Ronreich Merkle Heinrich Ernst Diez

Heinrich Ernst Dietz, generally called Heinrich Dietz or Henryk Dietz, (1840–1901) was a Prussian rentier, member of the Bromberg city council, member of the Prussian parliament and a prominent philanthropist in the second half of the 19th century.

Biography Heinrich ancestors were German colonists who settled in the area after the First Partition of Poland in 1772. The Dietz family branch in Bydgoszcz relates also to Hermann Dietz (1861–1944), a physician and social activist in the city.

Heinrich Dietz was born on 13 March 1840, in Bromberg (name of Bydgoszcz under Prussian rule). His father was August Friedrich Dietz, a locksmith master and his mother Caroline Maria née Geschke. Heinrich Dietz's subsistence came from the small locksmith's workshop, which became later a hardware store at Nowy Rynek in downtown.

In 1867, Heinrich inherited his father's company. The store grew into a relatively large warehouse for iron, metal sheets and small items. As a deeply Prussian patriot, H. Dietz participated to the initiative to build a monument for William I, the German Emperor who died on 9 March 1888. The funding group mainly consisted of entrepreneurs, officials and landowners, such as Lewin Louis Aronsohn, Hermann Franke, Ludwig Kolwitz or Georg Werckmeister. The prosperous development of the thriving firm made him a very wealthy man: as such, after his demise in 1901, the assets bequeathed in his will were estimated at 2 million Marks. In 1898, Heinrich left his house at Nowy Rynek to a newly built villa at 48 Gdańska Street, then registered as 146 Danzigerstraße, which he had commissioned to the famous architect Heinrich Seeling.

He was married two times, his second wife and universal heir was Maria née Beleites. Dietz had several children.

He died on 11 August 1901, in Bromberg. He was buried in the Evangelical cemetery then located at Jagiellońska street: in 1945, the cemetery was closed and transferred to the Lutheran cemetery in Zaświat Street.

Political career As one of the richest citizen of Bromberg,

The suburban village of Schwedenhoche (in today's Szwederowo district), on the heights of Bromberg, was identified to host the edifice. On the plot purchased by the city, the one-story edifice encompassed with 10 rooms, a dining room, two bedrooms, two study and handicraft rooms, a chapel and a kitchen. Furthermore, an adjoining vegetable garden and an orchard were also created, and a separate building with a playroom and gymnastic house. The orphanage was looking after 30 to 40 children from 6 to 16 years old. The ensemble was officially inaugurated on 18 July 1907. As requested in the will, a municipal decision of 27 November 1908, named the orphanage after Heinrich Dietz .

In 1906, the city authorities aimed as well to give the philanthropist name to one of the streets connecting Neuer Markt (Nowy Rynek) with Wollmarkt (Wool Market square), where runs today the Melchiora Wierzbickiego street. However, his widow suggested instead to rename the street where the orphanage was standing, which happened two years later.

Designated Heinrich Dietz street under the Prussian period (1908), the path retained its calling during the interwar period. In 1945, it was changed to Romuald Traugutt street.