Ogrodowa Street

Ogrodowa Street is a street in the Wola district of Warsaw, Poland.

History

Ogrodowa Street, originally a road of the Klucznikowska plot, was laid out after 1765. Named in 1770, it derives its name from the numerous gardens that once lined the area. The street originally extended from Solna Street westward to the city's ramparts. In 1784, the street was home to 57 wooden houses and manors, five brick houses, and two breweries. Its rapid development was partly due to its proximity to, a major western exit route from the city.
By the late 18th century, the street was paved. In 1806, a large tannery owned by Jan Temler was established at the corner of Ogrodowa and streets, later relocated to Okopowa Street in 1858.
In 1842, a fire destroyed the buildings on 16 plots along the street. Between the 1850s and 1860s, the first multi-story tenements began to appear. In 1867, the large marketplace was established at the intersection with Okopowa Street. By the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the last gardens, which had inspired the street's name, were replaced by buildings. In 1896, a private medical facility established by Maria Szlenkier at No. 17 marked the beginning of the Szlenkier family's philanthropic activities. In the early 20th century and during the interwar period, the street hosted numerous small and medium-sized industrial enterprises. At No. 62, warehouses and stables for the Węgiełek & Co. transport and forwarding company were built, while its owner constructed a preserved tenement with annexes at No. 65. The street was paved with fieldstones at the time, and in the 1930s, the section between Solna and Biała streets was asphalted.
Between 1935 and 1939, a Municipal Court Building, designed by Bohdan Pniewski, was constructed on the plot between and Ogrodowa Street. As it also housed the District Court and Labor Court, it was commonly referred to as the "courts building".
Before 1939, Ogrodowa was one of the most densely built-up and populated streets in this part of the city. A significant proportion of its residents were Jews, who owned about half of the street's buildings. The street's buildings were not damaged during the defence of Warsaw in September 1939.
In November 1940, most of Ogrodowa Street, except for the section west of and a fragment near the courts building and Biała Street, was included in the Warsaw Ghetto established by the German authorities. In December 1941, the section between Wronia and was excluded from the ghetto. The remaining portion was fully removed from the ghetto and incorporated into the "Aryan" part of the city in August 1942, during the Grossaktion Warsaw. From spring to September 1942, the Jewish Ghetto Police was headquartered at No. 17. Throughout the ghetto's existence, the courts building retained its primary function, serving as an enclave within the ghetto, accessible to Jews from Leszno Street and to residents of the "Aryan" part of Warsaw via Biała Street, which was excluded from the ghetto.
On 7 August 1944, during the Warsaw Uprising, German forces advancing toward the Saxon Garden captured the Ogrodowa Street area, forcing insurgents led by, codenamed Sosna, to retreat from the courts building. The Germans massacred some residents and set fire to the street's buildings.
After the war, the area around Ogrodowa Street was nicknamed the Wild West. Most damaged 19th-century tenements and industrial structures were demolished. The Mirów estate, designed by Tadeusz Kossak, was built between 1949 and 1960, featuring five-story buildings between, Świerczewski Avenue, Żelazna Street, Chłodna Street, and. The street was widened between Marchlewski Avenue and Żelazna Street.
A section of the original fieldstone paving has been preserved in front of No. 56. On the western section, a strip of cobblestone is framed by paving stones on both sides.
In September 2021, a mural by Bruno Neuhamer dedicated to Jan Lityński was unveiled on the wall of No. 67.