Jelonki () is a neighbourhood in the Bemowo district of Warsaw, Poland. It is a mixed residential area with low-rise single-family neighbourhoods of Stare Jelonki, Nowy Chrzanów, and Friendship Estate, and mid- and high-rise multifamily housing estates of Górczewska, Jelonki, and Lazurowa. It includes the Górczewska Park, and features two stations of the Warsaw Metro, Bemowo and Lazurowa, as well as two railway stations, Warszawa Jelonki, and Warszawa Głowna Towarowa. The area is divided into two City Information System areas, Jelonki Północne (North Jelonki) and Jelonki Południowe (South Jelonki).
Jelonki was founded in the 19th century as a small farming community. In the 1920s, its land was partitioned, and the village was developed as a garden suburb. It was incorporated into Warsaw in 1951. In 1952, the Frienship Estate, a neighbourhood of wooden houses was built within its current boundaries, originally providing accommodation for Soviet migrant labourers, and after 1955, for university students and teachers. In the 1970s and 1980s, three large housing estates with mid- and high-rise apartment buildings were constructed, including Górczewska, Jelonki, and Lazurowa.
Toponomy The name Jelonki is a Polish plural diminutive form of the term meaning cervus, a genus of deer which was present in the area. Historically, before 1951, the neighbourhood was also known as Jelonek, a singular diminutive form.
History Founding and development
A small farming community, later known as Jelonki, was established in the area in the 19th century, next to the village of Odolany, to the north of the Poznań Road (now Połczyńska Street).Barbara Petrozolin-Skowrońska (editor): Encyklopedia Warszawy. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, 1994, ISBN 83-01-08836-2. (in Polish)Jelonki (1); In: Geographical Dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland, vol. 3: Haag – Kępy, Warsaw, 1882, p. 561. (In Polish) The village was bought by Bogumił Schneider, a businessman, who moved to the area from Westphalia. In the second half of the century, he built his residence in the form of a brick manor house, near the current Fortuny Street. In 1902, he also built a second residence, a wooden villa at the current 59 Połczyńska Street, which stands to this day. In 1904, the village had 729 inhabitants and included 19 houses and a school. After the purchase, the village began being known as Jelonki and Jelonek.
In 1846, the Bogumił Schneider Brickworks and Roof Tiles Factory (), in the area, which produced bricks, roof tiles, and ceramics.Zakłady Cegielniane i Fabryka Dachówek "Bogumił Schneider". In: Przegląd Techniczny, 3 October 1903. (In Polish)Przemysław Burkiewicz: Cegły z Jelonek zbudowały Warszawę. In: Bemowo News, July 2011, p. 21. ISSN 1897-9777. (In Polish) The factory had a good reputation, being locally known for the good quality of its products. Many houses and tenements in Warsaw were built from its bricks.Zakłady Cegielniane i Fabryka Dachówek "Bogumił Schneider". In: Przegląd Techniczny, 3 October 1903. (In Polish) It was also commissioned by the Imperial Russian Army, to provide materials for the construction of Forts II, III, and IV of the Warsaw Fortress, a series of fortifications built around the city between 1883 and 1890.Lech Królikowski: Twierdza Warszawa. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Bellona, 2002. ISBN 83-11-09356-3. (In Polish) It extracted the clay for its products locally, leaving behind pits, some of which were later flooded, forming small ponds, including Jelonek and Schneider Clay Pits, which are present within the neighbourhood boundaries to the present day.Barbara Petrozolin-Skowrońska (editor): Encyklopedia Warszawy. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, 1994, p. 212, ISBN 83-01-08836-2. (in Polish)Łukasz Szkudlarek: Analiza powierzchniowa zlewni. Charakterystyka i ocena funkcjonowania układu hydrograficznego, ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem systemów melioracyjnych na obszarze m.st. Warszawy wraz z zaleceniami do Studium uwarunkowań i kierunków zagospodarowania przestrzennego m.st. Warszawy i planów miejscowych. Warsaw: Warsaw, 2015, p. 14. (in Polish) The factory operated until 1940, when, while under German occupation, it was ordered to be closed down.
Around 1877, fifteen German settlers founded a hamlet of Nowy Chrzanów, located along the current Okrętowa Street.
In 1927, inspired by the garden city movement, the Schneider family divided and sold a portion of their land, promoting the construction of villas and gardens in the village. They also founded a garden and a fruit tree orchard, located around their summer residence, and also drew plans of wide town streets, including Schneider Avenue, which currently forms Powstańców Śląskich Street. In 1932, the settlement had been renamed to Miasto-Ogród Jelonek (Garden Town of Jelonek). A marketplace, known as the John III Sobieski Square, now known as the Castellan Square, was also built there.
Second World War Jelonki and Nowy Chrzanów were captured by German forces in early September 1939 during the siege of Warsaw in the Second World War. On 18 September 1939, they were recaptured in a counter-offensive by the 360th Infantry Regiment of the Polish Armed Forces, commanded by lieutenant colonel Leopold Okulicki. Their forces included four infantry companies, with heavy machine gun platoons, and one mortar platoon.Wacław Stanisław Godzemba-Wysocki, Marian Domagała-Zamorski: Historia Kaniowszczyków, czyli dzieje 30 Pułku Piechoty Strzelców Kaniowskich. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo M. M., 2006, pp. 124–125. ISBN 83-89710-28-5. (in Polish)Ludwik Głowacki: Obrona Warszawy i Modlina na tle kampanii wrześniowej 1939. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Ministerstwa Obrony Narodowej wydanie V, 1985, pp. 236–237. ISBN 83-11-07109-8. (in Polish) They were also supported by a artillery batteries, a platoon of 7TP light tanks, as well as a company of the Capital Battalion, with the latter being pushed back during the attacks.Dariusz Kaliński: Twierdza Warszawa. Pierwsza wielka bitwa miejska II wojny światowej. Kraków: Znak Horyzont, 2022, pp. 394–395. ISBN 978-83-240-8785-3. (in Polish)Artur Szczepaniak: Batalion Stołeczny 1936–1939. Wielka Księga Piechoty Polskiej 1918–1939. T. 32. Warsaw: Edipresse Polska S.A., 2018, pp. 71–72. ISBN 978-83-7945-413-6. (in Polish) The motorized platoon suffered heavy loses in an encounter against German Panzer 35(t) light tanks. The villages were captured with severe losses suffered by the Polish infantry, and remained under Polish control until the capitulation of Warsaw on 28 September 1939. In 1943, Jelonki had 3,826 inhabitants.Gemeinde- und Dorfverzeichnis für das Generalgouvernement . 1943.
Expansion as a suburb Since 1867, the area was part of the municipality of Blizne. On 25 March 1938, a village assembly () of Jelonki, with the seat in Miasto Ogród Jelonek, was founded as a subdivision of the municipality. After the war, the village also became the seat of the municipal government. In 1947, the village was connected with Warsaw, via the bus route W, between the Wola tram depot and the Castellan Square.
In 1943, the Schneiders family donated 28 hectares of their land to the municipality, for the symbolic price of 1 złoty, for the development of streets, churches, schools, preschools, a town hall, and other objects. The land was donated for the symbolic price of 1 złoty. After the war, Miasto Ogród Jelonek became the seat of the municipal government. In 1947, the village was connected with Warsaw, via the bus route W, between the Wola tram depot at Młynarska Street and the Castellan Square. On 14 May 1951, the area was incorporated into the city of Warsaw, becoming part of the Wola district.Andrzej Gawryszewski: Ludność Warszawy w XX wieku. Warsaw: Instytut Geografii i Przestrzennego Zagospodarowania PAN, 2009, pp. 44–50. . (in Polish) On 29 December 1989, following an administrative reform in the city, it became part of the municipality of Warsaw-, and on 25 March 1994, of the municipality of Warsaw-, which, on 27 October 2002, was restructured into the city district of Bemowo. In 1997, it was subdivided into ten areas of the two City Information System areas, with the neighbourhood being divided into Jelonki Południowe (South Jelonki) and Jelonki Północne (North Jelonki).
In 1949, the Warszawa Główna Towarowa railway station for cargo trains was opened at to the south of Jelonki and Połczyńska Streets. In 1952, the Warszawa Jelonki railway station was established near the corner of Strąkowska and Wincentego Pola Streets.
In 1952, the Friendship Estate, was developed to the north of Jelonki. It provided housing for several thousand labourers from the Soviet Union, employed at the construction of the Palace of Culture and Science.Jarosław Zieliński: Pałac Kultury i Nauki. Łódź: Księży Młyn, 2012, pp. 33–34. ISBN 978-83-7729-158-0. (in Polish) The government acquired the land from the owners via the compulsory purchase. Two types of wooden buildings were built in the neighbourhood; pavilions with suites for labourers and single-family detached houses for technicians. They were shipped in prefabricated pieces to the city, and assembled on site.Michał Krasucki: Warszawskie dziedzictwo postindustrialne. Warsaw: Fundacja Hereditas, 2011, p. 337. ISBN 978-83-931723-5-1. (in Polish) According to some sources, a portion of the buildings were shipped from the prisoner-of-war camp Stalag I-B near Olsztynek, Poland.Rafał Jabłoński: Historie warszawskie. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo TRIO, 2012, p. 218. ISBN 978-83-7436-314-3. (in Polish) The neighbourhood also included a cinema, a student club, a bathhouse, a medical clinic, a boiler room, and two pitches.Jarosław Trybuś: Przewodnik po warszawskich blokowiskach. Warsaw: Museum of Warsaw Rising, p. 186. ISBN 978-83-60142-31-8. (in Polish) In 1952, it was connected to a sewage network, with the construction of the nearby pumping station.Henryk Janczewski: Warszawa. Geneza i rozwój inżynierii miejskiej. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Arkady, 1971, p. 169. (in Polish) At its peak, the neighbourhood had 4,500 inhabitants. Numerous festivals, Polish and Soviet youth meetings, and sports competitions were hosted there. After the end of the construction of the Palace of Culture and Science in 1955, the neighbourhood was given by the city to the Ministry of Higher Education, which designated it for student housing for the universities in the city.Encyklopedia Warszawy. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, 1994, p. 710. ISBN 83-01-08836-2. (in Polish) In September 1955, it was inhabited by 3,000 students, as well as teaching assistants. It was connected with the rest of the city via two bus lines.Rafał Jabłoński: Historie warszawskie. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo TRIO, 2012, p. 191. ISBN 978-83-7436-314-3. (in Polish) The student festival Jelonkalia has also begun being hosted annually."Kalendarz warszawski 1 IV–30 VI 1986", Kronika Warszawy, no. 69, p. 210, 1987. (in Polish)
In 1958, association football club Robotniczy Klub Sportowy Świt merged with club Ludowy Klub Sportowy Lech Jelonki, which played on the pitch at Połczyńska Street. In 1960, the club again merged with Dąb Jelonki, taking over its pitch at 12 Oświatowa Street. In the following years, it was acquired by the Warsaw Gasworks, with most of the players being its employees, and renamed to Gazowniczy Klub Sportowy Świt Warszawa. Later, it became a property of PGNiG.
In 1968, the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, belonging to the Catholic denomination, was built in Jelonki at 31 Brygadzistów Street.Grzegorz Kalwarczyk: Przewodnik po parafiach i kościołach Archidiecezji Warszawskiej. Tom 2. Parafie warszawskie. Warsaw: Oficyna Wydawniczo-Poligraficzna Adam, 2015, p. 479. ISBN 978-83-7821-118-1. (in Polish)