Marshal Ferdinand Foch Street in Bydgoszcz

Marshal Ferdinand Foch Street

Bydgoszcz
Polish: Ulica Marszałka Ferdynanda Focha w Bydgoszczy
View in the vicinity of Theatre square
Focha street in downtown Bydgoszcz
Former name(s)	Wilhelmstraße - Jagiellońska - Hermann-Göringstraße - Robotniczo-Chłopska Armia Czerwona
Namesake	French born Marshal Ferdinand Foch
Owner	City of Bydgoszcz
Length	1.1 km (0.7 mi)
Area	Downtown Bydgoszcz
Location	Bydgoszcz

Marshal Ferdinand Foch Street or Focha Street is a main street of Bydgoszcz, in Downtown district (Polish: Śródmieście).

Located in the center of Bydgoszcz, the street stretches east-west from the intersection with Gdańska Street to Grunwaldska roundabout. It is approximately 1.1 kilometres (0.68 mi) long. To the west, it joins with Nakielska street in Bydgoszcz, and with Jagiellońska street to the east.

The street bore the following names throughout history:

Focha street has been one of the key routes in Bydgoszcz, since the first half of the 19th century. Previously, the path was a dirt road leading from the Old Carmelite Monastery to meadows bordering the Brda river, which were owned by the monastery. This course is clearly visible on the oldest plan of Bydgoszcz, realized by the Swedish quartermaster Erik Dahlbergh in 1657. Without any bridge to the west to cross the river, the street ended along the waterfront, with a diverging path leading to Koronowo and Nakło nad Notecią - today Dworcowa Street in Bydgoszcz- until 1850.

In 1774, the construction of the Bydgoszcz Canal required the building of a city lock and a causeway leading to Mill Island, which allowed the crossing of the Brda River in the continuity to the west of the axis. The road then gained in traffic, as being also used for towing boats along the Bydgoszcz Canal.

In the second half of the 19th century, the eastern tip of the street connected with the new administrative center of the city, with the erection in 1836 of the Governmental seat of the Prussian region on Jagiellońska street. In Focha street were built in the 1860s tenements for local garrison personnel. Real estate cadastral files of Bromberg from 1878 reveals that a southern frontage of houses stood in the area from Theatre square to the Opera Nova. On the northern bank of the Brda river stood a military casino (from 1869) on the corner of the street. The villa of the president of the Prussian region was located at the level of today's N°25, together with garrison lodgings: in the same area was standing lock N°2 - Polish: Śluza II „Grottgera”- on the old Bydgoszcz Canal (now the plot at the intersection with Grottger Street). The area in the bend of the Brda was occupied by military buildings, including the city's largest granaries, the Royal Granaries. To the west of lock N°2, the axis was called Channel street (German: Canal Strasse), and winded along the Bydgoszcz Canal. At the level of today's Higher School of Economics was standing a bridge crossing the canal over lock N°2.