Mariensztat

Mariensztat is a neighbourhood in Warsaw's borough of Śródmieście (city centre). It is located between the Vistula river and the historical Old Town.

The historical neighbourhood dates from the 18th century, when local nobleman Eustachy Potocki married Maria Kątska and received the parcel of land as part of Kątska's dowry. He established a jurydyka and named the town Maryenstadt after his wife, adding the German suffix stadt to please the Saxon king of Poland. After World War II, the spelling was changed to Mariensztat, but this did not change the pronunciation.

The neighbourhood was razed to the ground during the Warsaw Uprising in 1944, with only a few burnt out shells of buildings remaining. Reconstruction work began in 1948, involving a complete redesign of the street plan and architectural appearance of the area. Mariensztat became a model housing project under Poland's new communist and socialist authorities, and was the first part of the city to be completed in their ongoing reconstruction of Warsaw. The neighbourhood was featured in a 1953 film Adventure in Marienstadt.

Mariensztat is one of the smallest districts of Warsaw. Currently, almost all the housing was built in 1948-1949. Architects Zygmunt Stępiński and Józef Sigalin designed the post war buildings so as to evoke in a loose way the small-town buildings of 18th century Praga. The façades of some homes were partially maintained.

This was the first Warsaw housing estate built after World War II on a spot completely destroyed in the Warsaw Uprising. Much of the rebuild, built with bricks from demolition in Warsaw. The Mariensztackim Hotel is one of Warsaw's oldest public Bars.

The etymology of the name comes from the German language word Marienstadt, which means "city of Mary". As Mariensztat was owned by Eustace and Maria Potocki. The name comes from the name of the owner.

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