Hotel Monopol in Katowice

Hotel Monopol at ul. Dworcowa 5 in Katowice is an eclectic building of white clinker brick that has been one of the best-known addresses in the city since 1902. It stands opposite the former railway station. The building is entered in the heritage register and still serves as a hotel today.

How it came about

The hotel was built on the site of the two-storey “Ollendorf” villa of 1860, which Arnold Lustig bought at the end of the 1890s. The older part at ul. Dworcowa 5 was built in 1901-1902, and the hotel began operating in September 1902. In 1902-1903 the building was extended to take in the neighbouring plot with the “Cafe Central”. Ludwig Goldstein is regarded as the author of the design, although sources also name Joseph Kutz. The Art Nouveau fittings of the restaurant and café on the ground floor were designed by the Viennese architect Joseph Urban. In 1904 the hotel won a gold medal at a hotel exhibition in Bytom.

Guests and history

In the interwar period it was the most expensive hotel in the city, with a restaurant where concerts were played every day, a café and a nightclub in the basement. Among those who stayed here were Jan Kiepura, Karol Szymanowski, Artur Rubinstein, Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński, Eugeniusz Bodo and Josephine Baker, and in 1919-1921 Charles de Gaulle as an observer of the plebiscite in Upper Silesia.

After the war the café was a meeting place for artists, among them the first directors of the Silesian Theatre. In the 1980s the hotel was closed and the building served as offices. In 2001 it was bought by new owners, who restored its original function and name, and the ceremonial opening after the renovation took place on 27 September 2003.

Architecture

The building is made of brick, five storeys with an attic, built of three wings on a plan close to the letter L, and a patio. The façades are faced with white clinker brick with decorations: window-sill friezes, an attic with plant motifs and reliefs of animals. The higher attic on the Dworcowa Street side carries the reconstructed inscription “Hotel Monopol” and two screaming masks, and above the gate two smiling suns can be seen. The corner bay window with a small dome is decorated with a relief showing a Chinese man. At the reception desk the original mosaic floor has survived.

Nearby

In the immediate neighbourhood stand the Silesian Theatre and the Rialto Cinema-Theatre. It is about 700 metres from here to the Cathedral of Christ the King, and a little over a kilometre to the Silesian Museum.

Practical information

• Address: ul. Dworcowa 5, Katowice-Śródmieście.
• The façade is viewed from the street; the interiors are open to hotel and restaurant guests.