Many thanks to KG for sending me links to Warsaw's map archives (click here for whole lot). I have been poring over these in great detail. Many thanks also to the guys at Trasbus for scanning and uploading this phenomenal wealth of Varsoviana. From all the maps archived, I've selected a some showing how Jeziorki has developed and changed over the years. Above: The first map of Warsaw to extend as far south as Jeziorki. Note - this map, like the map below, is oriented with north the left. Ul. Sarabandy was called ul. Ogrodowa back then. A narrow gauge railway line runs the length of ul. Puławska (more on this in a future post).
Above: The rendition of Jeziorki on the map from 1962 is identical to the 1961 edition (not shown). Ul. Ogrodowa has been renamed Sarabandy (General Ogrodov having fallen out of favour with the Politburo). Ul. Trombity and ul. Baletowa have both been given a name, but note no station at Dawidy yet on the railway line to Radom. Also note name St. (stacja/station) Jeziorki Warszawskie.
Above: 1970 and the narrow gauge railway terminates at W-wa Dąbrówka (wąsk), no longer running up Puławska as far as the Dworzec Południowy (where the Wilanowska bus terminus is). Meanwhile, Dawidy's acquired a station, and Dawidy Poduchowne has been moved across the track. Note too ul. Żmijewska, branching off ul. Karczunkowska, rather than running east-west from ul. Pozytywki (as it does today). All railway stations within Warsaw's boundaries are now prefixed "W-wa", so St. Jeziorki Warszawskie becomes W-wa Jeziorki.
Above: 1978 and Dawidy Poduchowne has moved right into Jeziorki. Dąbrówka has been shunted across to the other side of ul. Puławska. Indeed, there's no such place as Jeziorki on this map. The narrow gauge railway has gone, being replaced by the no. 51 trolleybus (Wilanowska to Piaseczno). Note the new development between Dawidowska and Karczunkowska - streets branching off ul. Nawłocka. Not particularly well mapped, but then Warsaw's cartographers did not have access to NASA satellite imaging.
Above: The last map from the communist era - 1989. Only eight years before the Dembinski family would turn up in this part of Warsaw. Again, no sign of Jeziorki - the area is clearly marked Dawidy Poduchowne. Notice also in all five maps the size of the lake at Jeziorki - I don't know when drainage of this area was effected, but it's never been that size in the 11 years we've lived in the area.On all these maps, the Rampa is noticeable by its absence. This is easily explained. Communist-era maps left out industrial and military objects for security reasons - no Huta Warszawa steelworks, no Okęcie airport (!), even though NATO knew damn well where these objects were located.
Map makers since the dawn of civilisation have been applying fanciful artifice to cover up for lack of knowledge. "Here be dragons". "The edge of the world". "Terra Incognita" (well, some honesty for a change). "Dawidy Poduchowne". Now what was this about? An attempt by Gmina Mokotów (as it then was) to liquidate Jeziorki? Or just a cartographer's mistake, amplified?
Since the late 1990s, the city hall has tried to make sense of local names. We are now Jeziorki Połudnowe, up to ul. Baletowa.
This time last year:
Spirit of place, Jeziorki
Unseasonable warmth, beastly mud
Zamienie as it was, with barracks and labs
"Ul. Ogrodowa has been renamed Sarabandy (General Ogrodov having fallen out of favour with the Politburo)."
ReplyDeleteDamn, I thought, that a meaning of this street is like "the Garden Street", so this might make a sense, since a sorrounding is just like that. I wouldn't ever think, that an origin of this name is just an honoring gen. Ogrodov.
Like other streets in Warsaw named after famous Russians - Tovarov (ul. Towarawa) or Kviatov (ul. Kwiatowa)- I suspect this is Michael's little joke!
ReplyDeleteAleksander
Not the Dawidy rail station on a wrong side of ul. Baletowa (most probably after general Baletow ;-) ) on 1970 and 1978 maps. As I said before, we never used "Jeziorki", always "Jedziemy na Dawidy".
ReplyDeleteI was told that the area of ul. Buszycka housing is now located was a formerly arable fields with drainage system that led water to a ditch along Karczunkowska, perpendicular to the Rampa, ending up in ul. Pozytywki pond. The ditch as well as drainage sistem still works.
Best regards,
Anonymous,
ReplyDeletemaybe you're right. As this might be ul. Kolejowa (after general-lieutnant Koleiov), ul. Kresowa (after gen Kresov), ul. Motylkowa (after com. Motylkov), ul. Parowcowa (after gen. Parovcov), ul. Majowa (after lieutnant Maiov), ul. Makowa (after gen. Makov), ul Klonowa (after com. Klonov) many, many other communist heros are honoured... :)
I have the old Warsaw Map from 1994 in the exactly the same design, like versions from 1970, 1978 and 1989. I think, it's one of the last in series =) Page "35" looks almost the same...including Zgorzala Lake. I think, they used blue color to show either lakes or wetlands. This is repetitious mistake. Let's look at the new Warsaw map:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.um.warszawa.pl/mapa/
=)
I have read last time, that drainage was effected in the fifties of the last century, but, I think, this is unofficial information ( www.tygodnik-sasiedzi.pl/gazeta_pdf/10sasiedzi.pdf )
There's this map:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.um.warszawa.pl/mapa/
(on which there's Dawidy Poduchowne on one side of Trombity and Nowe Jeziorki on the other)
and then there's this map:
http://mapa.warszawa.um.gov.pl/init.html
(which just has us as Ursynów).
The street signs say Jeziorki Połodniowe (below Baletowa) or Jeziorki Północne (above Baletowa)
Can anyone shed some light on the MSI (http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miejski_System_Informacji_(Warszawa)) and why bits of Dąbrówka have become Jeziorki Płn and bits of Pyry have become Dąbrówka?
Decisions like these affect property prices!