Panorama of the Oder River viewed from Hakenterrasse (at present Wały Chrobrego)

Between 1902 and 1921, Szczecin's view of the Oder River was significantly affected by the construction of a new urban-architectural complex, known as Hakenterrasse (now Wały Chrobrego). Stretching some 500 metres in length and perched on a slope along the river, the viewing terrace, named after the Szczecin mayor Hermann Haken (1828-1916), immediately became a landmark of the city, attracting both tourists and artists who immortalised in their works the most interesting parts of the Szczecin skyline. The Hakenterrasse was featured both in prints and souvenir photographs, which were in constant demand given the increase in tourist traffic, but at times were taken up by more serious paintings, which were frequently produced during the construction of the complex or after the completion of one of the magnificent buildings. For example, one such work was an oil painting by the German artist Helene Runge (? - 1921), who portrayed a view of the Oder River with the illuminated new Haken viewing terrace and a section of the Old Town, presented behind a fog and almost devoid of colour, in 1915. The buildings of the Szczecin City Museum and the Regency, recognisable in the artist's painting, were already completed at that time. Her entire composition is characterised by greyish tones, broken by the green grass of the viewing terrace and the side of the two-masted ship in the foreground. The sense of light and the subtle differentiation of impasto between the highlights reflected in the waves of the river and the heavy clouds pierced by the sun reflect the main ideas of Impressionism. Małgorzata Peszko