Rebuilding Warsaw: Five Ways to See A Resurrected

05.04.2013
Rebuilding Warsaw: Five Ways to See A Resurrected City | TIME.com
TIME
Magazine
NEWSFEED
Home
U.S.
Video
LIFE
POLITICS
Fashion & Beauty
Style
TIME 100 Poll
WORLD
Food & Drink
Apps
BUSINESS
Travel
TECH
Design
HEALTH
Tech
Search TIME
SCIENCE
Top 10 of 2012
ENTERTAINMENT
STYLE
SPORTS
OPINION
Go
PHOTOS
Spring 2013
TRAVEL
Rebuilding Warsaw: Five Ways to See A Resurrected
City
By Henry Wismayer
April 04, 2013
Like
3 Comments
306
Tw eet
11
0
Share
1
Send to Kindle
MORE ON TIME
JAN BRYKCZYNSKI / MCT VIA GETTY IMAGES
Warsaw Rising survivor Jerzy Kasprzak, 79, pictured at the Warsaw Rising Museum.
Winter takes no prisoners in Warsaw. Prevailing winds tug freezing air down
from Siberia and the city shivers. Archipelagoes of ice float on the Vistula.
Email
Print
Pallid pedestrians shuffle along rimy pavements hoping that the next chunk of
Share
Comment
Women Warriors of
the Free Syrian Army
Window on Infinity:
Pictures from Space
The 2013 TIME 100
Poll
10 Worst Spring
Allergy Cities in the
U.S.
snow to shear off a tenement roof doesn’t have their name on it. It’s perhaps
no surprise then, that the city’s inhabitants celebrate the arrival of spring with
Follow @TIMEStyle
particular enthusiasm. On March 21, people throughout the Polish capital
marked the Vernal Equinox with the ritual ‘Drowning of Marzanna’, in which
the effigy of a Slavic goddess – the pagan embodiment of winter, death and all things funereal – is flung into the
local river. The symbolism holds a special resonance in Warsaw, for few cities have overcome death quite so
eloquently. Razed by the Nazis in 1944, the bricks that make up today’s Warsaw were all laid within the last 70
years. Reborn after the Second World War, in places meticulously restored, its near-annihilation spawned a
capacity for reinvention that continues to this day. Here are some of the Phoenix City’s greatest acts of resurgence.
Razed: Warsaw Rising Museum (www.1944.pl): Not only is this widely regarded to be Warsaw’s best
museum, its subject – the Polish resistance movement’s valiant but doomed attempt to retake their capital from
the Nazis in the summer of 1944 – is central to the modern city’s story. Housed in the atmospheric bowels of a
FROM OUR PARTNERS
former tramway power-station, a series of multimedia displays immerse you in the hope, fear and desperation that
lay behind this collective act of defiance. Walls brim with archive photos, films and televised eyewitness
testimonies; a printing-press reels off propaganda pamphlets; the cavernous central atrium resounds with the
thunder of exploding bombs. It’s a powerful tribute to an episode that remains a keen source of pride for
Michelle Obama Wears
White to Easter Egg Roll —
Huffington Post
Varsovians, but the outcome was defeat, and near-apocalypse. After 63 days of fighting, with the Poles finally
routed, an enraged Hitler ordered SS demolition squads to dynamite Warsaw to the ground. In a side-room of the
museum, The City of Ruins, a 3D film that flies you over a reconstruction of the resulting carnage, offers a startling
glimpse of how far Warsaw had to return.
Restored: T he Old T own: If Marzanna is the harbinger of death, then Syrenka – the Mermaid whose sword-
Bring Back the Afro — Slate
8 Style Lessons from 'Beverly Hills 90210'
Huffington Post
wielding bronze statue presides over Market Square – is the symbol of Warsaw’s rebirth. As the tourist cafes
style.time.com/2013/04/04/rebuilding-warsaw-five-ways-to-see-a-resurrected-city/?iid=sty-main-lead
1/3
05.04.2013
Rebuilding Warsaw: Five Ways to See A Resurrected City | TIME.com
encircling her fountain roll out the tables to signal the start of spring, it takes some effort to remember that in
1945, when Russian tanks trundled into this square, there was nothing to liberate but a desert of rubble. Everything
Most Popular
FROM STYLE & DESIGN
you see of Warsaw’s World Heritage-listed Old Town today, from the narrow burgher houses to the red-brick
buttresses of the Barbakan, was reconstituted in the decades to follow, its architecture based on old town plans and
18t h century paintings by Bernardo Bellotto who shared his Uncle Canaletto’s talent for faithful rendering. Several
1
Rebuilding Warsaw: Five Ways to See A
2
Julia Roberts’s Pretty Woman Dress is Back, and
3
Angelina Jolie’s Jewelry Line to Fund Schools
other Polish towns donated millions of bricks salvaged from their own devastated buildings to aid the
reconstruction. For a street-level view of what they had to work with, History Meeting House (www.dsh.waw.pl)
is currently displaying a unique portfolio of color photos depicting post-war Warsaw’s ravaged streets as they were
in 1947.
Reused: Warsaw Museum of Modern Art (www.artmuseum.pl): Away from the Old Town, the urgent
need for housing after the war coupled with the prevailing brutalist aesthetic left less room for architectural
sensitivity – in a 2009 Tripadvisor poll, Warsaw was voted the ugliest city in Europe. However, in keeping with the
4
Resurrected City
It’s Already Sold Out
A Little Place I Know: 24 of the World’s Best-Kept
Secrets
city’s flair for resilience, many of its more redeemable communist-era buildings have been spruced up and
redefined. Among the most exciting examples of reclamation is the Warsaw Museum of Modern Art. Crouched
beneath the skyscrapers of the booming business district, the modernist Emilia Building began life as a state-owned
5
Keira Knightley’s Chanel Ad ‘Too Sexy’ for Kids
furniture emporium but was saved from the developer’s wrecking-ball when the museum took up temporary
residence last September. Although the building’s future remains the subject of legal wrangling, for now its two
open-planned floors make for a light and versatile gallery space. The museum is currently hosting Kinomuzeum, a
festival of art cinema, but the year’s marquee event kicks off on May 17 with the opening of its first grand
exhibition, featuring the best of contemporary Polish and international art.
Revitalized: Praga: Once synonymous with poverty and urban decay, Praga was one of the few areas to survive
the Nazi demolitions. When Roman Polanski recreated wartime Warsaw for The Pianist, it was to the east side of
the Vistula that he aimed his lens. But the Oscar-winning filmmaker is not the only creative soul to have sought
inspiration here over the last decade. Like a more dilapidated version of London’s Shoreditch or East Berlin,
Praga’s combination of cheap rents and defunct industrial space has helped to transform it into a hub of
progressive culture and bohemian nightlife. Daytime highlights include the artists’ enclave around Studio Melon
FROM TIME.COM
1
The 2013 TIME 100 Poll
2
My First Twelve Questions About Facebook Home
3
Roger Ebert: Farewell to a Film Legend and Friend
4
Thumbs Up for Roger Ebert
5
Trying to Plumb the North Korean Mindset
(www.studiomelon.pl) and the Neon Museum (www.neonmuzeum.org), a wonderful repository of electric
signage. Bars and clubs can often be found clustered around shared, graffiti-daubed courtyards. Perennial
favorites include Fabryka Trzciny (www.fabrykatrzciny.pl), Sklad Butelek (www.skladbutelek.pl) and W Oparach
Absurdu (www.oparyabsurdu.pl).
CONNECT WITH TIME
Rising: Downtown: Take the elevator up to the 30t h floor viewing balcony of the monolithic Palace of Culture
Follow @TIME
Like
4.4M follow ers
751k
and Science (http://www.pkin.pl) and you’ll be welcomed by sprawling panoramas of Warsaw’s recession-defying
boom: a crop of high-rise office blocks and hotels now dominate the skyline; the glass hemispheres of the Golden
TIME on
Follow
Terraces shopping center glow with consumer fervor; gaping earthworks hint that a second metro line is on the
way. The Palace – Stalin’s “gift” to Warsaw – seems an ever more anachronistic carbuncle, increasingly under
assault from the capitalist totems in its midst. Yet a walk through all this modernity reveals hidden pasts, for this
Sign up for TIME's style
newsletter
area was once the Warsaw Ghetto, where the city’s Jews were corralled during the Second World War. Tucked
Your Email
away off ulica Zlota, the last remnants of the ghetto wall now crumble in the shadow of Zlota 44, a 54-storey
Go
residential tower designed by the Ground-Zero architect Daniel Libeskind, a Polish-American Jew. Few sights
provide a more poignant reflection on the city’s transformation, or better testify to the miracle of its recovery.
by Taboola
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
CITY GUIDES
5 Most Overrated Exercises
You Can Stop Doing
Tour Mel Gibson's Malibu
Home for Sale
Unveiled: Designs For NYC
AIDS Memorial
Daily Health Pos t
Front Door
PR New s w ire
What Does Your Sleeping
Position Say About You - The
Daily Orbit
Red Orbit
WE RECOMMEND
▶
Google’s Greatest April Fools’ Hoax Ever (Hint: It
Wasn’t a Hoax)
▶
Roger Ebert: His Dissenting Opinions
▶
Huawei: The Chinese Company That Scares
Washington
▶
Oscars Fashion: The 18 Best and Worst Women Over
40
▶
FROM AROUND THE WEB
▶
Introducing the all new 2014 Lexus IS
▶
iPhone 5S photos leaked, reveals rear housing
▶
Relocating to Dubai? What You Need to Know (HSBC
(Lexus Global)
(uSwitch)
Expat Explorer)
▶
Chennai: Warp and Weft (Global Traveler Magazine)
▶
Show Presents Art and Antiques from Yesteryear and
Today (Robb Report – Your Global Luxury Resource)
Keira Knightley’s Chanel Ad ‘Too Sexy’ for Kids
Recommended by Outbrain [?]
style.time.com/2013/04/04/rebuilding-warsaw-five-ways-to-see-a-resurrected-city/?iid=sty-main-lead
An insider's guide to the essential city — where
to sleep, eat and play. Select a city below:
NORTH AMERICA
Boston
Chicago
Detroit
Las Vegas
Los Angeles
Miami
New York City
Portland
San Francisco
Washington
EUROPE
MIDDLE EAST
Dubai
Tel Aviv
ASIA
Bangkok
Beijing
Hong Kong
Kuala Lumpur
Kyoto
Manila
New Delhi
2/3
05.04.2013
Rebuilding Warsaw: Five Ways to See A Resurrected City | TIME.com
Athens
London
Moscow
Paris
Prague
Rome
Stockholm
3 Comments
52 people listening
Sign in
Seoul
Shanghai
Singapore
Tokyo
AUSTRALIA AND
OCEANIA
Sydney
AFRICA
LATIN AMERICA AND
CARIBBEAN
Nairobi
+Follow Conversation
Post comment as...
Lima
Newest | Oldest | Top Comments
Olga Mecking
4 hours ago
from Facebook
SEARCH FOR JOBS
Thank you for featuring my hometown! I love Warsaw and I'm happy to see it receive positive press! Thank you!
Field Claims Representative - Property -...
Like
Keith A. West from Facebook
Reply
Zurich Insurance Group - United States
6 hours ago
Field Claims Representative - Property -...
Farmers Insurance Group - Bremerton, WA
Very interesting....
Like
msrs27
Retail Advertising Specialist
Reply
Unified Grocers - California
15 hours ago
This is a wonderful article about my favorite city in the world. I'm not Polish but I studied abroad there my junior
year in college and I loved it so much I'm moving back there this year! :) It's so underrated but the city really
thrives with life and the people there are so proud of their heritage. My apartment was a relatively newly
renovated flat in an old communist building just steps from the metro and opposite the School of Economics,
which has both old and modern buildings on its "campus." The contrast between old and new and the history all
around is just enchanting, I can't recommend visiting it enough!
Associate (Part-time) Faculty Pool
Mohave Community College - Arizona
Hourly Customer Service Representative...
Texas Department of Public... - Dallas County, TX
What
Like
Where
Title, Keywords
Reply
City, State, or Zip
Find Jobs
Sponsored Links
GW Museum Studies Online
Museum Collections Management and Care online graduate certificate
ccas.gw u.edu/museum
Optional Tours Gdansk
Malbork Castle, Stutthof Museum Westerplatte, Solidarity, Szymbark
EnjoyGdansk.com/tours
Summer Camp in Israel
Visit Israel, make new friends. Hurry now , last spots available
w w w .eCamp4u.com
iPad
NewsFeed
U.S.
iPhone
Politics
World
Android
Business
© 2013 Time Inc. All rights reserved
Subscribe
Contact Us
Tech
Health
Privacy Policy
Terms of Use
TIME TV
Media Kit
Science
Populist
Entertainment
Your California Privacy Rights
RSS
Reprints & Permissions
Site Map
Help
Newsletter
Photos
Mobile
Ad Choices
The Page
Videos
Lists
Magazine
TIME For Kids
Custom Content
Powered by WordPress.com VIP
our partners
style.time.com/2013/04/04/rebuilding-warsaw-five-ways-to-see-a-resurrected-city/?iid=sty-main-lead
3/3