Hotel History
In the 16th century there was a building standing in the Św. Jana Street. It was called „Pod Brogiem” being the property of the Evangelic Church. Almost the whole building was destroyed in 1622 and the remains have been bought by King Zygmunt III to be handed on to Stanisław Lubomirski, who, however, passed it over to a family from Stradom.
On 16. November 1801 Maciej Kontz , a Hungarian, purchased the complex by auction and, after having rearranged it, called it the „Hungarian King”. During the years to come Kontz enlarged his posession purchasing several buildings close-by. One of these is the current entrance of the Saski Hotel, 3, Sławkowska Street.
In 1820 Kontz’s inn had a very special and quite an exotic guest: the persian deputy Mirza Abdul Hannan. In the 1870- ies the inn’s name was changed into „Hotel Saski”or, in french, „Hotel de Saxe”. Its ballroom was famous for great concerts troughout many years.
Thus in 1843 the Saski Hotel was hosting concerts of Franz Liszt and, in 1880, the Brahms- brothers Jan and Joseph Joachim. Furthermore the Saski Hotel was visited by many celebrities, such as Ignacy Paderewski, Józef Hofmann, Artur Rubinstein and Stefan Żeromski. Until 1921 the Hotel de Saxe stayed property of the Haller- family, who was folllowed by the Polish Trading Company.
The building was taken over by a socialist youth- association in the 1970- ies. It was reclaimed by the Polish Trading Company in 1991.
