Hotel Reichshof (Pionier) in Bytom

The building of the former Hotel Reichshof stands on the corner of ul. Dworcowa and ul. Moniuszki in Bytom. The four-storey tenement with Art Nouveau elevations came about through the extension of an older hotel in 1905. It is entered in the heritage register.

From hotel to tenement

The predecessor of today's building was created in the second half of the 19th century as a two-storey hotel in the Neo-Renaissance style. Its present form was given by the extension of 1905 to a design by Franz Stozik (according to another source the author was the master builder F. Tompik). The east wing was then built, and the elevations were unified in the Art Nouveau style. The hotel was called Reichshof, later Nowak's Hotel, and in 1931-1941 Europahof, by then as a first-class hotel. After the Second World War it housed Hotel Pionier. On the ground floor, from 1907, there was a shop selling cigars and tobacco products, and from 1929 a bank branch. In 1920-1921 the editorial office of the periodical “Orędzie Sokole” was based here.

The façade

The elevations have panels with plant decoration and mascarons. The top storey is slightly set back and surrounded by terraces with Art Nouveau balustrades, which were once sheltered by a glazed cast-iron canopy. Originally the corner was crowned by a small turret. Three gables adorn the elevation: one on the ul. Dworcowa side and two on the ul. Moniuszki side. On one of them you can see the inscription “ANNO 1905” and the investor's monogram CN.

Today

Since the end of the 1990s the building has not served as a hotel, but houses offices. It stands on the same street as the Silesian Opera House.

Practical information

• Address: ul. Dworcowa 19, Bytom, on the corner with ul. Moniuszki.
• The building is viewed from the outside. The interiors are not open to visitors.