The OP ENHEIM Foundation, a private cultural institution, began its program activities in the restored Baroque building on Salt Square in October 2018. <\/p>\n
The unique building at 4 Solny Square is one of the few within the Wroclaw Old Town to have survived almost unharmed the bombing of Wroclaw during World War II. Its history dates back to the 13th century, and the Oppenheim House became the Oppenheim House in 1810 after it was acquired by banker Heymann Oppenheim. Later, the tenement was the family residence and headquarters of a bank owned by the family, and served as an important center of life for Wroclaw’s Jewish community (for more than 40 years, the first floor of the building was home to the Herz family’s famous shoe store with international mail-order sales). The tenement was also the seat of Baroness Julie von Cohn-Oppenheim’s foundation, which supported the poor and needy members of the Jewish community in Breslau at the time.<\/p>\n
The end of the building’s splendor came during the last war. In 1941, the Nazis took it over, and the Jews who lived there were deported to the East. After 1945, the deteriorating building, with its distinctive green facade, was inhabited by Polish tenants, and its German history was effectively erased by the Communist authorities. <\/p>\n
The chance to restore the Oppenheim House to its former splendor came when the OP ENHEIM Foundation became its owner in 2013. The reconstruction and expansion was carried out by the Wroclaw architectural firm Major Architects in partnership with the world-renowned J. Mayer H. studio from Berlin. The tenement at 4 Solny Square received an honorable mention in the XXIX edition of the 2018 Beautiful Wroclaw competition for the best architectural realization in the category Modernization of a historical building. <\/p>\n
The green facade of the building has been redesigned, retaining its color scheme to match the building’s Baroque style. The restored fresco fragments on the ground, first and second floors, which date from different eras, have also been superbly preserved. The polychromes can be admired every day inside the building, in the restaurant on the first floor. <\/p>\n
OP ENHEIM today
\nThis is a new space for culture. It includes an art gallery on the second floor and a beautiful attic – with a terrace and a view of the Old Town rooftops – where the intimate Salon Herz is located. It hosts cultural meetings, workshops, concerts, including experimental music. <\/p>\n
The townhouse also has partner offices and an apartment for resident artists.<\/p>\n
The foundation aims to support contemporary art, developing a network of cooperation with institutions in Wroclaw, Berlin and other European countries. OP ENHEIM’s artistic program was inaugurated in October 2018 with an exhibition, the result of a collaboration between one of Poland’s most successful art curators Andy Rottenberg and renowned sculptor and installation artist Miroslaw Balka. <\/p>\n","categories":["Galleries","Museums and galleries","Cultural centers"],"lat":51.10977200000001,"lng":17.0294719}