Mieczyslaw Malinowski (born December 30, 1877 in Poznań – died December 14, 1958 in Poznań) was a prolific Poznań entrepreneur. In 1903, he purchased a store at No. 85 in the Old Market Square from the Jewish merchant Chirschbruch. Business must have been going well, since in 1905, from another Jewish merchant, Hermann Lubinski, he purchased a clothing business along with a tenement at 57 Old Market Square. He ran a Ladies’ Clothing Bazaar on the first floor and first floor of this tenement. In 1909, according to historians, he not very fortuitously remodeled it, but 10 years later he also successfully opened a Ladies’ Clothing Factory in it.
When Polish soldiers, including the Greater Poland Army, were stopping the “red plague” near Warsaw and going on the offensive on the Wieprz River, Mieczyslaw Malinowski was finishing building his private asylum at 5 Karol Libelta Street (now No. 33). The villa was superbly designed and blended in perfectly with the Stübben Ring, which had still been planned by the Prussian authorities before World War I. Since 1920, the Malinowski family resided in this magnificent building.
We know from photos and recollections of people connected with the family that Mieczyslaw Malinowski played the violin quite well and loved all kinds of magic tricks, while daughter Janina and wife Maria played the piano quite correctly. They often gave concerts together for friends and family at the Villa’s many receptions.
Mielczyslaw’s photographic souvenirs from his travels and his daughter’s diary entries allow us to surmise that the crisis of the 1930’s did not leave a major mark on Mieczyslaw Malinowski’s business. Frequent trips in those years to famous resorts in Italy, France and Switzerland, to Turkey and even America, as well as travels in Poland, speak for themselves. He was excellent at skiing. He took care of his son’s education abroad and his daughter’s at home.
The Malinowski family lived a prosperous life in pre-war Poznan. It is not known why our hero sold the villa at 5 Libelta Street to the merchant Stanislaw Bittner in 1929.
Stanislaw Bittner (born 23.10.1885 in Żerków – died 1946 in Poznań) proved to be a very resilient merchant. As the owner of 10 tenement houses in Poznań and several stores, he lived according to his wealth.
The villa at 5 Libelta Street (now No. 33) was purchased by the Bittners from Mieczysław Malinowski in 1929 and they lived there happily until mid-September 1939.
From photographs, we know that Stanislaw was diligently active in merchant associations and in the Poznan Bursar’s Brotherhood. He often took family trips to the seaside in Gdynia and abroad using his own Fiat car.
After the Germans took over in Poznan in mid-September 1939, the Bittners had to leave their villa and all their possessions within 15 minutes. Important documents and photographs were lost, although at least one album of family photographs and a camera were found in a hastily packed suitcase.
The villa, after the occupation authorities changed its street name to Dietrich Eckart Strasse, became an officers’ club for senior German officers. The building survived almost intact despite the heavy liberation battles for the city in 1945.Unfortunately, the interior was completely stripped of all furniture and household items, and many of the windows had no glass.
After returning from their wartime wandering, the Bittners immediately undertook to renovate the villa, but in 1947 they were docked to the “company” of 14 foreign families, and the building was taken over by the city for ownership. During the communist era it was used as rental apartments and deteriorated year after year. The Bittner heirs recovered the villa after the political changes and partially adapted it for office premises, and after a few years sold it to the P1 Nieruchomości company.
In 2015, a major renovation and adaptation of the building for hotel purposes began, carried out by the PB Architects studio under the vigilant supervision of the conservationist.
Today, the more than 100-year-old Villa, restored with the utmost care and reverence, once again shines as it used to on the Stübben Ring this time to the delight and comfort of hotel guests and Poznan residents. It is an exemplary example of great adaptation of a historic building, which has been transformed from a family villa into a charming boutique hotel with soul. And let it stay that way…
A more extensive historical study by Przemyslaw Warkocki, colored by reproductions of Malinowski and Bittner family memorabilia, is available to all interested parties on site. Drop in for a coffee, cocktail, lunch or dinner at the L33 bistro&bar located on the first floor and find full information showing the uniqueness of our Villa Liberté.
