It was built in 1892 in what was then Breslau,
Germany, in
Art Nouveau/
Neo-Baroque style on the site of the graveyard of St Dorothy's Church. The graveyard had been converted into a jail in 1817. The plot was bought near the end of the 19th century for 600 000 marks by Breslau's
Jews - banker Wallenberg Pachaly and architect Karl Grosser, who built a trade house and hotel in which there were 69 rooms, including 21 single occupation rooms, 46 double occupation and 2 apartments. Room size ran from and according to 19th century standards were luxurious. It was fondly christened "the pearl of Lower Silesia" (
die Perle Niederschlesiens). Famous patrons of the hotel during the German era included
Gerhart Hauptmann. The balcony above the main entrance was purposely built in 1937 to coincide with
Hitler's visit to Breslau, who gave a speech from said balcony the following year on the occasion of the
German Gymnastics and Sports Festival. Singer
Jan Kiepura also appeared on the same balcony after the war to sing for a crowd of people gathered in front of the hotel. The hotel's in-house department store was located at the corner of
Świdnicka and
Modrzejewskiej Streets (formerly
Schweidnitzerstraße and
Agnes-Sorma-Straße respectively). During the last months of
World War II it was significantly damaged so that it was rebuilt only in 1961 and became an exclusive cafe "Monopol". At the end of the 20th century it was closed and commercial functions were restored in the building. The hotel building itself survived the war without significant damage. Following the transfer of Breslau to Poland in 1945, the hotel hosted the
World Congress of Intellectuals during the Exhibition of the
Recovered Territories in 1948 with guests such as
Pablo Picasso,
Irène Joliot-Curie,
Ilya Ehrenburg,
Jorge Amado and
Mikhail Sholokhov. Other prominent guests included
Marlene Dietrich,
Zbigniew Cybulski and
Jerzy Grotowski. The hotel provided setting for a number of films including
Andrzej Wajda's
Ashes and Diamonds,
Wojciech Has's
The Doll as well as a popular TV show
More Than Life at Stake. In 1984 the building was entered into Wrocław's register of
monuments. The façade was given a facelift in 2008. Today the Monopol Hotel has two restaurants (one
Polish and the other
Mediterranean), a spa and
wellness club and organizes conferences and banquets. During
Euro 2012 it hosted the
Czech national team. ==See also==