Anton Hoffmann

Anton Hoffmann was an important designer and builder in Prussian-time Bydgoszcz during the entire second half of the 19th century. He witnessed the transformation of Bydgoszcz, creating numerous residential buildings throughout the city. His activity became, in a sense, an indicator of Bydgoszcz building traditions, bridging old neo classicist masters and their successors, inspired by Historicism and Art Nouveau.

Life Anton's family Anton Hoffmann came from Greater Poland. He was born at the beginning of the 1820s in Chodzież (then Kolmar in Posen). He was the first-born son of Anton Hoffmann, a translator, and Johanna née Braun. His year of birth raises doubts, but one assumes Anton's most reliable date of birth is 24 May 1823. He spent the first several years of his life in his hometown of Chodzież, probably graduating from elementary school here. Then, between 1835 and 1837, the Hoffmanns moved to Łobżenica, but after a few years they moved to Bydgoszcz. In December 1846 they certainly lived in the city, in a rented house or, most likely, their own, marked Nr. 377, at today's Father Ignacy Skorupka street. The exact date of their arrival in the city is known by the registration book where is recorded the birth of Anton's five younger siblings (i.e. between 1840 and 1846

Architect career Unlike most construction masters at the time, Anton never built his own home nor lived in a property he owned: he rented the apartments in which he lived and worked. With the help of address books, one can consequently work out the different houses he lived in with his family: 52 Feldstrasse (today's Jackowskiego Street) in 1855; 12 Bahnhofstrasse (29 Dworcowa Street) in 1858;

38 Friedrichstrasse (4 Długa street), in 1864; 12 Neue Pfarrstrasse (6 Jezuicka street), from 1866 to 1876;

11 Wilhelmstrasse (16 Focha street) from 1877 to 1880 and in 1892;

3 Bahnhofstrasse (7 Dworcowa Street) between 1881 and 1884;

25 Gammstrasse (10 Doktora Emila Warmińskiego street), from 1885 to 1891; 4 and 28 Königstrasse (9 and 51 Kościuszki street) in the 1880s; 9 Brenkenhoff Straße (35 Bocianowo street) in the late 1880s;

151/152 Danzigerstrasse (34/36 Gdańska street), from 1893 to 1895;

36 Danzigerstrasse (59 Gdańska street) in 1896; 41 Danzigerstrasse (69 Gdańska street) between 1897 and 1900;

47 Rinkauerstrasse (46 Pomorska Street) in 1901–1902; 38 Danzigerstrasse (63 Gdańska street) in 1903;

6 Schulstrasse (86 Bielicka street) from 1904 to 1908.

Unlike his colleagues, he was not involved in lucrative and relatively popular real estate: many of his contemporaries purchased plots of land, invested in buildings, and then sold them for profit. Once retired, Anton moved to a rental flat located on the outskirts of the Bielsko Nowe commune. Here he spent the four last years of his life as a rentier. He died on Friday evening, 14 February 1908, and was buried four days later at the Nowofary Cemetery in Bydgoszcz.

Style and influence Anton's architectural achievements, shaped under the influence of the older generation of architects active in Bydgoszcz from 1825 to the late 1860s, is inscribed in the city landscape. Hoffmann, remarkably, designed and participated in the implementation of construction for half a century, working with most, if not all, of building companies in the city. No one else worked in the construction industry as long as he did. A. Hoffmann was the author of a considerable number of projects made for property owners located in Bromberg and its suburbs. He designed tenement houses, modest front houses, residential outbuildings, craft workshops and various outbuildings: warehouses, stables, laundries, coach houses, sheds and toilets.

1878 44 Sienkiewicza Street At the corner with Hetmańska street

----- 1879 17 Sienkiewicza Street Successive landlords were the Schmidts, Wilhelm then Gustav, both restaurateurs.

1882 46 Śniadecki Street The edifice was co-built together with Anton's Stepson, Józef Święcicki.

----- 1882–1883 42 Śniadecki Street The building, then at Elisabethstraße 42a, was a commission from Max Schmidt, a teacher

1883 15 Podwale Street Józef Święcicki and Anton Hoffmann designed and built a second storey. In 1895–1896, a third floor was added thanks to a design by Karl Bergner, with a large front shop giving onto the street.

+ Main preserved buildings by Anton Hoffmann in BydgoszczYearEdificeRemarksPicture 1885 100 Dworcowa Street From 1877 to 1886, the building housed a hotel, Hotel St. Petersburg, run by Louis Jacobowski between 1877 and 1886. center 80px 1886 3 Piotra Skargi Street The villa was designed and built in 1886 for a well-known Bydgoszcz doctor, Hugo Bille. center 80px 1886 137 Gdańska Street First owner of this house at then Danzigerstraße 71 was Gustav Stiehlau, restaurateur and locksmith. center 80px 1886 113 Gdańska Street The first owner was Reinhold Zschiesche, also owner at 1 Chocimska Street. center 80px 1887 115 Gdańska Street Johann Bordanowicz, the first landlord, was a butcher whose shop remained in use till the outbreak of World War I. center 80px 1887 86 Gdańska street The house was built in 1887–1888 for a timber dealer, Hugo Hecht. center 80px 1887 4 Dworcowa Street Julius and Herß Krojanter were the first owners: they were cereals merchants and had their counter in the building. center 80px 1888–1900 Villa Hugo Hecht in Bydgoszcz Commissioner was Hugo Hecht, the timber dealer owner of Nr.86. center 80px 1890–1891 Radke tenements at 35 Bocianowo Street Radtke worked as a teacher at Adlershorst, a close suburban town south west of then Bromberg and lived in "Schulstraße" (today Dąbrowskiego street in Szwederowo district. center 80px Late 1890s Tenements at Nos.53/55/57 Sienkiewicza Street This realization was part of project commissioned by Kazimir Gączerzwicz, a shoe maker living at Nr.57. center