Community Centre
Short summary
1912; officially opened on 26 January 1913
Modernist
Plac Jana Pawła II 3, 96-300 Żyrardów
cultural centre for the employees of the Żyrardów Linen Works
Żyrardów Cultural Centre and "Len" Cinema
the interiors are open to visitors during cultural events, workshops, exhibitions and cinema screenings
The building description was prepared in consultation with the staff of the Museum of Western Mazovia in Żyrardów.
Discover the history
The People’s House was built in 1912 to a design by Adolf Berger of Leipzig. Construction, costing 85,000 roubles, was financed entirely by Karol Dittrich Jr. The building was presented as a gift to Żyrardów’s working community and was intended to foster its cultural and social life. It was officially opened on 26 January 1913 and was named in honour of Karol Dittrich.
At the heart of the building was an auditorium seating around 600 people, complete with a large stage and a balcony. It hosted concerts, theatre productions, musical performances, lectures and social events. The People’s House quickly became one of the most important centres of community and cultural life within the Factory Settlement.
Its cultural activities were interrupted twice by the World Wars. During the First World War, the building was converted into a military hospital. Under the German occupation in the Second World War, it initially served as an assembly point for people being deported to the Reich for forced labour, before once again being turned into a military hospital.
After 1945, the building successively housed the Factory Club, the Textile Workers’ Community Centre, the Inter-Factory Community Centre, and the Municipal Community Centre. Since 2008, it has been home to the Żyrardów Cultural Centre. More than a century after its opening, the building continues to fulfil its original purpose as a venue for concerts, theatre performances, film screenings, creative workshops and community events.
Time travel
Architecture
The People’s House is an excellent example of Modernist architecture, incorporating structural solutions that were highly innovative for the early twentieth century. The building has an irregular plan and a dynamic, articulated form. Its principal element is a three-storey rectangular block housing the main auditorium. To the north is a narrower stage section, while dressing rooms, sanitary facilities, staircases and other service areas are arranged on either side.
A single-storey extension containing the main entrance hall projects from the western side of the building. On the southern elevation stands a distinctive rounded tower enclosing the main staircase leading to the administrative offices. The central block is covered by a tall hipped roof, the side extensions by mono-pitched roofs, and the western wing by a mansard roof. The tower is crowned with a domed roof.
The façades are restrained in their decoration. The principal façade is divided by vertical pilaster strips, between which pairs of rectangular windows are arranged on the upper levels. At ground-floor level, broad segmental-arched windows are fitted with decorative wrought-iron grilles.
The building’s most innovative feature is found inside the auditorium. Its balcony forms an internal ring supporting a reinforced concrete dome above. This was one of the earliest uses of reinforced concrete for a structure of this type in the Mazovia region, making the People’s House a notable example of early twentieth-century engineering as well as architecture.
