Soldiers' House in Bielsko-Biała

The Soldiers' House (Dom Żołnierza) on Broniewskiego Street in Bielsko-Biała is a garrison cultural centre in a building from the 1920s, designed in the Zakopane style. It is one of the rare examples of this style in the city and is entered in the heritage register.

Where the place came from

The building was created on the initiative of the Committee for the Care of Soldiers of the Bielsko-Biała Garrison. The money for construction was donated by the public of several surrounding counties, and the plot was given by Archduke Karl Stephan Habsburg. The design in the Zakopane style was prepared by Leopold Landau, and construction lasted from 1924 to 1928. The consecration took place on 11 November 1928.

What was inside

From the start the building contained a theatre hall with dressing rooms, a dining room, a library with a reading room, a buffet, a small hotel and a kitchen, and on the garden side two verandas. When it opened, the building was surrounded by a park with benches and five hundred fruit trees. The heritage register describes the site as a brick administrative building.

After the war

After the Second World War the building came under the city's administration and housed a Youth Cultural Centre. The army regained it on 5 November 1989 and a Military Cultural Centre was opened here, named the following year after Brigadier General Józef Kustroń.

Practical information

• Address: Władysława Broniewskiego Street in Bielsko-Biała, a few hundred metres from the centre.
• The building can be viewed from the outside; it is an active centre, so the centre itself provides information on entry and events.
• Nearby are the Stara Fabryka and the Teatr Polski.