Centennial Hall in Wrocław

Card # 42
This postcard sent to me by Kazimierz

It was in the Lower Silesian capital of Breslau on 10 March 1813 that King Frederick William III of Prussia called upon the German people in his "Aufruf an mein Volk" to rise up against Napoleon's occupation of Germany. In October of that year, in the Battle of Leipzig at Leipzig, Napoleon was defeated. The opening of the hall was part of the celebration commemorating the 100th anniversary of the battle, hence the name. The hall was renamed Hala Ludowa ("People's Hall") when the city became part of Poland under a communist government in 1945. The Polish translation of the original German name, Hala Stulecia, is also used with reference to the history of the building.

The cupola was made of reinforced concrete and with an inner diameter of 69 m and 42 m high; it was the largest building of its kind at the time of construction. The symmetrical quatrefoil shape with a large circular central space seats 7,000 persons. The dome is 23m high, made of in steel and glass. The Jahrhunderthalle became a key reference for the development of reinforced concrete structures in the a 20th century. Read more