Wrocław Pioneers' Square

Wrocław Pioneers' Square (Skwer Pionierów Wrocławskich) is in Wrocław, in the Nadodrze district, on Jedności Narodowej street, at its junction with Józefa Poniatowskiego street. Today it is mainly a square, although its history began as an actual green square with planting at its centre.

A site left by a former branch of the Oder

The square was designed in 1887 by A. Rappsilber and G. v. Drabizius, and laid out on the ground a year later, after a section of a former side branch of the Oder, which no longer exists today, was filled in. Its spatial layout was based on a triangular plan with a green square arranged at the centre. By the 1890s the area around the square had been built up with tenement houses.

Destruction and what survived

The square itself was removed after 1945, and some of the surrounding tenement houses were destroyed during the war. However, a public toilet from around 1900 has survived to this day, designed to a standard pattern from the studio of Karl Klimm, the architect who served as Wrocław's city architect from 1892 to 1924.

From Waterlooplatz to Skwer Pionierów Wrocławskich

Before the war the place carried the German name Waterlooplatz. Right after the war, in 1945-1946, unofficial, informally given names were in use - plac Waterloo or plac Jeny. The current name, Skwer Pionierów Wrocławskich (Square of the Wrocław Pioneers), has been official since 24 March 1948.

Practical information

• Location: the Nadodrze district in Wrocław, on Jedności Narodowej street, at its junction with Józefa Poniatowskiego street
• Getting there: by public transport to Nadodrze
• What to expect: a square on the site of a former green square, with a surviving historic public toilet from before 1900, rather than extensive greenery