Warszawa Wschodnia Station
Why is it significant?
Ahead of you lies Warszawa Wschodnia, the East Station: a long, low terminal, dozens of tracks and a constant murmur of announcements and rolling wheels. It is not a pretty place, but it is the reason much of Praga looks the way it does.
Key Facts
| Place | Warszawa Wschodnia Station |
|---|---|
| Address | ul. Kijowska 20, 03-743 Warszawa, Poland |
| Geo Coordinates | 52.25160, 21.05140 |
| Part of Walk | Warsaw's Right Bank: Praga's Bears, Bazaars, Vodka and Backyard Shrines |
| Generated | Generated |
Ahead of you lies Warszawa Wschodnia, the East Station: a long, low terminal, dozens of tracks and a constant murmur of announcements and rolling wheels. It is not a pretty place, but it is the reason much of Praga looks the way it does.
In the 1860s, two railway lines arrived on the right bank within a few years of each other. One, from Targowa street, ran to St Petersburg. The other, from a station on this spot, ran east to Terespol on the Bug river and, beyond it, deep into the Russian Empire. Warsaw's other great stations stood on the far side of the Vistula, so Praga became the city's gateway to the east.
Where the trains went, industry followed. Cheap land beside the tracks, cheap workers from the countryside, and easy freight drew metalworks, mills and warehouses. The Koneser vodka works chose its site beside the railway, and in the early 1930s the chocolate makers E. Wedel, founded in 1851, opened a large factory a short walk south of here. People in this part of Praga still say that on certain days the wind smells of chocolate.
Railways also made Praga a target. In 1944 the retreating Germans wrecked tracks, bridges and stations, and this bank then lay on the front line until January 1945. Throughout the occupation, these lines carried troops and supplies toward the Eastern Front, and the people of Praga lived with the traffic of war at their doorstep. The station was rebuilt after the war, and rebuilt again more than once since. Today long-distance trains stop here on their way across Poland, and for many travellers arriving from the east, this is still their first glimpse of Warsaw.
Use the passage under the tracks to reach Lubelska street on the other side, then walk east and turn into Mińska street, where the old factory halls of Kamionek begin.