HEIM - Sweet Warsaw In the footsteps of Warsaw’s confectioners (EN)

Meeting point

12 Piwna Street - The first cafe of K. Wedel collaboration with Karol Grohnert

Everyone in Poland knows the name Wedel. Karol Wedel, a member of the Evangelical-Augsburg Church, came to live in Warsaw in 1845 already as a confectioner with professional experience and together with Karol Grohnert he opened a confectionery at 12 Piwna Street. They were successful and sweets which they produced quickly won people's hearts and brought a large group of loyal customers. In 1850 Karol married Karolina Wisnowska (1819-1883), also an evangelical, daughter of Gustaw - a cloth manufacturer from Zgierz - born in Świebodzin.

Miodowa Street

The street name comes from merchants specializing in selling honey and ... sweets. It was here that the first Warsaw's confectioneries were founded in the 18th century. At 14 Miodowa Street there was located the famous Warsaw's cafe "Honoratka" which drew people in for its delicious desserts and coffee with rum. To this day there is a place with the same name. Honoratka has been operating as a restaurant since 1826, and it is possible to find there several bits and pieces celebrating their most famous guest, Fryderyk Chopin. In fact, it was one of his favourites places. Today, you can try a special Chopin' menu inspired by recipes from the 19th century and, obviously, drink coffee or tea with rum. The first cafe of Karol Wedel (Emil's father) at Miodowa St. Around 1851, Karol Wedel became financially independent and opened his own store at 12 Miodowa Street, and next door, a steam-powered factory making chocolate. A year later, he introduced his widely popular "karmelki śmietankowe" (eng. cream caramels); the caramels' success was aided by an advertising campaign in "Kurier Warszawski" daily newspaper: "A completely new and special confectionery piece, and above all, a delicious remedy to alleviate all chest pains, very effective for these weaknesses in the spring months, and even for those not suffering and those who prefer a delicate taste - a very pleasant product. " 6 Miodowa Street - Trojanowski's Confectionery Ruined windows, broken glass, four massacred corpses, dozens of scared and wounded pedestrians. This was the landscape after the bombing attack that was performed by the PPS fighter Tadeusz Dzierzbicki at noon on May 19, 1905 in front of the confectionery on Miodowa Street. Unfortunately, he failed to assassinate the Warsaw Governor-General Konstantin Maksymowicz ...

Pod Filarami (eng. Under the Pillars) - Semadeni - Theater Square

Today, under the theater pillars, there is a Thai restaurant, and the name Lourse has returned to the Hotel Europejski (eng. The European Hotel). The name Semadeni returns on this path several times - Pod Filarami, at the Hotel Europejski and next to Nowy Świat ... Swiss confectioners from the canton of Graubünden came to Poland throughout the 12th century. Among them, the most numerous group was constituted by confectioners from the Semadeni family who came from the municipality of Poschiavo. They founded confectioneries in several cities, the most famous of which were in Warsaw, Lublin and the Polish confectionery in Kiev. They formed a good family team. For much of the nineteenth century they formed a closed circle of immigrants and almost everyone married the Swiss.

'La Lourse'

"La Lourse" - the second Semadeni's confectionery at the Hotel Europejski Bernard Semadeni and his son Ryszard were the owners of two confectioneries - Pod Filarami at Teatralny Square and L. Lourse at Krakowskie Przedmieście in the Hotel Europejski.

63 Nowy Świat Street (eng. New World Street)

63 Nowy Świat Street (eng. New World Street) From 1827, a patisserie of master Kacper Semadeni was located at 63 Nowy Świat. In 1897-1900, on the first floor, there was also a nightclub of a cantonist Alexandrin Weltzmann. Later, it changed the location and was moved to 73 Mokotowska St. and the painting salon of Aleksander Krywult, who after a thorough reconstruction took over the entire first floor, was placed here. Unfortunately, after three years his creator died and his son Jan, who took over a business, was able to lead it only for three consecutive years. In 1911-12, numbers 61 and 63 were combined for the merchant Wilhelm Geyer, and a large Mirage auditorium with the capacity of 1000 people was built inside. In 1920, the Mirage theater burned down, but in 1921 it was put back into use thanks to the initiative of W. Potrzebiński and A. Strzałecki. Initially, there were staged: the operetta „Księżniczka Bla-Ga”(eng. "Princess Bla-Ga") and the fantasy „Satyr i Nimfa" (eng. "Satyr and Nymph"). Later it was "Nietoperz" (eng. "Bat") theatre placed in that venue, and then, there were a lot of other theaters usually for a short period of time. In 1928 the "Rococo" cinema was opened here, and around 1939 the "Europa" cinema. In the 70s of the 20th century there was a famous place, where in the times of PRL the Dudek' cabaret played among others.

Foksal 13 - Wedel's tenement house

In the 1930s, the tenement at Foksal 13 became property of Jan Wedel, the famous entrepreneur and "King of Chocolate". Since the very beginning, Foksal Street has been an address for the elites. In the 18th century, an elegant city park was created here, modeled on London's Vauxhall, in which balls and performances were organized. Throughout the next century, Warsaw's aristocracy and bourgeois started to build their palaces and residences along the former garden avenue. In the interwar period, Foksal became the favourite meeting spot of the capital's elite circles, who spend their time in the famous Café Snob and Café Bodo. Tenement houses Foksal 13/15 are unique monuments of Warsaw's architecture representing the belle epoque period. Both tenements, as one of the few downtown Warsaw monuments, survived the second world war, which allowed to save many authentic 19th century details, thanks to which you can still feel the atmosphere of "Paris of the North" - as the Warsaw of the prewar period was called.

Blikle - Nowy Świat

The name Blikle means a lot in the history of Polish confectionery. The Blikle family has been operating the famous confectionery for five generations. This 146-year-old Polish institution bore witness to many important milestones in Poland's history, survived the tough times of partitions, two World Wars, managed to overcome long years of communist ruling while other private enterprises closed down, all the while serving customers losing and regaining their homeland. Antoni Kazimierz Blikle, from a Swiss family settled in Chełm, began to study confectionery at the age of 14. Shortly after, his mother sent him for the practice to the confectioner Kasper Semandeni, also a Swiss descent, who worked in Łomża. Just after graduating, Antoni Kazimierz came to Warsaw looking for work in a pastry shop and quickly found a job as a senior confectioner in Michalski's confectionery at Nowy Świat. In 1869, Antoni bought back the confectionery from Michalski and began operating the place under his own name while establishing Blikle's confectionery, which has been operating now in the same place for 146 years. Blikle's confectionery quickly became one of the busiest confectioneries in Warsaw and now is highly reputed to serve up the best pastries in Warsaw.

Pawłowicz patisserie

K. Wedel - new chocolate factory 1865 - Pijlnia czekolady (eng. chocolate bar cafe)

The rapid development of the Wedel's enterprise took place after importing a special malt sugar' rolling machine from Paris in 1855, when they started the production of drinking chocolate. In 1865, Emil Fryderyk Wedel (Karol' son) took control over the company having already gained appropriate skills under the watchful eye of his father and after having practiced in the confectionery art in Paris for two years. Immediately after receiving the company as a wedding gift, Emil, also due to the increase in demand, moved the factory to a tenement at Szpitalna Street in Warsaw, where a brand shop and an E.Wedel Chocolate Café "Staroświecki Sklep” (eng. Old-fashioned Shop) are located to this day. Wedel's chocolate was so popular that fakes began to appear quickly. In order to eliminate them from the market, Emil decided to affix a handwritten signature to each bar of chocolate. With the passing of time, the E.Wedel signature became the identification of the brand and grew into its history so strongly that it successfully operates to this day, only in a slightly modified form.