Hotel Sanssouci (Bristol) in Bytom

Hotel Sanssouci, known today as Hotel Bristol, is a historic building at ul. Dworcowa 16 in Bytom. It is entered in the heritage register. It is the oldest historic building on this street. The fourteen-bay façade echoes Classicism, while the details are eclectic in character.

From inn to hotel

On the site of the present tenement there stood an inn built before 1858. In 1858 a dance and theatre hall was built in the courtyard to a design by Steinmetz. Hotel Sanssouci with a restaurant and wine bar was built in 1871 to a design by Ferdinand Herrmann. The interior was rebuilt in 1895 to a design by J. Cyganek. In 1910 the Berlin architect Ahrens rebuilt the hotel, and the work was carried out by the Bytom firm Boswau & Knauer. From then on the building bore the name Kaiserhof.

Architecture

The building stands in the compact development of the street. On the north side two wings adjoin it, forming an inner courtyard. The façade is crowned in its central part by a semicircular gable with a cartouche with a garland and the date 1911. The ground-floor elevation has been altered and no longer corresponds to the original. A gate with a steel grille leads to the outbuilding. The heritage register defines the style as Art Nouveau.

Today

The building has undergone renovations, the original window joinery was replaced, among other things, and the façade was renovated in 2018. It is used as a hotel. It makes a good stop on a walk along ul. Dworcowa, together with the neighbouring Silesian Opera House.

Practical information

• Address: ul. Dworcowa 16, Bytom.
• The building is viewed from the outside, from the street. The interiors are part of a working hotel.