Lodz- or should I say ‘Łódź?’ Another must visit

Europe has a nearly endless supply of great cities, towns and villages. Add Lodz to your list, one of Poland’s top destinations. It features Ulica Piotrkowska, a 5 kilometer shopping street lined with restored Art Nouveau houses. Scoot over on the tram to the Manufaktura, a large complex of beautifully renovated textile factory buildings filled with shopping, dining and an excellent museum. Go to Radegast Train Station, the Jewish memorial at the station used to whisk Jews to concentration camps. The Central Museum of Textiles has examples of worker housing, a mansion and textile machinery.

Lodz has been around since the 14th century but it was a town of just 750 until the 1820’s. The Kingdom of Poland decided to industrialize central Poland, which had been part of Russia. By the outbreak of WWII, Lodz had a population of 1 million!

The 19th century industrialization began with the establishment of the industrial zone then known as New Town. In came German migrants knowledgeable in the manufacture of textiles, attracted by Polish government offers of loans and concessions. Starting in the 1870’s Jewish entrepreneurs fueled the industrial explosion, making Lodz one of the world’s largest textile producers. The structures were largely preserved. Renovated in the early 2000’s, it is now a huge shopping, restaurant and museum pedestrian zone. The last factory closed in 1989 after years of declining production.

On one edge sits the Palace of Izraela Poznańskiego.

Jews played a prominent role in the development of the textile industry, none more so than  Izrael Poznański (1833-1900). He was born into a family of merchants who moved to Lodz in 1834. He took over the family business in 1852. By 1872 he had built a plant with 200 mechanical looms. The expansion continued, reaching its peak around 1890.

The infrastructure and edifices of Łódź were built at the expense of Poznański and Karl Wilhelm Scheibler. They sponsored schools, hospitals, orphanages, and places of worship. But they did so on the backs of workers who suffered with terrible working conditions and horrible housing, leading to many strikes.