Feliksa Kruschego Bulwark

Feliksa Kruschego Bulwark is a walking promenade along the Dobrzynka river in Pabianice, between ulica Grobelna and ulica Grota-Roweckiego. It is the oldest planned promenade in the city, with two parallel paths, benches and mature trees along the water.

Established in the 1930s

The bulwark was established in 1932–1934 during the regulation of the Dobrzynka river. Before that, the site was an ordinary meadow which had to be prepared before the walking area could be created. The work included laying ground, marking out two parallel paths running along the river channel, placing benches and planting fast-growing poplars along the bank to provide immediate shade for walkers. The regulation of the Dobrzynka at this time formed part of a broader plan to develop areas around the river flowing through the city centre.

Post-war expansion

Around 1960, roughly fifteen years after the end of the Second World War, the area was enlarged. Private gardens on ulica Bugaja, which had previously restricted the promenade, were removed, and the promenade itself was extended to ulica Marchlewskiego, now ulica Grota-Roweckiego. In this way the bulwark reached its current length of approximately 625 metres. This stage of expansion gave the bulwark a shape close to today's, though it did not yet have its own name.

The bulwark's patron

The name was given only on 18 June 2008, when the city council unanimously adopted a resolution honouring Feliks Krusche. Krusche, born in Pabianice in 1872 and died in 1939, was the last co-owner of the largest cotton goods factory in the region, founded by his ancestors. The Krusche family built the city's industrial power over several generations, and naming the bulwark after him was intended to remind residents to whom Pabianice owed the development of the textile industry. At the unveiling of the memorial plaque, Feliks's granddaughter, Maria Eliza Steinhagen, was present, lending the ceremony a family and symbolic character.

The bulwark today

Today the bulwark functions as an ordinary walking route in central Pabianice. Two paths along the Dobrzynka and the shade cast by mature trees make it a place willingly chosen for a short walk or passage between the districts on either side of the river. Access to the bulwark is open and unrestricted, with no fees and no opening hours.

Practical information

• Address: ul. Grobelna 4, Pabianice, on the section from ul. Grobelna to ul. Grota-Roweckiego
• Getting there: pedestrian access from ulica Grobelna, ulica Grota-Roweckiego and ulica Marchlewskiego, the bulwark is publicly accessible and open round the clock
• What to expect: a peaceful walk along the Dobrzynka, benches in the shade of old trees, close to Park im. Juliusza Słowackiego and the Europejski Park Rzeźby