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Max Berg and his team focused on the functional aspect of the Hall. Its plan in the lower part was based on a square and a Greek cross with four arms of equal length, and the cupola’s plan, on a circle – as is visible on the satellite picture. On the end of three of the cross’s arms, there are small entrances and on the Western arm, oriented towards the city centre, there is a big two-storey entrance hall built on an oval plan. Constructionwise, the Hall consists of two independent elements, separated by an expansion joint. In the lower part – the one built on a square plan, the cupola-shaped roofing loosely rests in a ring of concrete and steel. The roofing consists of thin reinforced concrete ribs coming together radially and supported at the top on the so-called “central clamp ring”. At the bottom, the rib ends press against the so-called “expanding ring”; thus, they cannot fold to the inside, nor slide apart. The building structure is secure. Both concrete rings are reinforced with thick steel sheet metal. Windows have been installed in between the thin upper ribs and in the lower part of the construction. There was a window also in the very centre of the ring, but as it leaked it had to be bricked up.
The Hall’s construction was finalised in December, 1912, a month and a half ahead of the planned date. The main room contained huge organ, the same that now plays in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Wrocław. The Centennial Exhibition and the Hall as well were inaugurated with the performance of Gerhart Hauptmann’s play. An interesting fact is that no heating system had been designed for the Hall. It was added only after World War II. Nowadays, the Hall, equipped in the recent years with a highly advanced system of fold-up floors for different purposes and new windows with roller blinds, serves as a concert hall and a show room. It hosts both basketball games and monumental opera performances (e.g. The Haunted Manor of Moniuszko, Verdi’s Aida, Trubadur and Nabucco, Wagner’s The Valkyrie, Siegfried and Twilight of the Gods).
On May 31, 1997, during his sixth visit to Poland, John Paul II led an ecumenical prayer in the Centennial Hall, as part of the Eucharistic congress.
Polska Organizacja
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