Pod Żabami Tenement House

The Pod Żabami (Under the Frogs) Tenement House stands on the corner of Plac Wojska Polskiego and Targowa Street in Bielsko-Biała, opposite the Martin Luther Church. The Art Nouveau house from 1903 has a façade imitating half-timbering and a decoration that stops passers-by: a portal with two frogs in tailcoats.

The building and its decorations

The tenement house was designed by the Biała architect Emanuel Rost junior. Originally it housed the wine bar of Rudolf Nahowski, which explains the motif on the portal facing Targowa Street. One of the frogs plays the mandolin, the other holds a pipe in one hand and a glass in the other and leans on a barrel, most likely of wine.

The façade is richly decorated. Above the entrances rise bay windows, in the middle part stands a pseudo-tower, and on the north wall reliefs of insects can be seen. The orange and green beaver-tail roof tiles are a reconstruction from 2019, made on the basis of historical photographs.

Heritage protection

The tenement house is entered in the heritage register. The register states that it is a brick building in the modernist style, and the first entry dates from 1988.

Nearby

It is about half a kilometre from here to the Sułkowski Dukes' Castle and the Polish Theatre. Close by also stand Bielsko's monuments to cartoon characters: Reksio and Bolek and Lolek.

Practical information

• Address: ul. Targowa 2 (corner of plac Wojska Polskiego 12), Bielsko-Biała.
• The tenement house is viewed from the outside, from the street, and its most important decorations can be seen from there.
• The portal with the frogs is best seen from Targowa Street.