Ulica Grodzka w Krakowie w 1900 roku. Wstęp do badań socjotopograficznych

Abstract

GRODZKA STREET IN KRAKÓW IN 1900. INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL TOPOGRAPHY RESEARCH

The paper attempts to address the topic of social topography of Grodzka Street in the year 1900. Historiography offers very few works in this field dedicated to specific streets or districts of Kraków in the 19th and the 20th centuries. Thus, the present text represents a valuable contribution to further research focusing on the historical reconstruction of the city’s spatial layout and its population which will enable us to discover the maximum number of social features of the urban space and its valorization, and to observe the changes taking place in the city’s natural and cultural landscape. In this case, the subject of the study are the residents of one of the city’s major streets at a specific historical moment. The focus is mainly on the social and professional structure of the local community, and not on the features and the changing character of the buildings. So, who was a typical resident of Grodzka Street? Female – a Roman Catholic who came from Kraków or one of the nearby towns and villages (within a several dozen kilometres radius from the city), a married housewife, or a single woman working as a servant or in the trade and services sector. Male – single, Roman Catholic, professionally associated with crafts or commerce, a native Cracovian or a migrant from one of the nearby towns and villages within a several dozen kilometres radius from the city. The paper also examines commercial enterprises and crafts businesses located in the discussed street. A strict specialization has been observed among the many crafts and commercial establishments in Grodzka Street: the most numerous were clothing, accessories and shoe shops, fabric and fur warehouses, and tailor’s shops. Moreover, the closer to the Main Market Square, the more luxury goods stores, such as jeweller’s, watchmaker’s and top quality garment retail stores one would find, and the closer to the district of Stradom, the more mechanical shops, building materials warehouses, ironmonger’s and grocer’s shops, as well as stores offering small household items (known as Nuremberg commodities) one would encounter.