The operations of building companies in Wrocław in the 2nd half of the 19th century

Bożena Grzegorczyk

doi:10.5277/arc120104

Abstract

One of the problems of Wrocław around 1850 – which in fact is rarely noticed by researchers – due to the fact that other issues are most often studied – is the issue of planned housing development and building societies closely connected with it which were established in those times. In 1840 there was an economic revival along with a population growth and decisions taken by the members of the city government at that time resulted in the construction boom. There was an increased demand for building plots whose values were still growing. It could be observed that there appeared a necessity to build not only tenement houses for rich Wroclaw inhabitants, but there was also a need to erect cheaper houses for poorer inhabitants of the town.     It is very characteristic that patterns were derived from English experiences and ‘The Society for Improving the Conditions of the Labouring Classes’ that was established in London in 1844 was presented as an example of a newly understood construction organisation. However, the English Society, similarly to the Amsterdam society called ‘Vereeniging ten Behoven der Arbeiderklasse’, conducted half-charity business, whereas in the territory of Wroclaw the business was carried out in two ways, namely, two groups of societies with different goals appeared. Societies with a definitely commercial character belonged to the first group and they were aimed at gaining building territories, dividing them into building plots and then selling them (for example, Wroclaw Construction Society – 1858, Wroclaw Construction Bank – 1871). It is worth emphasising that some societies did not only deal with selling new plots of land but they also employed architects who designed buildings, constructed them and then sold to private persons or institutions (e.g. Maciejowe Field – Construction Limited Partnership Society – 1869, Silesian Society of Real Estate Trade – 1872). The other group consisted of societies which conducted business on the basis of a cooperative, however, differently than in England or Netherlands, i.e. they were established on the initiative of persons who were united by a necessity to get a relatively cheap flat  (e.g. Wroclaw Savings and Construction Cooperative – 1868).     The activity of the abovementioned companies, which was outlined in the article, clearly demonstrates not only constant competition but also a great contribution of the discussed institutions in the process of co-creating the planned city development.