Abstract
The Worker Holiday Fund (WHF) was set up just after the Second World War as a state-dependent organization that arranged recreation for Polish workers under the socialist doctrine. The communist authorities turned organized recreation into a tool of indoctrination and propaganda. This research aims to characterize the seaside tourism architecture in the Polish People’s Republic (1949–1989) against the background of nationalized and organized tourism being used as a political tool, to typify the architecture and to verify the influence of politics on the development of holiday architecture in Poland. The research methodology is based on historical and interpretative studies (iconology, iconography and historiography) and field studies. The research helped distinguish four basic groups of holiday facilities: one form of adapted facilities (former villas and boarding houses) and three forms of new facilities (sanatorium-type, pavilion-type and lightweight temporary facilities, such as bungalows and cabins). The study found that each type of holiday facility was characterized by certain political significance and social impact. Gradual destruction was the fate of a significant part of WHF facilities, which, in the public awareness, are commonly associated with the past era of the Polish People’s Republic (PRL) as an “unwanted heritage”.
Highlights
The links between politics and architecture were and are undeniable [1,2,3,4], and inevitable in post-war Poland between 1949–1989
Gradual destruction was the fate of a significant part of Worker Holiday Fund (WHF) facilities, which, in the public awareness, are commonly associated with the past era of the Polish People’s Republic (PRL) as an “unwanted heritage”
The former Eastern Bloc countries have been pervaded by the socialist ideology, which left its mark on the social life of whole nations, revealing its form most clearly in the architectural doctrine of socialist realism
Summary
The links between politics and architecture were and are undeniable [1,2,3,4], and inevitable in post-war Poland between 1949–1989. For many years, the former Eastern Bloc countries (in Europe: USSR, PPR, GDR, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania) have been pervaded by the socialist ideology, which left its mark on the social life of whole nations, revealing its form most clearly in the architectural doctrine of socialist realism. In Poland, socialist realism triumphed between 1950 and 1955 according to the slogan: “(architecture should be) national in form and socialist in content”. Over the years, both the requirements of the imposed system and the realization of its ideological principles underwent a metamorphosis, reflecting the slow changes in the consciousness of the social group responsible for its increasingly unreliable image—
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
