Power station

When in the summer of 1880, Emperor Franz Joseph was on an inspection tour of Galicia, Krakow welcomed him with wonderful illuminations. The building of the Galician Bank on the main square stood out the most. One of the first houses with a permanently installed power plant was “Dom machin” at the back of the Słowacki Theater. The machines were made by the Langebold company from Frankfurt. On the opening day of the new theater building, the auditorium was illuminated by a wall lamp with 120 flames, each with the strength of 20 candles. This electric novelty caught on very quickly. Soon after, the Grand Hotel on Sławkowska St. in Krakow, as well as the J.Goetz brewery, were lit by electricity from their own turbines. The first power plant for residents was put into operation in Podgórze in 1900. It was then a separate city, so the Krakow power plant was built on Wawrzyńca st in 1905 with a capacity of 0.8 MW. It only provided electricity to hospitals, the town hall and the Florianca. Over time, the gas lamps illuminating the city were replaced with electric ones.