7. Karl Dittrich Community Centre, so-called ‘Ludowiec’

The ‘Ludowiec’ Centre was founded by Karl Dittrich Jr., and opened in 1913. The building is an interesting example of Art Nouveau style. It housed among other things, a theater and choral societies (‘Echo’ and ‘Lira’) and now there is the cinema “Len”. After 1945 it was the Factory Community Centre and now it belongs to the town as the Community Centre.
 

8. Kantoratschule

The "Cantorschule und Madchenschule"—it was the school built by the end of the 1890s. The school master, Adolf Hauptman ran it for “40 boys”. The school was a private institution preparing clerks and office workers. It was attended mostly by managers and directors’ children of German, Austrian, Czech, Scottish and Irish origin. Nowadays it is Junior High School No 2 (former Primary School No 3).

9. The Holy Mother of Consolation Parish Church

The church was built at the beginning of the 20th century (from 1900 to 1903). It was designed by Józef Pius Dziekoński in neo-Gothic style. The church was founded, among others by Karol Dittrich, who donated for this purpose 3 billion bricks from his brickyard in Radziejowice. The church was patterned on Köln Basilica (eightfold lowered). The interior is decorated with the floral motifs of stain glass windows designed by Józef Mehoffer. Next to the church there was a vicarage built 1903.

10. The New World

The workers’ tenement district. The oldest tenements were built in 1867 in Limanowskiego Street (former Długa Street). Further development of the district followed in 1871 and then from 1880 to 1910. The houses were designated for dwelling and home weaving. In the tenement district there are the characteristic little adjacent gardens and two-storey wooden box rooms. In the tenement at 34, Narutowicza Street, there is the Museum Branch of Paweł Hulka-Laskowski, the studio of a local writer.

 

Paweł Hulka-Laskowski (1881-1946) is one of the best known figures associated with the history and culture of Żyrardów. He was an author, translator, columnist, religionist and community supporter. His memoir, “My Żyrardów”, is a book depicting everyday life in his home town at the turn of the 19th and the 20th centuries. The best recognition brought him the translation of “The Good Soldier Švejk” by Jaroslav Hašek.

11. St. Charles Boromeo Church

The church was built in neo-Gothic style in 1891 and altered in 1895. It was the first Roman Catholic Church in Żyrardów. The construction of the church was founded by Karl Dittrich Jr.

 

 

 

12. Factory Hospital

The hospital, which was built from 1892 to 1894, took pattern from the most advanced Clinical Hospital in Dresden. The building complex was erected according to the introduced then pavilion style surrounded by greenery and equipped with electric installation, central heating and sewerage. During the First World War it also hospitalized wounded soldiers, then the soldiers of the Battle of Warsaw 1920 and later Werhmacht soldiers in the 1940s.

13. Old People’s Home

In the closest neighborhood of the hospital, there was a three-storey nursing home for elderly people built in the 1880s. Nowadays it is the Elderly People Nursing Home for OAPs who need intensive medical care.

14. The Old School

The ‘Old School’ was built in 1882 in the form of neo-Gothic cross. Formerly it was the Common School No 1. Later there was a weaver school and now State Music School. There is a monument in front of the building which commemorates a scout organization “Młody Las” (Young Forest).

 

 

15. The New School

The ‘New School’ was built from 1892 to1894. Originally it was a single-storey building and then two floors were added by the design of A. Berger in 1914. Nowadays it is the Junior High School No 2 (former Primary School No 2).

16. The Resursa Club

The Club was a cultural and social institution run in an English way. It was built in the 1880s. and opened to cater entertainment for the managerial force and some local nobles. The Club was a venue for social events such as: dances, concerts, theatre shows, occasional balls and lectures. In the ballroom, there remained some colorful frescoes. The edifice was rebuilt in 1899 and then at the turn of 1905 and 1906. On the outside wall there is a plaque commemorating the first meeting of Żyrardów’s Council of Workers’ Delegates (on 19 Sep. 1918). Next to the Club there is a building that comprised a seat of the Bowling Club.

17. Wiskicka Street

It is the trade route connecting Rawa Mazowiecka with Sochaczew via Mszczonów and Wiskitki. It is also the focal point of town which divided Ż yrardów into two parts—the Westside, with the industrial zone and the Eastside, with the housing zone. In 1924 the street was renamed to 1st Maja Street and it is also the state road no 50.