Bust of Stefan Żeromski

Technique: stone sculpture

Object: Bust of Stefan Żeromski (1864–1925), a writer and columnist, author of the novel Wiatr od morza (‘Wind from the sea’, 1922), which cultivated the Polish origins of Pomerania. The plinth features an inscription reading “Stefan Żeromski 1925–1965” (possibly the 40^th anniversary of the writer’s death).

Place: Placed in front of the entrance facade to the building of the former Maritime Culture Centre. The Socialist Realist building of the Nowy Port Culture Centre (currently housing the University of Security and other institutions) was erected in Marynarki Polskiej Street, as if anticipating access to the “gate” of buildings introducing Marynarki Polskiej Street into the regular street grid of the Nowy Port district. The building’s façade faces the architecturally unformed urban interior of Marynarki Polskiej Street, while its rear elevation faces Ks. Mariana Góreckiego Street, the interior of which is formed by the wall around the Maritime Culture Centre and the cemetery fence on the other side of the street. There are public art objects in front of the building’s façade. The former Maritime Culture Centre was officially opened on 07 November 1954, on the 37^th anniversary of the end of the October Revolution. The building was owned by the port of Gdańsk and the Culture Centre acted as a meeting place for port workers and their families – it housed a theatre, a cinema, a café and a reading room. It was the cultural centre of Nowy Port: a venue where foreign language courses, meetings, music and dance events were organized, and where it was also possible to pursue artistic interests in photography, modelling, shipbuilding and dancing for children. In the 1990s, the owner (Port of Gdańsk Authority S.A.) sold the building, which thus ceased to perform its original functions. Currently, it houses, among others, the University of Security and the Portowiec gym. The residents of Nowy Port want to reinstate the original function of the building and have been striving to do so since 1992 as the Maritime Culture Centre Association.

Information about the author: –

Condition of the object: medium

Owner/guardian: University of Security (WSB)

Author of the entry: inventory made by the Gdańsk University of Technology team, description of the place: Jacek Dominiczak, additional information: Małgorzata Paszylka-Glaza