Sołacz Park in Poznań

In the 1950s a parachute tower more than 30 m high loomed over the Sołacz ponds – and until 1956 the park was even named after Stalin. It is hard to picture today: Sołacz Park is a calm, English-style landscape park in the Bogdanka valley, with two ponds, wooden footbridges, a small waterfall and trees planted more than a century ago. It covers almost 15 ha and lies at the heart of the Sołacz villa district, north of the city centre.

History: a park for 128,000 marks

The park was designed by Hermann Kube, then director of Poznań's municipal gardens. Earthworks began on 1 October 1908, the city council approved the design in 1909 and allocated 128,000 marks, and the park was completed in 1911. It was laid out in the marshy Bogdanka valley and was meant from the start to be the main axis of the new villa district. Around 3,000 trees and 12,000 shrubs were planted, including exotic species – eastern hemlock, bald cypress and Douglas fir still grow here.

In 1913 the park was linked to the city centre by tram, and rowing boats appeared on the pond. Between the wars it hosted concerts, fêtes, fairs and even dances. During the German occupation it was called Kuhndorfpark, and after the war, until 1956, it was Stalin Park. The parachute training tower went up in 1952; unused and unsafe, it was blown up in 1969 and dismantled around 1974.

What to see

• The Sołacz Ponds – the dammed waters of the Bogdanka with irregular shores; a narrow neck in the middle makes them look like two separate lakes.
• Footbridges – mostly wooden – and a small waterfall.
• The Green Hut (Zielona budka) – a wooden tram shelter from 1913 on ul. Małopolska, at the northern edge of the park.
• Port Sołacz – a former wine bar from the 1911 East German Exhibition, moved here in 1912; it housed a restaurant for over a century and since its 2022 renovation has been a hotel and restaurant.
• The sculpture "Two Women" by Sylwester Ambroziak, installed at the end of 2008.

Did you know?

The park is an elongated oval about 1.1 km long and some 250 m wide. It is the part of the Golęcin green wedge closest to the city centre – a belt of greenery that follows the Bogdanka valley all the way to Kiekrz. Via the small Adam Wodziczko Park and a strip of meadows it connects to the Citadel Park. The ponds were restored in 1993, and an air-raid shelter also survives in the park.

Tripto tip

Admission is free, and a walk along the ponds and back takes 45–60 minutes. Take tram 9 or 11 (stops Sołacz or Nad Wierzbakiem) or bus 160, 164 or 191 (stop Nad Wierzbakiem); drivers can park on ul. Litewska or Plac Spiski. The western part of the park has a large meadow with a playground, making it a good choice for families. Afterwards, wander the streets of Sołacz to see the early 20th-century villas, or continue along the green route towards the Citadel.