Zygmunt Gorgolewski

Who was Zygmunt Gorgolewski?

Zygmunt Gorgolewski was a Polish architect, renowned for his construction of the Grand Theatre in Lwów.

Gorgolewski was born in Solec, Province of Posen, Kingdom of Prussia. Between 1866 and 1871 he studied in Berlin in the Royal Academy of Construction. During his studies, Gorgolewski also supervised the construction of Hanover Train Station in Berlin. After graduating, for six years he worked as an assistant in his alma mater. After that he became an advisor at the German Ministry of Public Works, official royal palace architect and architecture inspector in Halle. Gorgolewski was one of the most notable supporters of historicism in architecture in the Kingdom of Prussia and then the German Empire.

Among his projects were two versions of the future Reichstag building, which he proposed in 1872 and then in 1882. His projects were among merely 20 chosen by the committee out of more than 100. However, in the end his ideas for these projects were refused. At the same time, Gorgolewski was awarded with the construction of Kaiser Wilhelm's Bridge. Other, more successful, projects include the plans of refurbishment of royal palaces in Berlin and Kiel, expansion of University Hospitals in Halle and Bonn, expansion of Bad Oeynhausen spa in Westphalia. In addition, he was the main architect of the Protestant cathedral in Berlin, Belle Vue palace, courthouses in Opole and Olsztyn, as well as prisons in Świdnica and Chorzów.