Postal office in Wrocław

When Max Berg was working on the project to reconstruct the center of Wrocław at the turn of the year 1920/21, the high-rise building was for him the ideal form of a modern public building. Despite passionate discussions, Heinrich Rump successfully completed the building of the municipal savings bank (1929-32) and Lothar Neumann the post office building (1926-29) in grand style.
The postal administration acquired an elongated plot of land on the eastern edge of the historic center as early as 1915. The resulting form was strongly influenced by the postal construction advisor Lothar Neumann. At its time, the post office complemented the urban block. The main facade opening onto Krasiński Street is 142 meters long. The extensive construction program and urban positioning at the end of Traugutta Street required the placement of a tall residential building. The eleven-story structure consists of a steel skeleton with cladding and infill brick walls. While the building appears massive from afar, its scale is softened up close by the rich ornamental decoration and artistic details dividing the facade: cornices, attics, and reveals made of dark red facade ceramic blocks with decorations by the sculptor Felix Kupsche. Unfortunately, the interior decoration has not survived. The windows in the stairwell were glazed with colored mosaics, the railings featured forged sculptures of figures by the Czech artist blacksmith Jaroslav Voňka, and the walls and columns of the partition hall were tiled with glazed tiles and murals by Bruno Walter.
From the original block development, today's post office stands alone. Its functionalist interior layout enclosed in an expressive neo-Gothic shell is noteworthy. Currently, the building is used as a museum of post and communication technology.