The Imperial Castle is one of the most important buildings in the Imperial District in Święty Marcin street.
The Castle was built between 1904 - 1910 by architect Franz Schwechten for the last German emperor Wilhelm II. The structure is dominated by a tower with a clock which was originally 74 metres high ,after the destruction during World War II it is 30 metres lower.
During wartime reconstruction the castle chapel was changed into the Hitler’s office with a balcony, now there is the Clock Room.
After the Wielkopolska (Greater Poland) Uprising the Castle passed into the Polish hands and served as the seat of the president of the Republic of Poland.
In the western part of the building ,on the ground floor there were rooms for the members of the imperial, entourage as well as for the court marshal and the chamberlain. On the first floor, there were apartments of the imperial couple and a private chapel located in the tower.
The second floor was dedicated to the heirs of the throne. In the western tower elevation, there was an entrance exclusively for the emperor. The emperor's and empress's bedrooms were connected by a corridor containing statues of the rulers. One of the most magnificent rooms was a Throne Room modelled on Byzantine basilicas. At the back of the palace there is a rose garden. In the rose courtyard there is a well- preserved Lion Fountain, modelled on the fountain in the Alhambra and a sculpture by Magdalena Abakanowicz 5 Figures.
In 1948 the castle became the New Town Hall and then in 1962 -The Palace of Culture.
As one of the few historical buildings it is still in operation and serves as the culture centre .The Castle houses a cinema and in some apartments there are art galleries.
In the Castle we can visit an interesting café with a glass roof.
Enigma Cryptologist Monument is located in front of the main entrance to the Imperial Castle.It has a form of a prism with a triangular base. The monument commemorates Polish cryptologists and mathematicians - Marian Rejewski, Jerzy Różycki i Henryk Zygalski - who contributed to deciphering the German machine Enigma in 1932 r.
This made it possible to know the German military and diplomatic correspondence.
The sequences of the numbers appearing on the monument indicate the names of the above persons.
