Schmieden.

Philipp Martin Gropius, designer of the building, was a disciple of architects Schinkel and Beuth from Gewerbeinstitut Berlin. In 1855 he graduated from Bauakademie (Academy of Architecture) in Berlin, in 1862 he took the position of Landbaumeister (domestic architect) in the Berlin Police Construction agency. In 1869 he became director of the Royal School of Arts and Crafts in Berlin.

The plan for a new building had been submitted in 1885 to the Prussian Assembly (Landtag). Initial costs were estimated at 2.5 million marks, considered too high by the Prussian Ministry of Public Works, and a more modest plant was developed, designed by Prussian National Building Inspector Bergmann Dahms. He chose a site at Bahnhofstrasse 28 (now ul. Dworcowa 63), near the main station.^[1]

Construction

Construction started in summer 1886 and ended middle of 1888. Dahms managed the project, except for the sewer and central heating installations.^[1] The interior employed rich architectural ornamentation emphasizing the importance of the station, a four-story building with two wings. Shortly after completion, a smaller edifice with outbuildings, including garages and a high-stack boiler room, was erected on a neighboring street.^[1] The scheme of the project (both facade displays and interiors) had to reflect the imposing appearance of official Prussian buildings of the era. In this case, it exhibited aspects of the Mannerist style.^[1]

Follow-up

The building remained the seat of the East Prussian Railways until Bromberg, renamed Bydgoszcz, became part of the refounded Polish state in August 1919. The new state administration created a Ministry of Railways in Warsaw, which appointed seven Directions of District State Railways, where Bydgoszcz was subordinated to the administration of DOKP in Danzig (now Gdańsk), newly created as a "free city" under League of Nations supervision. Consequently, Bydgoszcz's building moved under the control of Department of Revenue, and in 1922 it housed an Office station. A year later, a medical Railway Clinic was set up there. After several changes of ownership, the Ministry of Communications moved a part of the Danzig headquarters back to the Dworcowa edifice (1 October 1933). At the same time, it housed the Central Bureau of Foreign logistics. (Polish: Centralne Biuro Rozrachunków Zagranicznych) of the PKP.^[2] In 1937, the building also housed the French-Polish Rail Association, a joint-stock company formed after the construction of the Coal Trunk-Line from the Upper Silesian Coal Basin to the Baltic Sea port of Gdynia.^[3]

After the German occupation of World War II, building ownership moved to the National Treasury and passed back to Rail Administration in 1970. Since 1990 a large part of the premises is leased to numerous private and public companies. In October 2013 the building was handed to CM UMK, in order to install their dentistry faculty. Necessary renovations to adapt the building to the needs of the institution and its equipment will cost about 30 million zł.^[4]

Outdoors

• View with 3 entry gates onto Dworcowa st.
• Roof lantern
• Renovated adjacent building
• Detail of main gate gable
• Peak of a side entrance
• Detail of main facade, with conference room large windows

Indoors

• Entrance hall
• Landing of main stairs
• Ornate main hall ceiling
• Detail of column top