Szyndzielnia PTTK shelter - a mountain tourist shelter of the Polish Tourist and Sightseeing Society under the peak of Szyndzielnia, in the north-eastern part of the Silesian Beskids. Located at an altitude of 1001 m above sea level. The first brick shelter in this mountain range, put into use in 1897
The shelter on a postcard from the early 20th century, photo: Wikipedia
The decision to build a shelter was made by the Bielsk section of the German Beskidenverein (Sektion Bielitz-Biala des Beskidenvereins) after a fire in the "Klementynówka" shelter near Klimczok. Construction began in 1896 and was completed in July 1897. The shelter was built according to the design of a local Beskidenverein activist, Wilhelm Schlesinger, by the Bielsk architect Karol Korn's company in a mixed brick and wooden structure. Following the model of Alpine shelters, it had a characteristic turret in which a bell was placed and a light was lit at night.
The shelter was consecrated on 17, and officially opened and put into use on 18 July 1897. In 1907, on the occasion of the shelter's tenth anniversary, its tenant, Weinhold, built a wooden Swiss cottage that served as an additional shelter. A bell was also installed on the roof of the cottage, which would give tourists directions with sound during difficult weather conditions. The tower room housed a weather station, and a winery on the ground floor. In 1911, a water supply system was built to the shelter. A small ski jump was built near the facility in 1923.
At first, it had 8 rooms for sleeping from 2 to 4 people and a large common room, as well as extensive catering facilities. The permanent residents were the host and the restaurateur.
In the first years of operation, attendance was as follows:
1897 – 2894 people
1900 – 5381 people
1905 – 6735 people
1909 – 6175 people
During World War II, the facility was mainly used for various paramilitary purposes, including Hitlerjugend camps. In 1940, the Beskidenverein received the plot of land on which the building stood. Soon, a forest road from Dębowiec, which still exists today, was built to it. The last German host was Eugen Kutschera, who was conscripted into the German army. Later, the shelter was managed by his wife, Karolina. At the end of 1944, the building was occupied by the Wehrmacht and included in the city's defense line. In the face of the approaching front and the Red Army surrounding it, Karolina Kutschera and her children fled through the mountains towards Skoczów. At the beginning of February 1945, the building was hit several times by Soviet artillery shells: one of them penetrated the roof and exploded in the kitchen, another destroyed the staircase, and the rest demolished the characteristic turret. After the German army withdrew, the equipment that had not yet been destroyed was stolen. After World War II, on 18 February 1945, the pre-war branches of the Polish Tatra Society were reactivated in these cities in Bielsko and Biała – as a joint Bielsko-Biała Branch. The very next day, local authorities authorised pre-war PTT activists Tomasz Wróbel and Władysław Zajączek to take over and secure the assets of the Beskidenverein and other German tourist and ski associations. After a temporary renovation and necessary repairs, on 22 July 1945, the shelter was reopened, and its first Polish manager was Anna Maciejna. In the years 1954–1957, it was expanded according to the design of architects Krystyna Tołłoczko-Różyska and Wanda Gengi. A new catering and utility wing was added on the south-eastern side and the tower was rebuilt. On October 8, 1985, at about 8 a.m., a fire broke out in the shelter – part of the shingled roof caught fire, near the tower. The fire brigade fought the fire for almost 3 hours. The roof of the tower burned down completely, as well as part of the roof of the main building. The damage was rebuilt, the roof was covered with sheet metal.
The hosts of the facility after 1945 included: Anna Maciejna, Alfreda Kosmala, Bronisław Jarosz with his sister, Andrzej Kamiński, Jadwiga and Czesław Zontek (1969-2000) and Aniela and Janusz Szeja.
source - Wikipedia
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