Karol Anstadt Street in Łódź

Karola Anstadta Avenue, approximately 200 meters long, is located in the northern part of Łódź's city center, connecting Pomorska Street with Północna Street and leading to Helenów Park, established by the Anstadt family. The street is named after the 19th-century entrepreneur Karol Anstadt, known for founding a brewery. The avenue has the status of a municipal road and features single-lane traffic in both directions. Its history dates back to the late 1880s when it was laid out as a private road to facilitate access to the park. The street gained prominence due to trams, which first traveled this route in 1898, inaugurating tram transport in Łódź. During World War I, the avenue was renamed Anstadtstraße, but after the war, it was restored to its Polish version, and in 1918, it was granted the status of an avenue. During World War II, the avenue underwent several name changes due to German occupation, and after the war, it functioned as 19 Stycznia Street, commemorating the end of the occupation in 1945. Today, Karola Anstadta Avenue is known for the building of the 12th General Secondary School, where victims of the Gestapo and the Provincial Office of Public Security are commemorated. A Monument to the Victims of Communism was erected there, the first such monument in Poland dedicated to the victims of repression. Architecturally significant are also the tenement houses listed in the municipal register of monuments. In recent years, the avenue has become an area of archaeological research, leading to the discovery of numerous historical artifacts. The avenue is also an important transport hub, currently served by city buses. In the past, it connected many tram lines and has since been revived as a bus route. The architecture and history of the avenue reflect Łódź's transformations over the centuries and its complex identity, bearing witness to the lives of many people and the events that shaped the city.