As improbable as it was Herculean, the rotation of Warsaw’s Lubomirski Palace stands out as one of the most remarkable feats of engineering seen during Poland's postwar socialist era.
Looking at it today, one would presume that the palace had been purposefully built to gaze towards the city’s Saski Gardens. It had not been. Originally facing a completely different direction, the palace found itself the subject of an ambitious move on this day, 55 years ago.
The rationale had been simple. When the decision was taken to build the vast Za Żelazną Bramą housing estate, architect (and former Minister of Defense) Marian Spychalski proposed twisting the palace around so that it would line up in parallel with the immense concrete blocks being built behind—and the Saxon Axis in front—and thereby fit the area’s new spatial arrangement.
The rationale had been simple. When the decision was taken to build the vast Za Żelazną Bramą housing estate, architect (and former Minister of Defense) Marian Spychalski proposed twisting the palace around so that it would line up in parallel with the immense concrete blocks being built behind—and the Saxon Axis in front—and thereby fit the area’s new spatial arrangement.
This somewhat unorthodox solution would also serve an ulterior purpose by obscuring views of Hala Gwardii, a historic market hall that was considered ‘unsightly’.
Yet if the reasoning behind the move was straightforward, the operation to do so was anything but. Engineer Aleksandr Mostowski was recruited to mastermind the move, and it was on his orders that the 8,000-ton palace was cut out from its foundations and lifted onto a steel-beamed truss positioned underneath.
With this done, it was then lowered onto 16 curved rail tracks fitted with 1,400 rollers.
Finally, on March 30, 1970, the signal was given to begin shifting the building using a system of hydraulic pistons.
Yet if the reasoning behind the move was straightforward, the operation to do so was anything but. Engineer Aleksandr Mostowski was recruited to mastermind the move, and it was on his orders that the 8,000-ton palace was cut out from its foundations and lifted onto a steel-beamed truss positioned underneath.
With this done, it was then lowered onto 16 curved rail tracks fitted with 1,400 rollers.
Finally, on March 30, 1970, the signal was given to begin shifting the building using a system of hydraulic pistons.
The process was painfully slow, with the three-story palace moving at a speed of around one centimeter per minute—but move it did, and 49 days later, on May 18, the building’s furthest side had traveled a distance of approximately 90 meters.
Subsequently planted on new foundations, by the end of the operation the palace had been successfully rotated by 78 degrees (or 74 degrees, depending on the source).
Although some remain critical of the move (among other things, it necessitated the demolition of the palace’s surviving pre-war outbuildings), it is commonly recognized as one of the most ambitious engineering undertakings of Poland’s socialist years.
Subsequently planted on new foundations, by the end of the operation the palace had been successfully rotated by 78 degrees (or 74 degrees, depending on the source).
Although some remain critical of the move (among other things, it necessitated the demolition of the palace’s surviving pre-war outbuildings), it is commonly recognized as one of the most ambitious engineering undertakings of Poland’s socialist years.
The Lubomirski Palace
The palace’s rotation is not the only notable moment in its history. Built in 1712 for the aristocratic Radziwiłł family, several decades later it passed into the ownership of Antoni Lubomirski, and it was on his behest that it was remodeled in a spritely Rococo style.
As time passed, this fanciful aesthetic was switched out in favor of a Neoclassical look. However, it would not be the palace’s changing face that would make it stand out, but those who used it.
Its residents would include Duchess Rozalia Lubomirska, the only Pole to be guillotined during the French Revolution.
Others to pace its halls numbered General Isidore Krasiński, a gallant military man who was part of Napoleon’s doomed march onto Moscow, as well as the Jewish financier Abraham Simon Cohen who came to purchase the palace in 1834 (not long after it had been used as a field hospital during the anti-Tsarist November Uprising).
During Cohen’s ownership, the palace was split into apartments and a Jewish prayer house was added that would function right until 1940.
By this time, though, the palace had fallen into disrepair. Bought by the city in 1938, plans to renovate it were disrupted by the onset of war. Heavily strafed by the Luftwaffe during the 1939 Siege of Warsaw, for the next few years it stood as a lumbering ruin.
Between 1947 and 1950 it was reconstructed in Neoclassical form, with subtle embellishments including a tablet on its facade honoring a 1943 grenade attack that took place nearby on a tram filled with Nazi soldiers.
The palace’s defining moment, however, would come in 1970 with its dramatic rotation.
Yet this was not the only time Warsaw waited with bated breath while an entire building was moved.
In 1962, Warsaw’s NMP church at Solidarności 80 became reportedly only the third building in the world of such size to be moved after it was hoisted onto six tracks and wheeled back by a distance of 21-meters.
The church, one of only two that had stood inside the Warsaw Ghetto, had survived the Nazi occupation but came close to demolition years later when city planners decided on widening the street in front.
By this time, though, the palace had fallen into disrepair. Bought by the city in 1938, plans to renovate it were disrupted by the onset of war. Heavily strafed by the Luftwaffe during the 1939 Siege of Warsaw, for the next few years it stood as a lumbering ruin.
Between 1947 and 1950 it was reconstructed in Neoclassical form, with subtle embellishments including a tablet on its facade honoring a 1943 grenade attack that took place nearby on a tram filled with Nazi soldiers.
The palace’s defining moment, however, would come in 1970 with its dramatic rotation.
Warsaw’s shifting structures
Yet this was not the only time Warsaw waited with bated breath while an entire building was moved.
In 1962, Warsaw’s NMP church at Solidarności 80 became reportedly only the third building in the world of such size to be moved after it was hoisted onto six tracks and wheeled back by a distance of 21-meters.
The church, one of only two that had stood inside the Warsaw Ghetto, had survived the Nazi occupation but came close to demolition years later when city planners decided on widening the street in front.
After much deliberation, it was decided to save the church so as not to offend the city’s faithful. Doing so involved a risky engineering operation that took place on the night of November 30 and saw the church’s 7,000-ton mass raised from its foundations.
The operation had been 18-months in the planning, and involved the church being manually winched back by six teams of four. Inside the church, ten telephone operators relayed reports to the engineers outside as the church was moved slowly backwards.
The operation had been 18-months in the planning, and involved the church being manually winched back by six teams of four. Inside the church, ten telephone operators relayed reports to the engineers outside as the church was moved slowly backwards.
Despite the late hour of the move, by 11.15 p.m. large crowds had descended to see if the church would hold. Reporters, too, converged on the scene with Polish Radio delivering live commentary from the scene.
To cheers and relief, the church was finally settled into its new position after three hours and 45 minutes.
To cheers and relief, the church was finally settled into its new position after three hours and 45 minutes.
The church’s move, though, had been preceded in 1961 by another far smaller structure—the year before, a historic tollhouse pavilion in the capital was moved by 10.5 meters.
More recently, in 2018, one of the prewar buildings comprising Warsaw’s former Norblin metalware factory was moved by 15-meters to allow for the construction of underground floors during the complex’s revival as a mixed-use leisure-office project.
More recently, in 2018, one of the prewar buildings comprising Warsaw’s former Norblin metalware factory was moved by 15-meters to allow for the construction of underground floors during the complex’s revival as a mixed-use leisure-office project.
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