Miasto i Gmina Gniew

Jan Andrzej Klein Tenement

It is the largest tenement preserved in Gniew to this day, which has once housed the company of the “Polish king”, president of the Kurkowe Bractwoa Strzeleckie, the activist for Poland, Jan Andrzej Klein. The company dealt with the trade of colonial goods, construction materials, iron and grain. There was also a restaurant by the shop.

World War I has paralysed the business. After 1918, using the narrow railway Gniew – Walichnowy – Kwidzyn, as well as the steamships from Gniew, Jan Klein took on the shipping business, and in 1931 he opened the first petrol station in the city.

It should be noted that the Klein family has been known in the region not only thanks to the economic, but also the patriotic activity. They have regularly organised meetings in their house, during which the national issues were discussed, the Polish traditions were cultivated.

It is worth mentioning that in 1936 Jan Klein was awarded by the government of the Republic with the Silver Cross of Merit for the tireless work on the development and maintenance of the Polish trade outlet.

During the occupation, the company has been taken over by the German, Kurt Albrecht. After the war, the daughter of Jan Klein, Maria, tried to continue the father’s work, however, the tax policy of the government of that times has forced her to close the restaurant in December 1950. Currently, the building houses the commercial premises.