Hotel "Pod Orlem" in Bydgoszcz

Hotel "Under the Eagle"
Polish: Hotel Pod Orłem
Main façade of Hotel Pod Orłem
Former names	Hotel Adler (until 1919) Danziger Hof (1939-1945)
General information
Type	Hotel
Architectural style	Eclectism, Neobaroque
Classification	N°601295-reg.90/A, 15th December 1974
Location	Bydgoszcz, Poland
Country	Poland
Construction started	1893
Completed	1896
Inaugurated	15 October 1893
Renovated	1926, 1939-1945, 1987
Client	Emil Bernhardt
Owner	Hotel company "Majewicz"
Technical details
Floor count	5
Design and construction
Architect
Website
www.hotelpodorlem.pl

Hotel Pod Orłem (Under The Eagle) is a historical hotel building on Gdańska Street N°14, in the city of Bydgoszcz.

The building stands on the eastern side of Gdańska Street in Bydgoszcz, near Dworcowa Street. The hotel has a "U" shape, with irregular and uneven corners. Its footprint is delineated by 2 streets (Gdanska and Parkowa) and by the Park Casimir the Great Bydgoszcz to the east.

Hotels in this location date back to the beginning of the 19th century, when an inn was built by the Gliszczyński family en route to Gdańsk. In 1822, a carpenter of the Gliszczyńskis' built a new building called the Hotel "The Eagle" (German: Gasthof zum Adler) next to the old one. Hotel "The Eagle" is one of the first hotels built in the suburb of Bydgoszcz.

Around 1850, August Friedrich Bernhardt, a baker, bought the building and a nearby piece of land. Between 1875 and 1879, his newly created company was taken over by his son Emil Bernhardt, who had returned from Switzerland where he had taken hotel and catering courses. In 1880 Emil Bernhardt married Louise Müller, daughter of a landlord in the vicinity of Schneidemühl-Piła, who had a very substantial dowry. A part of this dowry was likely invested in the construction of Emil Bernhardt's house, located at Gdansks street 16.

In 1893 Emil Bernhardt commissioned a Bydgoszcz born architect, , to realize his new hotel project. This building was to stretch under a huge sculpture of an eagle with spread wings. Święcicki's design was based on similar projects from Berlin and Munich. As a signature, Święcicki hid his self-portrait among the row of allegorical heads adorning the façade. The property was built between 1894 and 1896. When completed, the building became the largest and most modern hotel in Bydgoszcz, with an extensively detailed façade and interior decoration.

In the hotel's basement, the restaurant was adorned with vaults supported by columns, panelling, and wall paintings modelled after the latest Munich fashions, with niches for seating. From the beginning, the building has been equipped with electric lighting, steam heating, and a hydraulic lift. The facility combined the functions of a residential area (with 3 six-rooms apartment of a high standard), a hotel, and a commercial space (with restaurants and shops). Communication between the different areas was provided by 4 network of staircases and corridors. In 1899, the hotel was leased to the Berlin businessman Rudolf Trillhose.