DOI issue:
Nr. 2
DOI article:Artykuły
DOI article:Ruszczyk, Grażyna: Architektoniczne inspiracje Józefa Stefana Szalaya*
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.71008#0369
Architektoniczne inspiracje Józefa Stefana Szalaya
363
Architectural Inspirations of Józef Stefan Szalay
Szczawnica, first mentioned in 1413, became
a popular location in the 19th century thanks to its
medicinal water allowing for the formation of a spa
beginning as of 1811. Having become the owners of
the Szczawnica springs and estate in 1828, Józefa
and Stefan Szalay carried out a number of projects.
However, Szczawnica owes the true flourishing to
the endeavours of their son Józef Stefan Szalay who
on becoming the head of the Clinical Centre, made
several study trips to foreign resorts, e.g. Salzbrum
(Szczawno Zdrój), following which he introduced
the observed facilities in his own estate. Having
commissioned chemical analyses of the waters, he
employed a spa doctor, and established contacts with
specialists in balneology. His routine also included
sending information on Szczawnica to the Galician,
Hungarian, and German press; moreover, he wrote a
guide to Szczawnica and published a cycle of his
own drawings of the Spa and the local landscape. He
would encourage specialists to publish works on the
healing properties of the Szczawnica waters and
diseases they could be used to cure.
At the same time, Józef Stefan Szalay was an
active developer. He raised over 30 buildings, of
which many have been preserved. He himself was
the author of Szczawnica Górna's spatial layout. In
front ofthe main springs, i.e. Stefan and Józefina, he
located a spacious square surrounded with the major,
most sumptuous Centre's buildings: "Szwajcarka"
(before 1852) with a walking gallery (1857-58),
"Holenderka" (1855), the "Nad Zdrojami" House
(1863), "Pod Bogarodzicą" House (1861-62), the
"Palace" with a clock tower (1864-65), and the
Centre's Office (1864), also with a walking gallery
(1864-65).
The architecture of the majority of the houses
echoes traditional Alpine structures, while the
"Palace" alludes to a North Italian Renaissance villa.
The complex boasts high architectural qualities,
however its authors remain unknown. Szalay must
have contributed to the designing. He authored the
spa's chapel, which is confirmed in archival records;
furthermore, he may have been the designer of the
"Nad Zdrojami" House, this recorded by the author
of a reportage from Szczawnica published in
"Tygodniki Ilustrowany" in 1864.
Focused on the development of his Centre, Szalay
closely followed architectural publications, this
visible in the similarities that can be noticed between
some ofthe Szczawnica houses and lithograph copies
of designs and drawings of the already existing
structures printed in the periodical "Architektonisches
Skizzenbuch" published in 1852-86 by Berlin's Ernst
& Korn Company.
The faęade of "Holenderka" was modelled on
the gable elevation of the Swiss house designed by
the Prussian architect Ludwig Persius in 1839 for the
Sanssouci Park in Potsdam, published in "Archi-
tektonisches Skizzenbuch" in 1853. Both elevations
being two-storeyed, contained a high brick ground
floor with the first storey in framing construction.
The central part ofthe first floor elevation was filled
with a loggia featuring an openwork balustrade, with
the remaining walls enlivened with wooden criss-
crossing structural elements. Over the walls of both
houses a gable roof was raised, with the gable eaves
ornamented with openwork decoration inserted
within triangular spaces.
The „Holenderka" faęade did not faithfully copy
that of the Swiss Sanssouci house. There were dif-
ferences between the elevations, first of all in the roof
proportion (with the Szczawnica one higher), in the
number of openings, and in the openwork decoration
pattern.
More analogies can be found between the "Pod
Bogarodzicą" House and the Swiss-type villa designed
for Zobten (Sobótka), a locality in Silesia, by another
Prussian architect Friedrich August Stuler for an
unknown investor. Also included in the above-
mentioned magazine, its design was published in
1853. Both buildings had a similar design ofthe brick
ground floor and wooden first floor. Their walls were
surrounded by a gallery along the four sides to which
stairs placed at the longer elevation led. The ar-
rangement of entries and similarly shaped windows of
corresponding divisions and decoration was alike.
"Bogarodzica" differed from its prototype first of all
with a high basement with a terrace in front of the
second-storey rooms, lack of interior stairs on the
ground floor, and a loggia in the attic introduced
instead of a balcony, as well as the lack of a semi-
circular terrace in front of the entrance in the longer
elevation.
In other buildings concentrated around the
Szczawnica square, certain motifs reminding of
various ideas contained in "Architektonisches
Skizzenbuch" can be traced, these, however, not as
striking as in the case of "Holenderka" and the "Pod
Bogarodzicą" House. The materials contained in the
magazine might have at most inspired the anonymous
designer or designers ofthe Szczawnica structures.
The resemblance that the two above houses bear
to the facilities presented in "Architektonisches
Skizzenbuch" proves that Szalay would pick definite
363
Architectural Inspirations of Józef Stefan Szalay
Szczawnica, first mentioned in 1413, became
a popular location in the 19th century thanks to its
medicinal water allowing for the formation of a spa
beginning as of 1811. Having become the owners of
the Szczawnica springs and estate in 1828, Józefa
and Stefan Szalay carried out a number of projects.
However, Szczawnica owes the true flourishing to
the endeavours of their son Józef Stefan Szalay who
on becoming the head of the Clinical Centre, made
several study trips to foreign resorts, e.g. Salzbrum
(Szczawno Zdrój), following which he introduced
the observed facilities in his own estate. Having
commissioned chemical analyses of the waters, he
employed a spa doctor, and established contacts with
specialists in balneology. His routine also included
sending information on Szczawnica to the Galician,
Hungarian, and German press; moreover, he wrote a
guide to Szczawnica and published a cycle of his
own drawings of the Spa and the local landscape. He
would encourage specialists to publish works on the
healing properties of the Szczawnica waters and
diseases they could be used to cure.
At the same time, Józef Stefan Szalay was an
active developer. He raised over 30 buildings, of
which many have been preserved. He himself was
the author of Szczawnica Górna's spatial layout. In
front ofthe main springs, i.e. Stefan and Józefina, he
located a spacious square surrounded with the major,
most sumptuous Centre's buildings: "Szwajcarka"
(before 1852) with a walking gallery (1857-58),
"Holenderka" (1855), the "Nad Zdrojami" House
(1863), "Pod Bogarodzicą" House (1861-62), the
"Palace" with a clock tower (1864-65), and the
Centre's Office (1864), also with a walking gallery
(1864-65).
The architecture of the majority of the houses
echoes traditional Alpine structures, while the
"Palace" alludes to a North Italian Renaissance villa.
The complex boasts high architectural qualities,
however its authors remain unknown. Szalay must
have contributed to the designing. He authored the
spa's chapel, which is confirmed in archival records;
furthermore, he may have been the designer of the
"Nad Zdrojami" House, this recorded by the author
of a reportage from Szczawnica published in
"Tygodniki Ilustrowany" in 1864.
Focused on the development of his Centre, Szalay
closely followed architectural publications, this
visible in the similarities that can be noticed between
some ofthe Szczawnica houses and lithograph copies
of designs and drawings of the already existing
structures printed in the periodical "Architektonisches
Skizzenbuch" published in 1852-86 by Berlin's Ernst
& Korn Company.
The faęade of "Holenderka" was modelled on
the gable elevation of the Swiss house designed by
the Prussian architect Ludwig Persius in 1839 for the
Sanssouci Park in Potsdam, published in "Archi-
tektonisches Skizzenbuch" in 1853. Both elevations
being two-storeyed, contained a high brick ground
floor with the first storey in framing construction.
The central part ofthe first floor elevation was filled
with a loggia featuring an openwork balustrade, with
the remaining walls enlivened with wooden criss-
crossing structural elements. Over the walls of both
houses a gable roof was raised, with the gable eaves
ornamented with openwork decoration inserted
within triangular spaces.
The „Holenderka" faęade did not faithfully copy
that of the Swiss Sanssouci house. There were dif-
ferences between the elevations, first of all in the roof
proportion (with the Szczawnica one higher), in the
number of openings, and in the openwork decoration
pattern.
More analogies can be found between the "Pod
Bogarodzicą" House and the Swiss-type villa designed
for Zobten (Sobótka), a locality in Silesia, by another
Prussian architect Friedrich August Stuler for an
unknown investor. Also included in the above-
mentioned magazine, its design was published in
1853. Both buildings had a similar design ofthe brick
ground floor and wooden first floor. Their walls were
surrounded by a gallery along the four sides to which
stairs placed at the longer elevation led. The ar-
rangement of entries and similarly shaped windows of
corresponding divisions and decoration was alike.
"Bogarodzica" differed from its prototype first of all
with a high basement with a terrace in front of the
second-storey rooms, lack of interior stairs on the
ground floor, and a loggia in the attic introduced
instead of a balcony, as well as the lack of a semi-
circular terrace in front of the entrance in the longer
elevation.
In other buildings concentrated around the
Szczawnica square, certain motifs reminding of
various ideas contained in "Architektonisches
Skizzenbuch" can be traced, these, however, not as
striking as in the case of "Holenderka" and the "Pod
Bogarodzicą" House. The materials contained in the
magazine might have at most inspired the anonymous
designer or designers ofthe Szczawnica structures.
The resemblance that the two above houses bear
to the facilities presented in "Architektonisches
Skizzenbuch" proves that Szalay would pick definite