Whatagain in Poznan

[whatagain]

My mistake was to go south and then east.
The nice part of Poznan is north and west.

Poznan is an old city that belonged to Poland then some duchies then was annexed to Prussia the again polish.

In the south of the city I had the impression to see Austrian Hungarian heritage. Mixed with some ugly post war building some bordering or plain soviet style.

Of course the city is probably more beautiful in summer.
As it was by -3c with some remnants of snow and under a grey sky I didn’t put it under her best dress but still the center is stunning.

[whatagain]

The bus dropped me in front of this building easy to spot for the trip back. 

I was facing some old big monumental building. Now museums. 

Detail of the windows. They could decorate back then. 

And opposite some recent ones. Not my cup of tea. 

They nearly have a hausmannuan look. Or Austrian Hungarian. 

Inside is less glorious. 
I found the shopping center. I was not wawed. 


It seems to me they hesitate into repairing or rebuilding. I find the tower behind particularly ugly.  

More residential housings. Look like old German to me. 

And these look more like soviet boxes. 
maybe the yellow marks indicate they are for destruction but the windows look new. 

Again I could have placed this church in Austria or Germany. 

By then I was starting to feel a bit depressed.  

[whatagain]

So I headed north before turning west to go to my hotel when I found this nice place. 

And a bit further this agreeable street. 
i had finally found the historic center. 

The style ne colour reminded me of bavaria. 

And then the main square. Beautiful. It is huge and has an island of small houses and a big building in the center. 
Some very narrow houses. I expect in touristy season they don’t store the garbage bins there. 


I suppose it was/is the municipal house. 
The side of the square. 


I turned the first corner. 

Some beautifully decorated house. Reminded me of Prag. 

Nice. 



A bit further up. 


They like paintings on their facades. 
As I said I went up. North before turning west. 


And on top as can be expected the remnants of the old royal castle. The base of the tower dates from 13th century. It houses a museum. Closed at 4 30 pm. 

A gigantic rectangular place. Heritage from soviet times ? 
and that was it. Another km or so and I found my bus. 

[bjd]

Thanks for this, Whatagain. A place I have never been but would like to see. I like the mix of architectures -- a reflection of all the changes the city has been through over the centuries. It's certainly more cheerful in summer though.

[kerouac2]

Those photos do not make me feel any warmer, but the city looks lovely. I checked Google, and it appears that Poznan escaped most war damage, unlike places like Warsaw.

They nearly have a hausmannuan look. Or Austrian Hungarian.

Haussmann influenced 19th century architecture all over Europe, and Budapest and Prague are the most common cities to stand in for Paris when film productions want to save money.

[fumobici]

Interesting and pretty set of photos., looks like a nice city to explore. I've never really even considered going to see Poland, not sure why.

[whatagain]

I am no specialist but i love Krakow at least as much as I like Praha
I went to several ‘bleds’ - small towns with no special appeal and disliked Katowice.
On average Poland is easy to travel, clean safe to drive and lots of English speaking people.
Some even go there on holidays 😂😂

[bixaorellana]

Great report, Whatagain.

I can see why you'd get depressed with that dark winter weather, but I agree with Bjd about the architecture -- everything can't be from one particular era, no matter how picturesque.

In the picture where you say you found the shopping center, it looks as though the part in the foreground expanded from an earlier center which can be seen in the background of the picture. In the picture immediately below that one, is the red brick tower setting on top of that beige building?!

Those yellow letters & numbers on the apartment building might be to show where to put something like electric meters, maybe.

I really love the colors used on buildings, particularly that gorgeous celadon green.

[whatagain]

Hello Bixa.
Thanks for the comments.
No the tower is behind the older grey building.