Emma Colony in Radlin, is a complex of unique in the region of Rybnik-Wodzisław buildings from the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, designed for the then employees of the mine "Emma" in Radlin (today's "Marcel" Mine). It is customary to call the buildings in question simply "workers' housing estate" although in the past both the design and construction were originally called just "Emmagrube Colony". The origins of the Colony are at the end of the 19th century, while the construction can be divided into two stages "old" and "new" colony. The first buildings were constructed as early as 1897. These were mostly houses of officials working at the "Emma" Mine (along today's Korfantego Street, then Keiser - Wilchelmstrasse). Over the next few years, more than a dozen clerks' and workers' houses were built, free-standing - both along the main road of Radlin - Korfantego, and running diagonally to it the current B. Czecha and Pocztowa. All the houses were built of red brick, mostly on a near-square plan, and mostly had gabled roofs. The intra-neighborhood streets had the character of narrow, quiet alleys. Small, one-story outbuildings were rigidly set between the houses. The designer of the original part of the settlement was most likely the Breslau architect A. Becher. The second stage of the settlement's expansion occurred in 1910-1913. After 1913, the expansion was still continued. It was then that a complex of school buildings was built on the scenic closure of Mielęckiego Street, along with a residential section. The development of the "new colony" refers to the idea of a garden settlement, and its houses resemble "cottage" type houses in their architecture. The entire colony was sewered and electrified. In addition to residential buildings, the colony included a large department store, a mine inn, a laundry, a bathhouse, a bakery, a barber store, a snack store, 3 lodging houses, and the premises of the so-called "people's library. As of 1913, the workers' settlement of the "Emma" mine extended over an area of 81,000m2, which was about ¾ of the area planned for its development. To this day, the original urban and spatial layout of the settlement has been preserved, its main streets have maintained their former course, and residential and commercial buildings have survived to this day. All buildings within the Colony were built of distinctive red brick, had two stories, characteristic roofs and small gardens. The creators' goal was not only functionalism, which was important for architects of the time, but also "a nice appearance, corresponding to the tastes of the time." Why the name? In 1857, Ferdinand Wodok, a master driller from Rybnik, Alexander Seiffert, an agronomist from Racibórz, and Karfunkel, a Gliwice bookseller, began searching for coal in the area of today's Radlin. The later mine was named after the daughter of one of them. If only the daughter of a 19th-century industrialist from Silesia could have guessed that her name would survive the turbulent history, wars, political and economic changes and in the unchanged German pronunciation (Ema - pronounced with one "m") will also function in the 21st century... Emma or Marcel ? After the war, the people's government decided to crack down once and for all on German naming in Upper Silesia. While the nearby "Anna" mine was acceptable, "Emma" or Rydult's "Charlotte" had to change their names. Radlin's "Emma" mine was given a new male name, "Marcel," which commemorated local communist activist Jozef Kolorz. In this form, not only the name of the mine, but also the entire conventional district of the city functions to this day. Fortunately, the name "Emma" has survived to this day, and is often used interchangeably with "Marcel."
08.10.2013
