Post card from 1916 – the period when the building of the Chancellery was used as a German military hospital. The seat of today’s Chancellery of the Prime Minister was built in the early 20th century in Warsaw, the erstwhile capital of western provinces of the Imperial Russia, in the part of the Empire known as the Vistula Land. Envisioned to house Alexander Suvorov Cadet Corps to commemorate the Russian Field Marshall who seized Warsaw in 1794, the building was located at the site of the former camp of the Lithuanian Life Guard Regiment. 1900-1903
Construction of the main building of the Cadet Corps barracks complex (military gymnasium) continue. The structure is designed by Wiktor Junosza-Piotrowski, and works are supervised by engineer Henryk Julian Gay. The main entrance to the neoclassical building, flanked by side wings, is surmounted with an imposing onion dome. Less impressive-looking barrack buildings are erected along Aleje Ujazdowskie, from today’s Bagatela St. until Na Rozdrożu Sq.
1914
As World War One burst open, Warsaw municipal council sets up the municipal hospital with 1,500 beds in the main building.
1915
The German offensive pushes Russian troops to the other side of the River Vistula. Three year long German occupation of Warsaw begins. Requisitioned buildings are converted into a military hospital (Festungslazaret N.1).
1918
November – Poland is about to regain its independence. November witnesses disarming of occupant troops in the streets of Warsaw. Teamed up with Soldiers Council, officers of the Polish Infantry Academy in Ostrowia Mazowiecka launch negotiations to requisition the building. In return, they offer assistance in evacuation of German military patients and casualties to their homeland.
The Infantry Academy becomes the administrator of the building on 20 November. Its students included members of the first guard company serving at Belweder when Józef Piłsudski moved there on the 29th of November as the Chief of State.
1926
During the coup d’état organised by Józef Piłsudski ("May Coup "), the battalion of the Infantry Academy supports the legitimate government. After the successful coup, the Academy is relocated in September 1926 to its former seat in Ostrowia Mazowiecka. Renovation of the building begins and the central wing is added. Its new “E” shape has endured until modern times.
1928
The refurbished building becomes the seat of the General Inspectorate of the Armed Forces whose commander is Marshall J. Piłsudski. He moves into the neighbouring one-storey palace (now Al. Ujazdowskie 5) connected with the Inspectorate by a covered walkway. The Marshall continues to work and live there until his death. Three days before his death (in May 1935), Józef Piłsudski is transported in critical condition to the Belweder, the home to his wife and daughters.
The southern wing (overlooking the garden and Bagatela St.) features collections of the Central Military Library and artefacts from the Polish Museum in Rapperswil (Switzerland). Shipped to Poland, they were stored in the building awaiting the erection of the National Museum.
1939-1945
The building was bombed in September 1939 during the siege of Warsaw. Collections of the Central Military Library and the Rapperwil Library were devoured by fire.
Ground floor of the building and its northern wing are converted into SS barracks. The shelled southern wing and the adjacent garden become the site of executions of Warsaw civilians and a place where bodies (of prisoners of the nearby Gestapo headquarters) are burned.
1946-1952
Buildings are nationalised. Extensive refurbishing of the building continues until 1948. The so-called Column Hall (seating 1000 people) is added to the central wing, third floor extension is built above the façade, and the main column-flanked entrance is extended outwards. As the building has been selected for the seat of the State Council, the main hall, the staircase leading to the first floor as well as selected rooms are redesigned for more splendour.
1953-1996
The building houses the Office of the Council of Ministers. Between 1959 and 1989, the southern wing becomes the seat of the Higher School of Social Sciences affiliated by the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers Party, renamed to the Social Science Academy in 1984 (one of its units was the Institute for Basic Problems of Marxism-Leninism) – the “incubator” of party cadres. When the party was disbanded during system transformations, premises of the school were taken over by the Main Library of the Office of the Council of Ministers (3rd floor), Government Press Office (now – Government Information Centre – 2nd floor) as well as secretariats and the office of the Prime Minister (1st floor).
In 1995, the former Cadet Corps building and adjacent buildings were entered into the registry of historical monuments of Warsaw voivodeship as examples of fine architecture of the city of Warsaw – the heritage of the Polish culture.
Now From January 1997 until now, the building houses the Chancellery of the Prime Minister. It is the working place of the Prime Minister, the venue of weekly meetings of the Council of Ministers, the site of reception of foreign guests, mainly heads of different governments, domestic and foreign official delegations.
The finest examples of architecture at the Chancellery include Kościuszko, Column, Painting, Skylight and Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski Halls as well as glazed hall overlooking the former Prime Minister office on the 1st floor connected with grand Round Table, Reception and Clock Halls.
Before moving to Frycz Modrzewski Hall, the Council of Ministers used to meet in the Skylight Hall. The Painting Hall is the venue of important official ceremonies. The Prime Minister’s office is located in the southern wing.
In 2002, the Chancellery obtained the permit to place the signage of the Hague Convention and the Historic Building Plaques.