Fort Bema is a neighbourhood and City Information System area in the Bemowo district of Warsaw, Poland. It is a residential neighbourhood with mid- and high-rise multifamily housing, and is centred around the Bem Fort, historical 19th-century fortifications, which surroundings now form a park.
By the 16th century, a village of Parysów was located within the area. In 1890, there was built the Fort P as part pf the city fortifications, which was later decomitioned in 1909. From the 1950s to 1970s, it was a supply base for the nearby Warsaw Babice Airport. In the first quater of the 21st century, the multifamily housing estates were developed around it.
Toponomy
The neighbourhood is named after the Bem Fort (Polish: Fort Bema), historical 19th-century fortifications, now forming its central point. The building itself was called as such in 1921 in honour of Józef Bem, an 18th- and 19th-century engineer and military officer, and veteran of the November Uprising.[1][2]
History
One of historic the villas in Parysów, dating to the 1920s.
By the 16th century, in the area was present a farming community, owned by goldsmith Fołtan. It was later named Parysów, after the Parys family, which acquired it in 1573. Next, it was owned by city councillor Kasper Walter from 1666, and architects A. Solary and J. Fontanna in the first half of the 18th century. The village was located near the current corner of Maczka and Obrońców Tobruku Streets, while its farmlands stretched between Bonifraterska Street, Miła Street, Muranowska Street, and the village of Wielka Wola. In the 17th century, there was also a brick factory.[3]
Between 1886 and 1890, the Fort P, was constructed to the south of the village of Parysów. It was part of the series of fortifications of the Warsaw Fortress, built around the city by the Imperial Russian Army. The fort was decommissioned and partially demolished in 1909.[2] In 1921, it was renamed in honour of Józef Bem, an 18th- and 19th-century engineer and military officer, and veteran of the November Uprising.[2] From 1924 to 1939, it housed an ammunition factory.[4]
In 1920, a wooden building at 90 Powązkowska Street, was adopted into the St. Josaphat Church belonging to the Catholic denomination.[5] According to some theories, said structure could have been the St. Nicholas the Wonderworker Church of the Eastern Orthodox denomination, dating to 1872, however, others suspect it would have been deconstructed by then.[6] In 1966, it was replaced with a new, larger brick building.[5]
Throughout 1920s, several villas were built in area of Waldorffa Street near the fort. In the 1970s, they were acquired by the military.[7][8]
In September 1939, during the siege of Warsaw, the fort was defended by the 202nd Company of the 4th Battalion of the 30th Kaniów Riflemen Regiment of the Polish Armed Forces, led by major Ludwik Łukasiewicz. On 9 September, it was replaced by the 1st Battalion of the 144th Infantry Regiment, commanded by major Bronisław Wadas. Despite numerous German attacks, it remained under Polish control until the capitulation of Warsaw on 28 September 1939. While under the German occupation, until 1944, it was used as a weapons warehouse. Around it were built several brick outpost bunkers, which during the course of the conflict, were attacked numerous times by the Polish resistance. After the end of the war, it functioned as a prisoner-of-war camp for German soldiers.[2]
From 1950 to 1978, it was used as a supply base for the nearby Warsaw Babice Airport.[2] In the 1950s, an air traffic control tower, was built to its east, at the current corner of Wiadowska and Osmańczyka Street. It was abandoned in the 1970s, and since 2017, is listed on the municipal heritage list.[9] The airport was scaled down at the end of the 1980s, with its eastern runway being deconstructed.[10] In the 1990s, Powstańców Śląskich Street was built in its place.[10]
On 14 May 1951, the area was incorporated into the city of Warsaw, becoming part of the Wola district.[11][12] On 29 December 1989, following an administrative reform in the city, it became part of the municipality of Warsaw-Wola, and on 25 March 1994, of the municipality of Warsaw-Bemowo, which, on 27 October 2002, was restructured into the city district of Bemowo.[12] In 1997, it was subdivided into ten areas of the City Information System, with Fort Bema becoming one of them.[1]
In 1953, the Air Force Institute of Technology, a government research institution of aviation technologies, was founded, with the majority of its laboratories now located within the neighbourhood, in the complex centred around 6 Księcia Bolesława Street. It inherited the structures of the former institutions operating in Warsaw, before the Second World War, which conducted their research at an aerodrome, now located in place of the Warsaw Babice Airport. This included the Aviation Institute of Technology, which, together with its predecessors, had its beginnings in 1918.[13][14]
From the 1980s, the Bem Fort was owned by the Legia Warsaw sports club, which built several of its facilities around it.[2] In 1999, the fort was acquired by the city. Its surroundings were sold for the development of high-rise housing estates with apartment buildings. Beginning in 2002, its central area was redeveloped into a park.[2][15][16]
In the 1990s, an abandoned airport hangar at 40 Obrońców Tobruku Street, was addopted into the Hala OSiR Bemowo sports hall, hosting Legia Warsaw basketball section.[17]
In 1999, the shopping mall Galeria Bemowo was opened at 126 Powstańców Śląskich Street. The plans of its deconstruction and replacement with a housing estate were announced in 2025.[18]
In 2014, the St. John Paul II Parish of the Catholic Church, was established, currently residing in a provisional chapel at 48 Obrońców Tobruku Street, with plans for the construction of a permanent church in the future.[19]
In 2015, a tram line was built along Powstańców Śląskich Street, forming connection between Bemowo and Bielany.[20]
Overview
The neighbourhood is centred around the Bem Fort, historical decommissioned fortifications dating to 1890, which immediate surrounds now form a park. It is circled by several housing estates of apartment buildings.[2][15][16] Other historical buildings in the neighbourhood include an abandoned air traffic control tower, near the corner of Wiadowska and Osmańczyka Streets, listed on the municipal heritage list.[9] The area also includes the historic neighbourhoods of Parysów, with several villas from the 1920s at Waldorffa Street.[7][8]
The amenities of the neighbourhood includes the Hala OSiR Bemowo sports hall, at 40 Obrońców Tobruku Street, which hosts the Legia Warsaw basketball section, and has a capacity of 1,416 spectators during the matches, and 2,300 during concerts.[17][21] It also has the shopping mall Galeria Bemowo at 126 Powstańców Śląskich Street, with a tram line alongside said road.[18][20]
Fort Bema also features two Catholic temples, including the St. Josaphat Church at 90 Powązkowska Street, and the St. John Paul II Parish Chapel at 48 Obrońców Tobruku Street.[5][19]
Additionally, it also includes a complex of the laboratories of the Air Force Institute of Technology, a government research institution of aviation technologies, centred around 6 Księcia Bolesława Street.[13][14]
Boundaries
Fort Bema is a City Information System area, located in the northeast portion of the district of Bemowo. Its boundaries are approximately determined by Maczka Street, and Powązkowska Street to the north; and Obrońców Grodna Avenue to the east; the eastern boundtry of the housing estate of Bemowo V to the southwest; and Powstańców Śląskich Street to the west.[1]
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Lech Królikowski: Twierdza Warszawa. Warsaw: Bellona, 2002. ISBN 8311093563. (in Polish)
↑ Encyklopedia Warszawy. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, 1994m ISBN 83-01-08836-2. (in Polish)
↑ Piotr Stawecki: "Przemysł wojenny Warszawy w l. 1918–1939", Rocznik Warszawski, no. 11. Warsaw: Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy, 1972, p. 272. (in Polish)
1 2 3 Kościoły Warszawy. Warsaw: Wydawnictwa Rady Prymasowskiej Budowy Kościołów Warszawy, 1982, p. 204. (in Polish)
↑ Marian Gajewski: Urządzenia komunalne Warszawy. Zarys historyczny. Warsaw: Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy, 1979, p. 411. ISBN 83-06-00089-7. (in Polish)
1 2 Czesław Krzemiński: Polskie lotnictwo wojskowe 1945-1980: zarys dziejów. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Komunikacji i Łączności, 1989, pp. 78–84. ISBN 83-206-0782-5. (in Polish)
1 2 Przemysław Boguszewski: "Problematyka zagospodarowania fortyfikacji na obszarze Warszawy", Wojsko w Społeczeństwie, no. 2008/2009. Warsaw: Departament Wychowania i Promocji Obronności MON, 2008, pp. 112–127. ISSN 1896-0936. (in Polish).
1 2 Stanisław Łagowski: Szlakiem twierdz i ufortyfikowanych przedmości. Pruszków: Oficyna Wydawnicza Ajaks, 2005. ISBN 83-88773-96-8. (in Polish)
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