NEW LINEN SPINNING PLANT IN ŻYRARDÓW
The pride and business card of Żyrardów
New Linen Spinning Plant in Żyrardów, established in 1913, was one of the most modern Linen Works and one of the first buildings in the world made of reinforced concrete. It is a historic post-factory building in a three-nave layout with a representative central staircase and two outer staircases.
At the beginning of the 20th century, it was the largest building in the city, a symbol, pride and showpiece of Żyrardów. The building happily survived both world wars, although during World War I it was miraculously not blown up by the retreating Russians.
Linen production continued here, with minor breaks (the interwar period and World War II), until the end of the 1990s.
The only urban complex in Europe
In 1900, at the World Exposition in Paris, Żyrardów was presented as a model city. Initially, a factory settlement from the second half of the 19th century was given as an example of a model city – garden, with a clear division into the factory and residential parts. Factories and the surrounding public utility buildings and residential houses form a unique urban organism. It is the only one in Europe, fully preserved urban complex of this type from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The entire settlement with an area of 70 hectares and over 170 buildings was entered on the list of monuments.
City - garden
The city of Żyrardów owes its name to Filip de Girard, the first director of the Linen Factory, which from its inception was the heart of the city with a population of 40,000. Several thousand spindles were working in the building, which forced innovative technical solutions. The entire structure of the New Spinning Plant was loaded with earth on the roof, and then plants were planted. The roof garden was very impressive and has been immortalized many times in the drawings and photographs of the city.
Noteworthy is also a large fire reservoir located on the top floor, which, when supplied with water from the nearby Pisi River, was supposed to flood the next floors of the building in the event of a fire.
Linen from Żyrardów known all over the world
The new Spinning Plant played the most important functions in Żyrardów. As the main employer, she employed a total of over 5,000. employees. Thanks to the attitudes of the factory owners, Karol August Dittrich and Karol Teodor Hielle, the factory employees were provided with extraordinary social care for those times. The workers employed in the factory were provided with flats, an orphanage, a factory hospital, a laundry, schools and churches of two denominations. The Linen Factory was also the organizer and sponsor of social, cultural and recreational life. During this period, Żyrardów was a large industrial center, known in the country and abroad.
Revitalization
In 2004, the local government developed the Local Revitalization Program for 2004-2020. It was the first revitalization program in Mazovia. Its goal was a comprehensive renovation of the central area of the city with an area of 180 ha, which is 12% of the entire area of Żyrardów. This area consists of a factory settlement, a post-industrial area, a degraded residential area and multi-family housing estates. In the years 2004–2006, the local government obtained over PLN 10 million in co-financing from European Union funds for 10 projects. Three schools were renovated, two streets were rebuilt, and the number of cameras monitoring the city was increased. The city park was revitalized, which not only became a place for cultural and musical meetings, but also a showcase of Żyrardów. The process of revitalizing the historic city center, consistently implemented by the city council and private investors, makes Żyrardów develop, become more beautiful and transform it into an even more attractive investment and tourist center.
Penthouse de Girarda
Work in the building of the New Spinning House began in 2007. The former Linen Factory was transformed into exclusive residential lofts. According to the idea, the whole thing was to be restored, keeping the details from the beginning of the 20th century. In addition, a superstructure was created – two floors – intended for huge penthouses.
Each staircase has a mural depicting work in the New Spinning House. Next to it, there are names of individual departments of former factories, e.g. the combing room or the reeling room. The passage through the corridor to individual apartments is opened by the original old fire gates. There are also original bricks – supplemented with new aggregate and the remains of spinning machines that are arranged along the building.