Jacob Hertz Palace

Jacob Hertz Palace stands at Kościuszki Avenue 4 in Śródmieście [city centre], Łódź, just next to the former Great Synagogue. It was built at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries as a family residence and now houses the rectorate of the Medical University in Łódź.

A gift from Israel Poznański to his daughter

The palace was built in 1891–1892 on the initiative of Israel Poznański, one of Łódź's wealthiest manufacturers, as a residence for his daughter Anna and her husband Jacob Hertz. The building was erected on a plot adjacent to the Great Synagogue, in the representative part of contemporary Łódź inhabited by wealthy factory-owning families. Originally the palace had a Neo-Renaissance form.

Disputed attribution of the design

The architect's name is not unequivocally confirmed. According to press reports of the period, the designer was Juliusz Jung, while the preserved copy of the design bears the signature of Hilary Majewski, a long-serving municipal architect of Łódź. The design is therefore attributed to Hilary Majewski or Juliusz Jung, and the available materials do not determine which of them actually created the building's concept.

Modernisation in the manner of classicising modernism

In 1930 the building underwent renovation, which gave it the form of classicising modernism, obscuring some of the original Neo-Renaissance details. The renovation was carried out by architect Marian Lalewicz. In subsequent decades the palace was used by among others the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, before passing into the hands of the city's medical university.

From residence to rectorate

Currently the palace houses the rectorate of the Medical University in Łódź, the administrative centre of one of the city's larger universities. The building remains administrative headquarters, so its interiors are not open for tourist visits. It is listed in the register of monuments under number A/286, dated 27 December 1982. A few dozen metres further along Kościuszki Avenue stands Pinkus Tenement, another historic building from the same period of the city's development.

Practical information

• Address: Tadeusz Kościuszki Avenue 4, Łódź, Śródmieście
• Getting there: the palace stands on one of Śródmieście's main avenues, within walking distance of Piotrkowska Street and public transport stops on Kościuszki
• What to expect: the building is home to the university's rectorate, so mainly the facade facing the avenue is available to view