Historic tenement building from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries located in the heart of Piotrkowska Street. The building exemplifies architecture typical of the period when Łódź was developing as an industrial city and merits attention during a walk along the main street.
Teodora Steigerta Tenement House at ulica Piotrkowska 90, known as the tenement under the Harpies, is a neo-Baroque structure erected in 1895. Its most recognisable feature is the sculptures of figures with dragon heads and female torsos supporting the bay window on the first and second floors. The tenement is entered in the register of monuments under number A/199.
The tenement was built in 1895 according to a design by architect Franciszek Chełmiński on commission from manufacturer Teodora Steigerta. The construction of this prestigious building was made possible by income from Steigert's manufactory, whose production value in the 1890s reached 180,000 roubles. A weaving mill operated by the manufacturer was located in the courtyard of the property.
The building's façade represents the neo-Baroque style with rich ornament. On the first and second floors, a bay window resting on two columns leads to a balcony on the third floor. The columns are crowned with sculptures of figures with dragon heads and female torsos – these details gave the tenement its colloquial name under the Harpies. The walls of the second and third storeys are faced with glazed brick. The building has five storeys above ground, and the roof is crowned with an attic with balustrade and dormer windows. A date incorporated into the ornamental gateway commemorates the year of completion of construction.
The tenement is one of the few buildings on ulica Piotrkowska whose commercial ground floor has retained its original appearance. This detail is important for the character of the pedestrian mall, where most ground floors have been rebuilt to meet contemporary retail needs.
The building housed the headquarters of the Jewish Masonic lodge B'nai B'rith. The tenement also appears in a literary context as a setting for the action of Promised Land – described in a Łódź guidebook as the address of the characters Karol Borowiecki, Maks Baum and Moryc Welt.
The building houses the temporary headquarters of the Museum of Polish Children – Victims of Totalitarianism. Supervision of the building is carried out by the Provincial and Municipal Conservator of Monuments. The building's owner has not been finally established.
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