Clothes hangar

Before World War II, the streets of Szczecin’s Old Town were home to numerous service establishments, clothing shops, and department stores. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, two department stores were built at Heiligegeststraße 7 and 8, one of which, known to Szczecin residents as Stara Drukarnia (Old Printing House), has survived to this day. Between 1900 and 1901, a grand Neo-Baroque building with Art Nouveau elements was constructed at Heiligegeiststraße 7a and 7b. Number 7a became the headquarters of the company H.B. Juda, which had been in operation since at least the late 1850s, specialising in men’s ready-to-wear clothing, including for export. The first and second floors of the building housed storage facilities, while the top floor was occupied by the editorial office of the popular newspaper Stettiner Abendpost. On the ground floor of 7b, there was Robert Dietz’s restaurant and Schlomski’s tobacco shop. Most premises changed tenants and purposes over time – only the Hotel Metropole operated continuously at 7b from 1901 to 1945. In 1899, a commercial building was completed at Heiligegeststraße 8 for Leopold Juda’s department store. By the 1930s, several clothing manufacturers and retailers operated at this address: men’s clothing firms Stein & Levy and Lehmann & Co., and the women’s fashion store Klein Geschw. (Klein Siblings). In 1928, Georg Schmidt’s clothing workshop opened at the same address. According to Szczecin address books, Schmidt had operated his business since 1922 at a neighbouring building, number 7a. Proof of his business activity is also provided by a wooden clothes hanger from the collection of the National Museum in Szczecin. The hanger features Schmidt’s name and address at number 8 printed in black lettering. Hangers like this, used as promotional tools, often included the company’s address along with additional location details and information about its products. Małgorzata Peszko