6 Sierpnia Street is located in the western part of the Śródmieście district (City Center) and the eastern part of the Polesie district (Stare Polesie) in Łódź, with a length of approximately . It starts at the intersection with Piotrkowska Street and runs almost parallel to the equator to the intersection with Lucjan Żeligowski Street, and then southwest to the intersection with Włókniarzy Avenue. Its eastern extension, across Piotrkowska Street, is Romuald Traugutt Street. The name of the street commemorates the date of the departure of the First Cadre Company in 1914.

The street is divided into two sections by the dual carriageway of Tadeusz Kościuszko Avenue – neither straight passage nor left turns are possible (the barrier is a separated tram track), and only pedestrian crossing is allowed on the southern side of the intersection. The initial section, less than 300 m long, up to the intersection with Wólczańska Street, is located in the city center and in the historical-tourist zone of the city, while the remaining part is in Stare Polesie. The first section of the street – between Piotrkowska Street and Tadeusz Kościuszko Avenue – is designated as a traffic-calmed zone, and since the end of June 2014, it has been a city courtyard () and since 1 January 2015 has had the status of an internal road. The remaining part – from Tadeusz Kościuszko Avenue to the end – has the status of a county road (No. 1126E).

Since 5 August 2022, two-way traffic has been in effect along almost the entire length of the street, except for the section between Piotrkowska Street and Tadeusz Kościuszko Avenue, where traffic is one-way eastbound, opposite to the direction of property numbering.

The initial part of the street (properties with odd numbers from 1 to 9 and even numbers from 2 to 20) belongs to the Roman Catholic Parish of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, the next part on the even side (properties with numbers from 22 to 98) belongs to the Roman Catholic Parish of Our Lady of Victory, and the odd side (properties with numbers from 13 to 71) belongs to the Roman Catholic Parish of St. Matthew the Apostle.

History

Until 1918 The initial section of 6 Sierpnia Street – from Piotrkowska Street, likely to Wólczańska Street – was laid out in the mid-1820s during the development of the Łódka flax-cotton settlement. The name Krótka Street was commonly used but not an official designation and referred to both this section and the cross street on the other side of Piotrkowska Street, now known as Romuald Traugutt Street. It was not until 1863 that the city council standardized street names, assigning official names to those that previously lacked them. The council adopted the principle that cross streets of Piotrkowska Street would have separate names on either side of it; thus, the section of Krótka Street extending west from Piotrkowska was officially named Benedykta Street, while the section extending east retained the name Krótka. Dariusz Kędzierski, a Łódź publicist and filmmaker, mentions a dispute over the patron of the street – whether it was intended to honor Benedict of Nursia or Benedyk Tykel, a co-founder of industrial Łódź – considering the second option unlikely.

The street was gradually extended, and by the 1870s, it ended near Wiązowy Market (later Green Market, now Norbert Barlicki Square), before the planned Pańska Street (now Stefan Żeromski Street). In 1870, two corner tenement houses were built at the intersection with Piotrkowska Street (at No. 1/3 and 63 Piotrkowska Street). These were erected by Karol Kretschmer, who owned a handkerchief weaving mill there since 1857, one of the oldest factories in Łódź. Most of the parcels on the north side of the street belonged to him. That same year, a corner building at No. 2 and 65 Piotrkowska Street was constructed, where Szaja Rosenblatt opened a wool spinning mill three years later.

In 1880, a wool spinning mill building was erected at 15 Benedykta Street by Henryk Feder and Jakub Vivey. The factory operated until the early 1920s, closing due to bankruptcy.

The ongoing development of the district known as Wiązowa around 1880 led to the further extension of Benedykta Street westward, and beyond the then-planned Leszno vel Leśna Street (now Lucjan Żeligowski Street), southwest to the line of the city forest running between today's properties numbered 102 and 104. The characteristic oblique layout of parcel boundaries and building lines along the NE–SW axis, inconsistent with the rectangular street grid that formed the district's basic plan, aligned with the former layout of the agricultural town's fields. The sharp bend in Benedykta Street's route (as well as several others) from nearly parallel to the equator to southwest beyond Leszno vel Leśna was due to the streets being laid out along the paths of old field boundaries. Between the 1880s and 1890s, due to cramped development and water supply issues, Karol Kretschmer relocated the handkerchief weaving mill to a plot on Milsch Road (now 62 Mikołaj Kopernik Street), and on the vacated plot at No. 5 began constructing an eclectic tenement house, which became his residence in 1896.

On 24 September 1889, Edward Szolz vel Scholtz's steam wool spinning mill at No. 72 (later Nos. 72 and 74, formerly Nos. 795ii and 795kk) was completely destroyed by fire. The factory, which employed over 50 workers, had existed since 1881. The fire started in the room housing the picker and within about an hour engulfed the entire factory. The losses were estimated at over 50,000 rubles. The owner obtained permission to rebuild the spinning mill before the end of the year.

In early autumn 1889, an underground gas pipeline was laid on the section of Benedykta Street between Wólczańska and Długa streets (now Gdańska Street), and a year later this part of the street was illuminated by gas lamps.

In 1895, at 1 Benedykta Street, Zygmunt Bartkiewicz founded the first Artistic Salon in Łódź, where exhibitions of paintings by both established artists (including Józef Chełmoński, Julian Fałat, Juliusz Kossak, Władysław Podkowiński, and Henryk Siemiradzki) and aspiring artists (including Samuel Hirszenberg and Leopold Pilichowski) were presented. The first exhibition of pure applied art was opened on December 3. A significant achievement of the institution was the 1898 charity art exhibition, whose catalog included works by 94 artists (220 paintings, 24 sculptures and bronzes, and architectural drawings by 6 architects). The salon existed there until early 1899 when it moved to 3 Zawadzka Street (now Adam Próchnik Street).

At this time, between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Russian State Bank purchased a corner plot at 6 Benedykta Street and 14 Spacerowa vel Promenada Street (now Tadeusz Kościuszko Avenue) from the Rosenblatt spouses for 242,500 rubles, intending to build its headquarters there. In a competition announced in 1901, Dawid Lande's design was chosen. The bank building was erected between 1905 and 1908.

The construction of the Warsaw–Kalisz Railway line in 1900 determined the final length of Benedykta Street. The approved final route of the line brought it as close to the city as possible – planning its course along the eastern boundary of the city forest and requiring the construction of four railway viaducts: over Konstantynowska Road (now Konstantynowska Street) and over Benedykta, Andrzeja (now Andrzej Struga Street), and Karolewska Streets. However, for cost-saving reasons, the construction of viaducts over Benedykta and Andrzeja Streets was abandoned, and the built railway line became the ultimate barrier limiting the length of both streets.

Before World War I, Benedykta Street was an unpaved road. Between 1915 and 1916, the section from Promenade (now Tadeusz Kościuszko Avenue) to Spinnlinie (now Wólczańska Street) was paved, and between 1916 and 1917, the section from Leschnostraße (now Lucjan Żeligowski Street) toward Łódź Kaliska railway station was paved. From 1915 to 1918, the occupying Germans introduced German names – Benedykta Street became Benediktstraße. The building of the former Russian State Bank was occupied by the German occupation administration. After the German troops were driven out of Łódź, the Military Command of the city, commanded by Captain Alfred Biłyk, took over the building at 6 Benedykta Street.

From 1918 to 1945 After the war ended in 1918, the street was again given the Polish name Benedykta Street, but this name only lasted for a year. At a ceremonial session of the city council convened on 6 August 1919 in the assembly hall of the building at 16 Średnia Street (now Pomorska Street) to commemorate the 5th anniversary of the First Cadre Company's march from Kraków's Oleandry Street, the council members adopted by acclamation a resolution announcing the renaming of Benedykta Street to 6 Sierpnia Street, in honor of the march date. The change was likely made in mid-November 1919, as the city council minutes from November 4 still listed the street as Benedykta, while the Dziennik Zarządu m. Łodzi from November 25 referred to it by its new name.

In 1923, the bankrupt wool spinning mill of Feder and Vivego at 15 6 Sierpnia Street was purchased by the owners of the nearby Factory of Toilet Soaps and Cosmetics – Hugo Güttel and Józef Wójtowicz. Three years later, the company was renamed the Factory of Toilet Soaps and Cologne Józef Wójtowicz, Hugo Güttel and Co., and in 1929 it became the Hugo Güttel Soap and Cosmetics Factory Pixin.

On 9 April 1924, in the early hours of the morning, a fire broke out in the boiler room of Stefan Angerstein's spinning mill at number 17. The fire quickly spread, engulfing the entire three-story factory building. All Łódź fire departments fought the blaze – a total of 14 units. The operation was led by Karol Scheibler, deputy commander of the Volunteer Fire Brigade in Łódź. The fire was extinguished by early afternoon, but the factory was completely destroyed along with its equipment, goods, and raw materials, leaving 300 workers unemployed. During the firefighting efforts, the second floor's overheated ceiling collapsed, cutting off the escape route for 3 firefighters who subsequently died in the flames. After a funeral service held on 12 April 1924 at the Łódź Cathedral by Bishop Wincenty Tymieniecki, they were buried in a common grave in the Catholic section of the Old Cemetery at 39 Ogrodowa Street. Shortly after, the grave was topped with a tombstone featuring 3 shattered columns, erected with contributions from the people of Łódź.

In the early 1920s, the city allocated a vast area along the northern side of 6 Sierpnia Street, between Leszno Street (now Lucjan Żeligowski Street) and Towarowa Street (now Włókniarzy Avenue), to the military. This area, known as Zelinówka (or Selinówka) in the late 19th century, originally belonged to Fryderyk Sellin. In 1925, a full-size football stadium was inaugurated at number 71, which the newly established Military Sports Club (after World War II, Military Sports Club Orzeł Łódź) took over the following year.

In 1927, tram tracks were laid along the section of the street between Piotrkowska Street and Tadeusz Kościuszko Avenue. The first trams – line 17 running from Fryderyk Sellin Square (from 1930, Józef Haller Square) towards Władysław Reymont Square and back – traveled the route on October 26. The tracks were used almost continuously for 23 years, with four lines (6, 7, 14, and 17) operating at different times. In the same year, the former Russian State Bank building became the property of Bank Polski SA.