Habsburg worker housing estate „At the beginnings of the Vistula“

The two buildings that make up the Habsburg worker housing estate “At the beginnings of the Vistula ” were originally built during the reign of the Habsburgs.

The first one (the entrance one) is an authentic stable (stable for horses and cows) built in the second half of the 19th century in Wątrobno – a settlement located on the slopes of the Barania Mountain above the valley of the White Vistula. This farm building also shows the Alpine (Swiss) style, which was popular throughout Europe at the time, especially in the spa towns. This is indicated by the decorative planks on the lintel, the balcony with carved elements and the profiled window frames. The roof was originally covered with shingles.

The horses were probably not intended to work in the woods, but rather to ride along the forest paths that followed the contours.

The second building is a replica of the so-called “service house” from Zadní Grún, Black Vistula, where a larch hunting lodge was built in 1906 for the archducal couple Isabella and Friedrich Habsburg.

Both were passionate hunters and hunted mainly grouse in the Vistula. As the noble guests accompanying the archducal couple did not have enough space in the existing grove or in the chateau in Przysłop, it was decided to build a new chateau. Two outbuildings were built next to it: one for the servants and an annex.

The chateau burned down on the night of 23-24 December 1927 during renovation work to prepare it for the President of the Republic of Poland, Ignacy Mościcki. A new brick castle was built for the head of the reborn Polish state, and the surviving outbuilding served as housing for the workers and later the castle’s support staff.

It too represents the Alpine style with its wide hipped roofs (originally tiled), elongated body flanked by two buttresses and profiled window frames. The servants’ house was demolished during the reconstruction of the chateau in the early 21st century. The surviving fragments were used in the construction of a replica in 2023. They can be seen inside the building.