Former Substation

The building was constructed in 1873. It was designed by architect Kepler for Johannes Quistorp’s company. It was built with the intention of reselling it to a new owner. The buyer turned out to be restaurateur Paul Hufer, after whom the plot with the villa was soon inherited by his widow. She decided to sell the property in exchange for a substantial sum. In 1896, the Electrification Works took possession of the lot and the buildings. Initially, they were engaged in the generation of electricity. Starting in 1913, they began converting alternating current to direct current, supplying power to the Łękno district. Before that could happen, however, the building had to undergo a complete renovation to adapt it to the needs of a power substation. The architectural design for the renovation was created by Georg Valentin. At that time, earthwork and carpentry were carried out, a steel structure was erected, and the interiors were appropriately arranged. In the 1930s, a battery hall and a residential annex were added to the facade. After the war, the building served as a transformer station for some time. At the beginning of the new millennium, the editorial office of the newspaper “Kontakt” was based here. To make the building fully functional, another renovation was carried out at that time. The building was added to the list of historic monuments in 2006. Since 2009, the site has been abandoned, as the editorial office moved to a new location and is currently situated at 53 Mickiewicza Street.