Gmach wychowawczy Warszawskiej Gminy Starozakonnych im. Michała Bergsona i Dom Akademików Żydów w Warszawie w kręgu inspiracji monachijskiej
Michał Bergson Orphanage of Warsaw Jewish Community and Jewish Academics Dormitory in Warsaw. Impact of Munich Inspiration

Summary/Abstract: The Michał Bergson Orphanage and the Jewish Academics’ Dormitory are among the most interesting architectural projects built for Warsaw’s Jewish community in the first half of the 20th century. Both facilities, based on Henryk Stifelman’s designs, have been preserved in Praga district, despite heavy damage to the city during World War II. The article looks at the history of these buildings and the purposes served by them, although special attention is on the interpretation of the buildings’ style. This is the first time a publication on this subject notes a clear impact of the Munich inspiration. In the case of the Michał Bergson Orphanage, the influence came from Theodor Fischer and his followers, while in the case of Jewish Academics’ Dormitory from Gabriela von Seidl. In the Orphanage, Stifelman drew on the repertory of simplified neo-Baroque forms with Munich roots, and in the latter building he used elements borrowed from late historicism with similar provenance. The article names Zygmunt Otto as the until now unidentified author of bas reliefs on the façade of the Jewish Academics’ Dormitory, and also points to the building’s connections with its erstwhile occupants, such as the painters Menasze and Efraim Seidenbeutel or Menachem Begin, who would later serve as Israel’s Prime Minister.

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