Hotel Europejski

Hotel Europejski
Hotel Europejski - 2006
General information
Location	Warsaw, Poland
Address	Krakowskie Przedmiescie 13
Opening	January 1, 1857 (original building), July 2, 1962 (current building)
Owner	Przezdziecki and Puslowski families, (1857-1921), Hotel Europejski S.A. - HESA (1921-1948), Akademia Wojskowo-Polityczna (1948-1959), Orbis (1959-2005), Hotel Europejski S.A. - HESA (2005-)
Management	Raffles Hotels & Resorts
Design and construction
Architect	Enrico Marconi
Other information
Number of rooms	100
Website
europejski.pl

Hotel Europejski is a historic hotel in the city centre of Warsaw, Poland. Originally opened in 1857, the hotel was badly damaged in World War II and rebuilt in stages throughout the 1950s, reopening as a hotel in 1962.

It is located on the historical Royal Route and close to Warsaw Old Town. Facilities include an art gallery and a coffee and pastry shop. The rooms vary in size and shape and most have views overlooking historic parts of Warsaw, including the Royal Tract and the Pilsudski Square.

The hotel originally opened on January 1, 1857. Designed by Enrico Marconi, it was one of the most luxurious hotels in the Russian Empire. It was expanded in 1907 to designs by Czeslaw Przybylski. In 1921, the hotel's owners, including the Puslowski family, took on partners to form the company Hotel Europejski Spółka Akcyjna (HESA).

The hotel was renamed the Europäisches Hotel during the German occupation in World War II and used to house Wehrmacht officers. It was severely damaged during the Warsaw Uprising in 1944.

In 1945, after the liberation of Warsaw, the original owners received permission from the government to rebuild the hotel and set up a cafe in the surviving section of the building. However, before they could rebuild, the hotel was seized by the government in 1948 as a result of the Bierut Decrees. The building was rebuilt from 1949-1951 to designs by Bohdan Pniewski as a military school, with a balustrade added along the top, and a recreation of the ruined sections of the exterior. Many surviving interior elements were removed, including the grand staircase and ballrooms, replacing them were dormitories, classrooms and a gymnasium. The building served as the Military Political Academy (Akademia Wojskowa Polityczna) from 1951-1954 and then as offices for the Ministry of Transport. In 1956 the Polish government decided to return the building to its former use as a hotel. From 1956-1957, the empty building was used to house Jewish emigrants from the Soviet Union.

The building was transferred to the Orbis state tourist company in 1959 and converted back to a hotel, with Bohdan Pniewski again serving as architect, along with Bohdan Kijowicz. The resulting hotel had 260 rooms and 13 suites. It reopened to guests on July 2, 1962 as the Orbis Hotel Europejski. In 1965, The Golden Gate Quartet performed their only concert in Poland here.