Kaufhaus Estate

Kaufhaus is a historic workers' housing estate in Ruda Śląska, on the border of Nowy Bytom and Chebzie. It forms a row of familoks (workers' family houses) along the curve of today's ul. Niedurnego and is one of the examples of the former industrial housing of Upper Silesia.

An estate for steelworkers

The estate was built in 1880-1913 for the workers of the "Pokój" steelworks, founded in 1840. Alongside the residential buildings a service section was created: a lodging house for single workers and a modern department store. Around 1906 a second part of the estate was built, by today's ul. Podgórze. In 1933 the whole estate comprised about 40 detached buildings, with three prestigious ones. In the building at ul. Pileckiego 21-23, dating from 1913, a bakery operated on the ground floor, and the building appeared in the film "Paciorki jednego różańca".

The architecture of the familoks

The houses have two storeys and gable roofs, and the façades have modest detailing. They were built in two types: in the first there were six small flats on each floor, off one staircase; in the second there were two staircases and two large flats per floor, each with two rooms and a kitchen. Originally one toilet served two flats, on the half-landing or in the yard.

The Kaufhaus department store

The steelworks department store was built in 1904 in the middle of the estate, as the crowning of the first stage of construction. It marked the centre of the estate and gave it its name. On three floors there were departments with different groups of goods, and the building had lifts and a slaughterhouse. It is regarded as one of the oldest commercial buildings of this kind in Poland and in Europe.

Demolitions and renovation

In the 1980s a decision was taken to demolish the estate, and half of its oldest part ceased to exist, including along ul. Podgórze, ul. Pileckiego and ul. Kubicy. In the first years of the 21st century the street and the estate were renovated. A second similar estate, Ficinus, survives on ul. Kubiny in Wirek.

Nearby

From Kaufhaus it is close to the Museum of the History of the Polish People's Republic and to the Queen Louise Adit. The Guido Mine is farther away, but easy to combine in a single route.

Practical information

• Location: Ruda Śląska, ul. Niedurnego, on the border of Nowy Bytom and Chebzie.
• Getting there: a tram line towards Bytom, Chorzów and Świętochłowice runs by the estate, and buses stop there too.
• This is an estate lived in by residents; view it from the street.