52°14′4.98″N 21°00′37.68″E / 52.2347167°N 21.0104667°E
Café Adria was an elegant entertainment complex and nightclub in Warsaw which included an American bar, café, dance hall, restaurant and winter garden.[1]
It started operating in 1930 and was a fashionable nightspot during the 1930s, when it was also used as a location for filmmaking.
It continued to operate during the Second World War but this was for the German occupying forces which requisitioned it. It became a base for the Polish Home Army during the Warsaw Uprising in which it was destroyed by bombardment.
Design and operations
editCafé Adria was founded in 1930 at 10, Moniuszki Street by entrepreneur Franciszek Moszkowicz and its restaurant opened in February 1931. It occupied the basement and ground floor of a large office building which had been built in 1928 for the Italian insurance company, Riunione Adriatica di Sicurtà, which presumably inspired the cafe's name.[2]
Its style was Art Deco and used lighting to emphasise the quality of materials rather than ornamentation. The dance floor included a rubberised disc which revolved like a phonograph and its live band was led by talented performers such as Artur Gold. The winter garden contained plants and live birds such as parrots. The American bar was air-conditioned and served cocktails and Coca-Cola.[2][3][1]
The venue was at the centre of Warsaw nightlife. It hosted events like balls and parties and often featured prominent artists, musicians and stars.[3]
Movie location
editIts impressive and varied interiors made it a good location for movie making and so, for example, it appears under the name Alhambra in the 1934 musical comedy Co mój mąż robi w nocy (What Is My Husband Doing Tonight?) which used it for half of the scenes.[1] Other movies in which it appeared include His Excellency, The Shop Assistant (1933).[3]
Wartime
editDuring the Second World War, it was requisitioned and reserved for Germans only. In May 1943, there was a shootout when Jan Kryst sought revenge for the torture of Polish prisoners by shooting members of the Gestapo who were there for the cabaret.[4]
During the Warsaw Uprising, it housed a canteen and the Błyskawica radiostation. It was then hit by a huge shell from a Karl-Gerät siege mortar on 18 August 1944. The 60 centimetre shell did not explode but penetrated all the floors of the building and reached the cellars. Further bombardment then inflicted more damage but the building was one of the few to remain standing and was renovated as a bank after the war. Another café was created to continue the tradition but it was not so successful and closed in 2005.[2][3]
References
edit- ^ a b c Goscilo, Helena (11 April 2023), "Singing a Different Tune": The Slavic Film Musical in a Transnational Context, Academic Studies PRess, p. 50, ISBN 979-8-88719-129-4 – via Google Books,
Adria's complex of eateries (restaurant, cafe, American bar) and dance hall, which boasted a revolving floor resembling a phonograph record, was widely regarded as the most elegant entertainment establishment in the capital.
- ^ a b c Markowski, Mateusz (22 April 2024), The building on Moniuszki Street is to undergo redevelopment, MAD White
- ^ a b c d Bretan, Juliette (28 May 2021), "The glittering nightlife and thriving culture of interwar Warsaw", Notes from Poland
- ^ Elphick, Daniel (3 October 2019), Music behind the Iron Curtain: Weinberg and his Polish Contemporaries, Cambridge University Press, p. 66, ISBN 978-1-108-49367-3
External links
edit- Pre-war Warsaw in Colour – colourised film of Café Adria in the 1930s which includes the revolving dance floor