Julian Lisiecki (1881–1945) – architect and restorer

s. Anna Tejszerska USJK

doi:10.37190/arc240201

Abstract

The article presents the entire creative activity of Julian Lisiecki, a graduate of the Faculty of Architecture of the Technical University of Karlsruhe, committed to the protection and restoration of national heritage, a member of the Towarzystwo Opieki nad Zabytkami Przeszłości, and an architect involved in the design of state construction investments of the Second Polish Republic. The text is based on archival material, the architect’s diaries made available to the author, and a careful study of professional journals from the period of Julian Lisiecki’s professional activity. Due to the scope of the text, emphasis was placed on presenting all aspects of the architect’s activity – from design and conservation projects, through journalistic activity, to involvement in professional associations, participation in competitions and service in the Ministry of Public Works and Military Affairs, omitting a detailed analysis of individual works.

Keywords:
julian lisiecki
towarzystwo opieki nad zabytkami przeszłości
second polish republic
eastern borderlands

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s. Anna Tejszerska USJK*

Julian Lisiecki (1881–1945) – architect and restorer

Introduction

Julian Lisiecki went down in the architectural history pri-

marily as one of the main creators of the clerical settlement

in Brześć nad Bugiem [Brest on the Bug] and the author

of the model projects issued by the Obywatelski Komitet

Odbudowy Wsi i Miast [Civic Committee for Reconstruction

of Villages and Towns] after the Great War. His involvement

in the Towarzystwo Opieki nad Zabytkami Przeszłości [So-

ciety for the Protection of Monuments of the Past – SPMP],

including projects for the restoration of churches and other

historic buildings or competition proposals for modern pub-

lic buildings, is less frequently recognised. Apart from men-

tions of individual realisations [1, pp. 233–236], [2], [3] and

minor texts dedicated to the Brześć settlement [4], [5] there

has been no publication to date collecting the entirety of his

activities. This article is intended to ll this gap. It is im-

possible to analyse the individual elements of the architect’s

oeuvre in detail within the scope of a short study, so the aim

of this article is to outline the individual elds of his rich

professional activity as broadly as possible. The basis for the

research was the available archival materials, both graphic

DOI: 10.37190/arc240201

Published in open access. CC BY NC ND license

and textual. A thorough analysis of professional periodi-

cals from the years of the architect’s professional activity,

1904–1939

, as well as compact publications published by

the SPMP, made it possible to reach a great deal of infor-

mation and to systematise it. A particular source of mo-

tivation to address the topic was the access to two of the

architect’s diaries

, made available to the author, which

were often the only sources making it possible to cover the

blank spots on the map of the article’s hero’s biography.

Family home and education

Julian Lisiecki was born on 28 January 1881 in Alek-

sandrów Kujawski as the youngest of seven siblings. His

father Mateusz, son of Antoni and Tekla née Skorupska,

“Czasopismo Techniczne” (1904–1939), “Architekt” (1904–1915,

1922–1931), “Architektura i Budownictwo” (1925–1939), “Sztuki Pięk-

ne” (1924–1934), “Biuletyn Historji Sztuki i Kultury” (1932–1939),

“Przegląd Techniczny” (1904–1939). Due to a very extensive collection

of these sources, abbreviated references to the most important works are

included in the text as footnotes.

At this point, I would like to express my sincere thanks to the

architect’s grandson Simon Lisiecki from Alaska for providing the two

collections of memories cited in the article.

Abstract

The article presents the entire creative activity of Julian Lisiecki, a graduate of the Faculty of Architecture of the Technical University of Karlsruhe,

committed to the protection and restoration of national heritage, a member of the Towarzystwo Opieki nad Zabytkami Przeszłości, and an architect

involved in the design of state construction investments of the Second Polish Republic. The text is based on archival material, the architect’s diaries

made available to the author, and a careful study of professional journals from the period of Julian Lisiecki’s professional activity. Due to the scope of

the text, emphasis was placed on presenting all aspects of the architect’s activity – from design and conservation projects, through journalistic activity,

to involvement in professional associations, participation in competitions and service in the Ministry of Public Works and Military Aairs, omitting

a detailed analysis of individual works.

Key words: Julian Lisiecki, Towarzystwo Opieki nad Zabytkami Przeszłości, Second Polish Republic, Eastern Borderlands

* ORCID: 0000-0001-7872-4496. Faculty of Architecture, Bialy-

tok University of Technology, Poland, e-mail: anna.tejszerska@pb.edu.pl

4 s. Anna Tejszerska USJK

came from the noble estate of Liszki (in the Biała Podlaska

County), while his mother Prakseda, née Kościelska, came

from the Poznań Voivodship [6, p. 1]. In the early 1880s,

the Lisiecki family moved to Skierniewice, where his fa-

ther ran a cafeteria at the Warsaw–Vienna railway station.

Young Julian received his rst education at home from

private teachers, followed by further schooling at a state

and then at a private grammar school. The period of school

edu cation, which was not easy for a pupil who did not

agree to any form of support for the invaders, gave the fu-

ture architect the opportunity to meet a number of eminent

teachers, including geographer Paweł Sosnowski (1859–

1947) – Oskar’s father (1880–1939)

, with whom, years

later, Lisiecki co-founded the board of the SPMP. The fact

that he was unable to take his school-leaving exams due to

a de nun ciation concerning his participation in secret classes

in Polish literature forced him to take up a job at K. Rudz ki

& Co.’s Machinery and Iron Foundry. In 1898, he enrolled

at the private Technical School of Hipolit Wawelberg and

Stanisław Rotwand at the Building Department, which was

dissolved after a year [7, p. 86]. A providential visit by Ed-

mund Burzacki, who was studying in Karlsruhe and later

became an electrical engineer, decided the architect’s fu-

ture. Julian Lisiecki counted his architectural studies at the

Karlsruhe University of Technology among the brightest

pages of his life. He was introduced to the arcana of study

by the slightly older Kazimierz Wyczyński (1876–1923)

with whom he maintained a true friendship for the rest of

his life. It was he who inspired Julian’s fascination with

history and monuments and taught him to use a sketchbook

instead of a camera during excursions.

The beginnings of design work

In autumn 1904, after passing his nal exams, the

young apprentice returned to Warsaw. His parents oered

him further studies abroad, but due to his father’s nancial

diculties, he decided to stay in the country, take up a job

and support his family. Unfortunately, he found himself in

a very unfavourable economic period.

Construction activity came to a standstill. I walked in

vain around all the known studios, there was nothing on

the drawing boards. Dziekoński was arranging photo-

graphs in an album and did not even want me for free. In

view of this [he adds wittily] I got married

[6, p. 27].

After a few months, however, he found employment

with Hugo Kuder (1866–1931)

, where – as he himself

Architect, professor of the Technical Universities in Lwów and

Warsaw.

Architect, member of the editorial committee of the periodical

“Architekt”, restorer of the Potocki Palace and the Grey House in Cra-

cow, co-author of the design of the Polish Bank in Cracow, winner of the

competition for the design of the Voivodship Oce in Katowice and the

Silesian Parliament.

His heart’s choice was Jadwiga Tuszkówna (1869–1946), and the

wedding took place on 12 November 1904. They had two children, a son

Stanisław (born 1910) and a daughter Marta (born 1907), whose hus-

band, architect Janusz Krauss, became Julian’s business partner.

Graduate of the architecture faculty in Charlottenburg, design-

er of the Warsaw Church of Our Lady of Częstochowa, the palace in

emphasised – he gained a lot of practical skills. After

a year, he left for Polesie, to Terebieżów near Horyń, as

construction manager of the palace designed by Kuder for

Cezary Olesza junior [6, p. 27]. In time, the client asked

Lisiecki for a new design, albeit determined by the existing

foundations. This was the architect’s rst major work. It is

dicult to determine conclusively to what extent the nal

form of the building is Lisiecki’s work and to what extent

it is a modication of Kuder’s design. The form of the frag-

mented, Neo-Gothic body of the palace full of pinnacles,

turrets and façades (Fig. 1)

seems more typical of Kuder’s

designs than of Lisiecki’s work as we know it later.

It is possible, however, that the year spent in Kuder’s

studio inuenced the character of the novice architect’s

designs. Moreover, the construction of the palace in Tere-

bie żów dates back to the period of the dominance of

Neo-Gothic, which in the territory of the Russian partition

had an eminently pro-Western European overtone. What is

more, it symbolised Poland’s restoration under the reign of

Casimir the Great [9, p. 91].

We do not know most of Lisiecki’s designs from those

years. Only the architect’s diary entries testify that the com-

missions he received from the investor’s family and friends

after the palace in Terebieżów was built provided him with

a living until the beginning of the Great War [6, p. 33]. A year

before its outbreak, he drew up a draft

, and then a project

for the reconstruction of the church in Zatory, maintained

in the forms of National Romanticism

. The building, with

its distinctive tower over 30 m high, was destroyed by Ger-

man shelling at the turn of July and August 1915.

While running a private design practice

, the architect

took an active part in professional associations.

In 1908 he joined the Circle of Architects within the As-

sociation of Technicians in Warsaw [11, p. 291]. As early as

1911, at a special meeting of the Real Estate Association of

the City of Warsaw, he gave a paper on the hygiene of the

housing development, demonstrating an excellent knowl-

edge of the standards and regulations prevailing in other

countries limiting the inadequacy of light and the inability

of rooms to be well ventilated in buildings built too high on

narrow plots of land

. In the same year he was part of the

committee preparing the building rally

. In 1913, on behalf

of the Circle of Architects, he was a member of the com-

mission for the reconstruction of the Rozmaitości Theatre

in Warsaw

. He was a member of competition juries on

Oblęgorek, a widely criticised reconstruction of the lower façade of the

Warsaw cathedral (1901–1903) [8, p. 15]. Lisiecki recalls: […] his repu-

tation was tarnished, but his studio was full of work [6, p. 27].

The structure is known only from photographs and from the de-

scription in Roman Aftanazy’s monograph [3, pp. 145–148]. The palace

was destroyed by the Germans in 1943.

Approved by the Society for the Protection of Monuments of the

Past. Cf. “Przegląd Techniczny” 1913, No. 13, p. 170.

The term “rebuilding” is used somewhat loosely, as only the

foundations and two side walls of the old church were left [10, p. 122].

The studio was located in Warsaw in a building at 442 Krakow-

skie Przedmieście, renumbered 65 after 1920.

Cf. “Przegląd Techniczny” 1911, No. 19, p. 252.

Cf. “Przegląd Techniczny” 1911, No. 48, p. 623.

Cf. “Przegląd Techniczny” 1913, No. 21, p. 298, No. 22, p. 308.

Julian Lisiecki (1881–1945) – architect and restorer 5

more than one occasion

as well as a member of the archi-

tects’ defence committee in court proceedings over house

plastering in Warsaw (1915)

. He himself won the rst

prize in the competition for the enlargement of the Warsaw

Technicians’ Association Building (1913)

. In 1914 he was

appointed to the commission for the develop ment of the fa-

mous Polish Architecture Exhibition “Village and Town”

Conservation activity

On the basis of archival material, we can say much more

about Julian Lisiecki’s involvement in the eld of monu-

ment protection. His name rst appeared in the professional

press in 1909 in a report on a conference of SPMP

. A year

later he is mentioned again as a member and participant

in the meetings of the Society

. From February 1910 to

June 1912, he was secretary of the Architectural Depart-

ment of the SPMP [12, p. 26]

. At that time he had the

opportunity to work with Józef Dziekoński (1844–1927)

as chairman and Władysław Marconi (1848–1915) as his

deputy. In 1911, as one of the six representatives of the So-

ciety, he took part in the meetings of the Zjazd Miłośników

Ojczystych Zabytków [Convention of the Lovers of Native

Monuments] [12, p. 19]. As one of the so-called Protec-

tor Members, he was actively involved in nancing the

Society’s work [13 § 7.2], [12, p. 14, III, XIII]. By virtue

of his position as board member and secretary, the press

began to publish signed articles of a reporting nature. He

wrote, among other things, a memoir about Konstanty Woj -

ciechowski – vice-president of SPMP [14, p. 10, 11] and

the article entitled Dom Baryczków na Starem Mieście [The

Baryczka family’s tenement house in the Old Town] [15,

pp. 610–612], presenting the characteristics of the tene-

ment house acquired by the Society, the circumstances

surrounding the decision to buy it, and the course of the

restoration work which he directed. Over time, this house

became a centre which, as Lisiecki wrote 10 years later,

[…] gave birth to and trained people suitable for conserva-

tion matters [and in which] the very idea of conservation of

monuments was born and solidied [16, p. 46]. In the pages

of the “Przegląd Techniczny”, in the column “Construction

Movement and Varieties”, regular reports of the meetings

of the Society’s Architectural Department were published,

signed in 1910–1912 with the initials of Julian Lisiecki

Cf. “Architekt” 1911, No. 11–12, p. 177, 1912, No. 3–4, p. 41, 1914,

No. 5, p. 88; “Przegląd Techniczny” 1914, No. 12, p. 154, No. 19, p. 260.

Cf. “Przegląd Techniczny” 1915, No. 15–16, p. 159.

Only three works were submitted for the competition. Cf. “Ar-

chitekt” 1913, No. 9–10, p. 146. Design drawings were published by

“Przegląd Techniczny” 1913, No. 44, tab. X.

The committee consisted of S. Szyller, J. Wojciechowski, J. Kłos,

and Z. Kalinowski. Cf. “Przegląd Techniczny” 1915, No. 3–4, p. 30.

Cf. “Architekt” 1909, No. 6, pp. 108–110.

Cf. “Architekt” 1910, No. 5, p. 78.

t the end of 1912, the Society’s structure was reorganised – the

Conservation Department took over the work of the previous departments of

Architecture, Painting, Inventory and Old Warsaw, and the Department of Art

History was also established. Cf. “Przegląd Techniczny” 1912, No. 51, p. 686.

The reports appeared with varying frequency. In 1910 in issues

8, 11, 17, 21, 38, 39, 42, in 1911 in issues: 7, 10, 12, 13, 15, 25–27, 29,

31, 32, 37–40, 44, 46, in 1912 in issues 22 and 24.

Among the more important tasks the Society undertook

for heritage conservation were visiting historic buildings

and meeting with their administrators, giving them advice

and putting them in touch with specialists. Reports of the

meetings show that Lisiecki was repeatedly delegated there-

to. Within a few years from 1910 until the outbreak of the

Great War, Lisiecki inspected churches in: Kroczewo, Bo -

rze wo (currently Bożewo),

Sulejów, Olkusz, a post-Pauli-

nian church in Beszowa, in Zborówek (the Stopnica district),

Chle wiska [12, p. 22], Waliszew, Sutkówka (near Ży rardów),

Ra cła wice, Osiek, Sierpc, Rypin, Bielsk, Strzy gi [12, p. 23],

Bru dzew (the Koło district), Buczek (the Łask district), Skier -

niewice, Skomlin, Mokrsko, Krzywo rze ka, Żdżary (the Wie-

luń district),

Pułtusk, Ruda, wooden churches in the Wie luń

district in Ożarów, Grębień, Po po wice, the tower in Woj cie-

chów, the Dekiert palace and house at 38 Długa and 47 Piw-

na Streets in Warsaw, the commemorative statue in Raszyn

and the town hall and castle in Szydłowiec

On behalf of the Society’s Architectural Department,

together with Stefan Szyller he became a delegate to the

artistic commission appointed at Jasna Góra in connection

with the restoration works in the monastery complex of

the Pauline Fathers, including the chapel of the Mother

of God

. The result of Lisiecki’s study trips is a series

of photographs of historic buildings dating from 1909 to

1914 and a collection of inventory drawings

He was involved in giving lectures – both internally and

to the wider public [12, p. 23]. In most cases, these were

reports of inspections of individual monuments or summa-

ries of longer periods of the Society’s work [12, p. 5].

Reports of these inspections regularly appeared in the “Przegląd

Techniczny” in 1910 in issues 8, 19, 26, in the following year in issues:

10, 20 and 38, in 1912 in issues: 22, 26, 33, 38 and 45, in 1913 in issues:

19, 21, 31, 46, 49, and in 1914 in issues: 6, 7, 13, 15, 24, 27, 28.

Cf. “Przegląd Techniczny” 1913, No. 2, p. 24; No. 4, p. 48.

The digitised iconographic collection of SPMP deposited at the Art

Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences contains over 200 items (pho-

tographs, plates, inventory drawings), of which author is Julian Lisiecki.

Fig. 1. The Terebieżów Palace, arch. J. Lisiecki, 1906,

photographed 1910–1935

(source: Narodowe Archiwum Cyfrowe, Ref. 3/1/0/9/6267)

Il. 1. Pałac w Terebieżowie, arch. J. Lisiecki, 1906, fot. 1910–1935

(źródło: Narodowe Archiwum Cyfrowe, sygn. 3/1/0/9/6267)

6 s. Anna Tejszerska USJK

of a Ministry-led visit to Lwów after the 1918/1919 bat-

tles, in which he assessed the state of destruction and the

extent of the needs of the city’s inhabitants [19, pp. 14, 15].

Julian Lisiecki himself also took part in the ght for the

eastern borders of Poland.

The year 1920 arrived […] is it possible to describe the

mood that was then created? What must have been going

on in the soul of every righteous person? Was I allowed to

ponder? Just as our fathers had gone to the uprising

, so

now it was necessary to go as a volunteer. People like me,

in my old age – by way of example [18, pp. 3, 4].

The inter-war period – conservation and creation

The inter-war decades were the most professionally fruit-

ful period of Julian Lisiecki’s life. He did not stop his con-

servation activities. By then he was already a valued and

experienced member of the board of the SPMP Conserva-

tion Department. In 1925, he became vice-chairman of this

department [20, p. 40]. The 1925 report stated that: […] al-

most all Tuesdays in the last six months were lled with mat-

ters which the Faculty, under the energetic and experienced

leadership of Mr Dean M. Lalewicz and Arch. J. Lisiecki

considered and gave opinions on them. The mere listing of

cases dealt with by the Division is a commendable testimo-

ny to its vigilance and dedication to conservation issues [20,

p. 40]. In 1926–1928 he was vice-president of the Society,

in 1927 – secretary of the Second National Conservation

Lisiecki’s grandfather Antoni fought at Grochów; his father, as

a young boy, together with his brother Feliks, in Gen. Langiewicz’s unit

[6, p. 1] [note by A. Tejszerska].

Lisiecki’s design tasks are also connected with his activ-

ities in the eld of conservation care. These include a proj-

ect for the rebuilding of the St. Nicholas Church in Dąbie

on the Ner River (the Koło district), drawn up jointly with

Oskar Sosnowski [12, p. 22], a sketch for the enlargement

of the church in Waliszewo

, the already mentioned proj-

ect for the reconstruction of the church in Zatory

[10,

p. 122] and the plans for the restoration and extension of

the church in Chlewiska in the Końskie district, which

were only realised after the Great War [12, p. 22], all pre-

sented and accepted at the Society.

The Great War and the year 1920

The last mention of Lisiecki before the war comes from

April 1915

. His name would not appear in the press

again until April 1919 in connection with the case of the

liquidation of the Sobor on Saski Square in Warsaw [17,

p. 66]. Indeed, after the outbreak of war in March 1915,

remaining unemployed and without means of subsistence,

he took up the invitation of communications engineer Ka-

zimierz Puciata (1858–1927) to work on the construction

of bridges over the Narew River, where he worked for four

years near the front line. In 1918, he returned to Warsaw

to undertake organisational work at the Ministry of Public

Works [18, p. 2]. Preserved from this period is a certicate

Cf. “Przegląd Techniczny” 1912, No. 26, p. 346. Two years af-

ter the design proposal was presented, Lisiecki’s proposed project to add

a bell tower to the wooden church was not realised, as the parishioners de-

cided to build a new church. Cf. “Przegląd Techniczny” 1914, No. 7, p. 94.

Cf. “Przegląd Techniczny” 1913, No. 13, p. 170.

Cf. “Przegląd Techniczny” 1915, No. 15–16, p. 159.

Fig. 2. Reconstruction project

for Szydłowiec town hall tower,

cross-section and façade,

arch. J. Lisiecki, 1922

(source: AAN, Ref. 2/9/0/5.5/I 3354)

Il. 2. Projekt odbudowy wieży

ratusza w Szydłowcu, przekrój

i fasada, arch. J. Lisiecki, 1922

(źródło: AAN, sygn. 2/9/0/5.5/I 3354)

Julian Lisiecki (1881–1945) – architect and restorer 7

Fig. 3. Chlewiska, St. Stanislaus Church, extension project, façade,

arch. J. Lisiecki, 1922 (source: AAN, Ref. 2/9/0/5.5/2439)

Il. 3. Chlewiska, kościół pw. św. Stanisława, proj. rozbudowy,

fasada, arch. J. Lisiecki, 1922 (źródło: AAN, sygn. 2/9/0/5.5/2439)

Fig. 4. Zatory church project, façade,

arch. J. Lisiecki, 1920 (source: AAN, Ref. 2/9/0/5.5/I 3925)

Il. 4. Projekt kościoła w Zatorach, fasada,

arch. J. Lisiecki, 1920 (źródło: AAN, sygn. 2/9/0/5.5/I 3925)

Convention [21, k. 108] and in 1929 he was elected to the

board of the SPMP as deputy

. In 1932, together with Ma-

rian Lalewicz and J. Łukasik, he belonged to the Presidium

of the Society’s Conservation Department [22, p. 257]. At

that time, the “Biuletyn Historji Sztuki i Kultury” pub-

lished an article by Lisiecki and Lalewicz constituting a re-

port on the activities of the Society in the previous decade

[16, pp. 45–52]. In 1934, he was a member of the Socie -

ty’s board [23, p. 393]. In the reports from SPMP meet-

ings from the end of the 1930s, his name did not appear

In 1922 Lisiecki drew up a project for the reconstruc-

tion of the town hall in Szydłowiec

(Fig. 2). Under his

supervision, a tenement in the Old Town Square no. 18 was

renovated [20, p. 40]. His involvement with SPMP also

resulted in a project to extend the church in Chlewiska.

Even before the Great War, Chlewiska was on Lisiecki’s

inventory tour. In 1911, at a meeting of the Society, the

architect presented a report, illustrated with photographs,

on the condition of the church [12, p. 22]. As a result of

the discussions, it was considered possible to renovate and

extend the Gothic church, contrary to the parish’s origi-

nal intention to build a new one. Lisiecki’s project (1922,

Fig. 3) for the annexation of the western part of the body

Cf. “Architektura i Budownictwo” 1929, No. 5, p. 197.

At the time, the Society was struggling with nancial problems.

These led to the decision to sell the Baryczka tenement house, in the

renovation of which Lisiecki had once been very involved. This decision

caused major divisions among SPMP members. An unsupported hypo-

thesis can be put forward that Lisiecki’s disappearance from among the

active members of the association was related to this fact [24].

Cf. “Architekt” 1922, No. 3–4, p. 38.

to the existing presbytery is an example of an individual

interpretation of the features of native architecture. The

church building received a very characteristic indigenous

silhouette, shaped on the basis of a creative interpretation

of the Renaissance and Baroque gables and low arcades

(soboty) surrounding the wooden churches.

The church in Zatory, built according to Lisiecki’s plans,

was ruined during the war (1915). In 1920, the architect

drew up a project for the reconstruction of the church in

the style of National Romanticism

. It is characterised by

Neo-Renaissance gables, a dissected body, bulging portico

columns and stone-faced friezes (Fig. 4).

Julian Lisiecki’s projects presented above were the re-

sult of his involvement in SPMP [16, pp. 45–52], [12]. An

independent eld of the architect’s activity was his work

for the Ministry of Public Works, which contributed to

a number of model projects intended to rebuild Poland af-

ter the Great War [25], [26]. The architectural community

viewed them very positively: the Ministry of Public Works

published a booklet entitled “Construction of houses for

civil servants in the eastern provinces”. This publication

brings honour to the Ministry, not only through its publish-

ing qualities, but moreover as a testimony to the positive

work in the Borderlands. The works of colleagues Lisiec-

ki, Miecznikowski, Beill and Szymański are truly of a high

standard [27, p. 26].

The design is sometimes attributed [10, p. 122] to a pair of authors,

Julian Lisiecki and Łukasz Wolski. The design drawing of the church is

signed by Lisiecki. To Wolski, on the other hand, the parish community in

Zatory owes the erection of a temporary wooden church located nearby,

which had served the local community until a new one was built.

8 s. Anna Tejszerska USJK

Fig. 5. Situation plan

of the clerical colony

in Brześć nad Bugiem,

arch. J. Lisiecki, 1922

(source: AAN, Ref. 2/9/0/5.5/I 2419)

Il. 5. Plan sytuacyjny kolonii

urzędniczej w Brześciu nad

Bugiem, arch. J. Lisiecki, 1922

(źródło: AAN, sygn. 2/9/0/5.5/I 2419)

The works made for the ministry are still the hallmark

of Lisiecki’s work today. A signicant part of his realisa-

tions, as before the Great War, were created in the Border-

lands. He was commissioned to design buildings for hous-

ing colonies in Dubno, Małoryta, Domaczewo, Kamieniec

Litewski and Białystok [26, p. 28]. He was responsible

for drawing up the urban plans of the clerical colony in

Brześć nad Bugiem (Fig. 5), being the architect of most of

the foundation’s buildings and the construction manager

[5, pp. 5–32]. The colony in Brześć is one of the most well-

known and oft-presented government realisations of the

interwar period. Szczęsny Rutkowski summed it up in the

following words: […] the colony designed by Juljusz [sic!]

Lisiecki […] stands out in its picturesqueness and order

from the shoddy and dilapidated buildings of the city [28,

p. 132]. The colony’s building designs, which were part of

the National Romanticism trend, grew out of a common

ideological source with conservation activity. As noted by

Andrzej Kadłuczka, they were in this case aimed […] not

so much at protecting existing monuments as at ensuring

the protection of the Polish landscape, in view of the ex-

pected imminent multilateral reconstruction and moderni-

sation of the country [9, p. 91].

Of the smaller borderland projects, in 1924, Lisiecki

was commissioned to design a three-classroom primary

school in Barszczewo near Brześć (Fig. 6). In the same

year, also for the Brześć district, the architect drew up a de-

sign for a three-classroom school in Szczytniki (Fig. 7).

In Brześć, Lisiecki also developed conservation activ-

ities. He honourably carried out plans and gratuitously

directed the conversion of a Russian garrison church into

a Catholic church [29, p. 72]. The task was all the more

important because the church, erected on a site once be-

longing to the Augustinians right next to their demolished

church, considered “the oldest monument of the Catholic

faith in Brześć” [29, p. 72], was a propaganda sign of the

domination of the Russian empire and in its original form

was unacceptable in the liberated country [30, pp. 110,

111]. The church, rebuilt between 1924 and 1928 with con-

tributions from soldiers of the ocer corps, received in its

new appearance modernised Neo-Baroque forms empha-

sised by a stepped gable with volutes (Fig. 8).

In the professional press [2, p. 319], in addition to the

so-called Augustinian Church, two more historical build-

ings in Brześć adapted for military use by Lisiecki were

mentioned. The rst was the former Jesuit monastery and

Julian Lisiecki (1881–1945) – architect and restorer 9

Fig. 6. Barszczewo school project (the Brześć district, the region of Polesie), façades, arch. J. Lisiecki, 1924

(source: AAN, Ref. 2/9/0/5.5/I 2367)

Il. 6. Projekt szkoły w Barszczewie (pow. brzeski, woj. poleskie), elewacje, arch. J. Lisiecki, 1924

(źródło: AAN, sygn. 2/9/0/5.5/I 2367)

Fig. 7. Szczytniki school project (the Brześć district, the region of Polesie), façades, arch. J. Lisiecki, 1924

(source: AAN, Ref. 2/9/0/5.5/I 3352)

Il. 7. Projekt szkoły w Szczytnikach (pow. brzeski, woj. poleskie), elewacje, arch. J. Lisiecki, 1924

(źródło: AAN, sygn. 2/9/0/5.5/I 3352)

10 s. Anna Tejszerska USJK

Fig. 8. St. Casimir’s garrison church in Brześć 1928–1939,

reconstruction project J. Lisiecki, 1924

(source: Polona, Ref. Poczt. 12242)

Il. 8. Kościół garnizonowy pw. św. Kazimierza w Brześciu 1928–1939,

proj. przebudowy J. Lisiecki, 1924

(źródło: Polona, sygn. Poczt. 12242)

Fig. 9. Project for the reconstruction of the former Jesuit monastery, ground floor plan (ZPZAP WA PW, Ref. 09892)

Il. 9. Projekt odbudowy byłego klasztoru OO. Jezuitów, rzut parteru (ZPZAP WA PW, sygn. 09892)

church from the 17

century converted by the Russians

into an administrative facility of the Brest Fortress, signi-

cantly damaged in 1915–1919, and rebuilt after the war as

the Command of Corps District No. IX (1924–1926) [31,

p. 36] (Fig. 9). The second, a former Bernardine monas-

tery (1653) was rebuilt as a district hospital for soldiers of

Corps District No. IX.

As Inspector of the Construction Department of the Mi-

nistry of Military Aairs, Lisiecki also worked for the in-

vestment of the Fundusz Kwaterunku Wojskowego [Mili-

tary Accommodation Fund – MAF]

. One of the Fund’s

largest projects in terms of volume was the building of the

Marszałek Józef Piłsudski Regional Hospital in Warsaw

designed in 1936 by the team of Julian Lisiecki and his son-

in-law, Janusz Krauss (1906–1982), and completed only

after World War II.

As part of the MAF investment, a multi-family building

project developed by Lisiecki for a clerical colony in Białystok

was implemented in the complex of KOP (Border Defence

Corps) buildings in Mołodeczno [1, p. 234] (Fig. 10).

The result of Julian Lisiecki’s service to the Ministry

of Military Aairs is, moreover, an article published in the

anniversary issue of “Architektura i Budownictwo” sum-

marising 15 years of activity of the reborn state in the eld

of military construction [34].

His name is mentioned in successive volumes of the Fund’s ac-

tivity reports [32], [33].

The present building of the Ministry of Defence.

Julian Lisiecki (1881–1945) – architect and restorer 11

Fig. 10. Project of a multi-family house for a clerical colony in Białystok, elevations (source: AAN, Ref. 2/9/0/5.5/I 2381)

Il. 10. Projekt domu wielorodzinnego dla kolonii urzędniczej w Białymstoku, elewacje (źródło: AAN, sygn. 2/9/0/5.5/I 2381)

Architectural competitions and involvement

in the work of associations

Julian Lisiecki took part in architectural competi tions

on more than one occasion. In a team with Witold Cze-

czott (1895–1943), he won the fourth prize in a competition

for the design of the People’s House in Łódź (1926)

and

the second prize in a competition for the design of a depart-

ment store in Łódź (1926). He also won an award for the

design of a house for 12 families in a workers’ colony in

Łódź, which was presented as a model at the Association of

Polish Cities’ exhibition “Housing and the City” [35, p. 35].

In 1932, it won the fourth prize in a compe tition for a resi-

dential house for the Military Lodging Fund in Warsaw

From 1933 onwards, Lisiecki competed together with

Krauss in competitions. The work carried out in duo with

the architect who was a generation younger had a distinctly

modernist character. The team won the sixth prize in the

competition for the Customs House in Gdynia

and the

second prize in the competition for the design of the Mu-

nicipal Sanatorium for the Pulmonary Diseases in Skotniki

near Łódź

(1937)

. Two designs submitted for the model

small house competition (1933) were purchased

as was

a competition design for a hospital in Łódź (1935)

Throughout the interwar period, Lisiecki took an active

part in the life of the Architects’ Group. He was also in-

“Architekt” 1926, No. 5, p. 32.

Cf. “Architektura i Budownictwo” 1932, No. 9, p. 277, Fig. 280.

Cf. “Architektura i Budownictwo” 1934, No. 4, p. 135.

Cf. “Architektura i Budownictwo” 1937, No. 3, p. 98.

Cf. “Architektura i Budownictwo” 1933, No. 4, pp. 108–110.

Cf. “Architektura i Budownictwo” 1935, No. 1, p. 18.

volved in journalistic activities. He was a member of the

founding committee of the illustrated monthly magazine

“Architektura i Budownictwo”, and later of its editorial

committee (1932–1934). In 1932, he was elected to the

board of the Publishing Cooperative of Polish Architects

From 1933 to 1935, he held the position of the rst deputy

on that management board

Lisiecki died in Żyrardów on 16 January 1945 during

a bombing of the town

. He left behind a design legacy

that still contributes to the landscape of our cities today,

marking it with the more-or-less modernised “manor house”

style characteristic of the 20

century.

Conclusions

A systematic review of archive documents, compact

publications, professional journals and press cuttings from

the years of Julian Lisiecki’s active work made it possible

to reconstruct the image and portray the architect’s pic-

ture far beyond the narrow frames of the image presented

so far. In addition, the architect’s memoirs, made available

by his family, have helped to shed light on his life outside

work, as well as to establish the area of his design activity

in the rst few years after his graduation, although we still

do not know much about some of the projects created in the

Eastern Borderlands during this period. Numerous press

Cf. “Architektura i Budownictwo” 1932, No. 7, p. 234.

“Architektura i Budownictwo” 1933, No. 3, p. 92.

A year later, on 19 January 1946, Jadwiga died. They are both

buried in the family tomb in the St. Jacob’s parish cemetery in Skier-

niewice. It is worth noting at this point that in the internet references con-

cerning Julian Lisiecki the year of his death is wrongly given as 1944.

12 s. Anna Tejszerska USJK

[1] Dolistowska M., W poszukiwaniu tożsamości miasta. Architektu-

ra i urbanistyka Białegostoku w latach 1795–1939, Uniwersytet

w Białymstoku, Białystok 2018.

[2] Król A., Budowle zabytkowe w wojsku, “Architektura i Budownic-

two” 1933, nr 10–12, 302–320.

[3] Aftanazy R., Dzieje rezydencji na dawnych kresach Rzeczypospoli-

tej, t. 2, Ossolineum, Wrocław 1993.

[4]

Czajczyc I., Architekt Julian Lisiecki, “Echa Polesia” 2019, nr 2(62), 35–38.

[5]

Pszczółkowski M., Architektura Brześcia nad Bugiem w latach

II Rze czypospolitej, “Kwartalnik Architektury i Urbanistyki” 2014,

t. 59, z. 3, 5–32.

[6] Lisiecki J., Kronika z czasów mojej młodości, Warszawa 1944 [ma-

nuscript in: S. Lisiecki archives].

[7] Jakubów R., Pierwsze dziesięciolecie Szkoły Technicznej Wawel-

berga i Rotwanda (1895–1905), “Rozprawy z Dziejów Oświaty”

1991, t. 34, 75–92.

[8] Wawrzeniecki M., Konserwacyja zabytków budownictwa, “Prze-

gląd Techniczny” 1908, nr 1, 15–18.

[9]

Kadłuczka A., Village and town in independent Poland and 100 years

later, “Wiadomości Konserwatorskie – Journal of Heritage Conser-

vation” 2018, nr 56, 88–97, doi: 10.17425/WK56INDEPENDENT.

[10]

Katalog zabytków sztuki w Polsce, t. 10, Dawne województwo war-

szawskie, z. 20, Pułtusk i okolice, A. Galicka, D. Kaczmarzyk, M. Ka -

łamajska-Saeed (oprac.), Instytut Sztuki PAN, Warszawa 1999.

[11] Ze Stowarzyszenia Techników w Warszawie, “Przegląd Technicz-

ny” 1909, nr 24, 290–292.

[12] Sprawozdanie zarządu Towarzystwa opieki nad zabytkami prze-

szłości 1911, Wł. Łazarski, Warszawa 1912.

[13] Ustawa Towarzystwa Opieki nad Zabytkami Przeszłości, Warszawa

1907, oai:mbc.cyfrowemazowsze.pl:35168.

[14]

Lisiecki J., Ś.P. Konstanty Wojciechowski, “Architekt” 1911, nr 1, 10–11.

[15] Lisiecki J., Dom Baryczków na Starem Mieście, “Przegląd Tech-

niczny” 1911, nr 47, 610–612.

[16]

Lalewicz M., Lisiecki J., Wydział Konserwatorski Towarzystwa Opie 

ki nad Zabytkami Przeszłości. Okres 1920–1930, “Biuletyn Histo rji

ztuki i Kultury” 1932, nr 1, 45–52.

[17] Sprawozdanie Koła Architektów, “Przegląd Techniczny” 1919,

nr 13–16, 66.

[18] Lisiecki J., Rok 1920, Warszawa 1944 [manuscript in: S. Lisiecki

archives].

[19] Ministerstwo Robót Publicznych, Relacji delegata Ministerstwa

J. Lisieckiego, [manuscript in: Archiwum Akt Nowych, sygn.

2/8/0/3.1/III 5707.19].

[20] Towarzystwo Opieki Nad Zabytkami Przeszłości, “Architektura

i Budownictwo” 1925, nr 3, 40.

[21] Zbiór Korotyńskich [manuscript in: Archiwum Państwowe w War-

szawie, sygn. 72/201/0/17/367].

[22] Dwudziestopięciolecie działalności Towarzystwa Opieki nad Za-

bytkami Przeszłości w Warszawie. 1906–1932, “Biuletyn Historji

Sztuki i Kultury” 1933, nr 4, 241–260.

[23] Sprawozdanie Towarzystwa Opieki nad Zabytkami Przeszłości za

rok 1934, “Biuletyn Historji Sztuki i Kultury” 1935, nr 4, 392–398.

[24] Towarzystwo Opieki nad Zabytkami Przeszłości w Warszawie [ma-

nuscript in: Archiwum Akt Nowych, sygn. 2/1881/0/-/1].

[25] Budowa domów dla urzędników państwowych w województwach

wschodnich, Ministerstwo Robót Publicznych, Warszawa 1925.

[26] Budowa pomieszczeń dla Korpusu Ochrony Pogranicza i domów

dla urzędników państwowych w województwach wschodnich, z. 2,

Ministerstwo Robót Publicznych, Warszawa 1925.

[27] A.S.B. [Szyszko-Bohusz A.], Kronika, “Architekt” 1925, nr 2.

[28] Rutkowski S., Domy dla urzędników i pomieszczenia dla Korpusu

Ochrony Pogranicza w województwach wschodnich, “Sztuki Pięk-

ne” 1925/1926, nr 3, 132–133.

[29]

Korpus Poleski [jednodniówka], W. Wierzbicki, B. Skarżyński, J. Wa sz -

czuk (red.), D.O.K IX [Dowództwo Okręgu Korpusu Nr IX], Brześć 1928.

[30] Zgliński M., Kościół garnizonowy p.w. Św. Kazimierza Królewicza

w Brześciu, [in:] M. Zgliński (red.), Kościoły i klasztory rzymsko-

katolickie województwa brzeskolitewskiego, t. 1, Międzynarodowe

Centrum Kultury, Kraków 2013, 106–119.

[31]

Zgliński M., Zarys dziejów i urbanistyki Brześcia, [in:] M. Zgliński (red.),

Kościoły i klasztory rzymskokatolickie województwa brzesko litew skie go, t. 1,

Międzynarodowe Centrum Kultury, Kraków 2013, 17–68.

[32] Domy mieszkalne Funduszu Kwaterunku Wojskowego. Sprawozda-

nie 1927–1930, Fundusz Kwaterunku Wojskowego, Warszawa 1930.

[33] Domy mieszkalne Funduszu Kwaterunku Wojskowego. Sprawozda-

nie 1930–1933, Fundusz Kwaterunku Wojskowego, Warszawa 1934.

[34] Lisiecki J., Koszary, stajnie, ujeżdżalnie i budynki gospodarcze,

“Architektura i Budownictwo” 1933, nr 10–12, 368–378.

[35] Raniecki A., Dział mieszkaniowy wystawy “Mieszkanie i Miasto”,

“Architektura i Budownictwo” 1926, nr 6, 35.

References

Streszczenie

Julian Lisiecki (1881–1945) – architekt i konserwator

W artykule zaprezentowano całokształt twórczej działalności Juliana Lisieckiego, absolwenta Wydziału Architektury Politechniki w Karlsruhe,

oddanego dziełu ochrony i odbudowy narodowego dziedzictwa członka Towarzystwa Opieki nad Zabytkami Przeszłości, architekta zaangażowanego

w projektowanie państwowych inwestycji budowlanych II Rzeczpospolitej. Tekst powstał na podstawie materiałów archiwalnych, udostępnionych

autorce pamiętników architekta oraz wnikliwego studium branżowych czasopism z okresu aktywności zawodowej Juliana Lisieckiego. W tekście

zarysowano wszystkie rodzaje działalności architekta – począwszy od realizacji projektowych i konserwatorskich, poprzez aktywność publicystyczną,

po zaangażowanie w stowarzyszeniach zawodowych, udział w konkursach oraz służbę w Ministerstwie Robót Publicznych oraz Spraw Wojskowych

– pomijając szczegółową analizę poszczególnych prac.

Słowa kluczowe: Julian Lisiecki, Towarzystwo Opieki nad Zabytkami Przeszłości, II Rzeczpospolita, Kresy Wschodnie

mentions conrm Lisiecki’s multifaceted involvement in

the elds of design, conservation and active participation

in professional associations (Architects’ Group, SPMP)

and his work on their boards. At the same time, archival

documents, publications and reports of the relevant entities

testify to Lisiecki’s state service in the Ministry of Public

Works and the Construction Department of the Ministry of

Military Aairs within the framework of his profession-re-

lated competences.

Translated by

Katarzyna BednarskaAdamowicz

Acknowledgement

The research was carried out at the Bialystok University of Technology

as part of research project No. WZ/WAIA/2/2023 nanced by a grant

from the Minister of Education and Science.