The Sky is the Limit: Poland’s Highest Mountains & Tallest Buildings
On 21st February 2021, the Varso Tower skyscraper in Warsaw reached its full height – 310 metres – becoming the tallest building in the European Union. In honour of this momentous occasion, Culture.pl presents a list of the tallest of the tall in Poland, including the tallest brick lighthouse in the world, the highest wooden mast in Europe and… Poland’s tallest tree!
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RTCN Katowice / Kosztowy broadcasting mast in Mysłowice, photo: Robert Neumann / Forum
First up, we have the tallest construction in all of Poland – the RTCN Katowice / Kosztowy broadcasting mast in the Silesian town of Mysłowice. This mast, located at 34 Orła Białego Street, is a whopping 358.7 metres tall and is built out of hundreds of metal pipes. In order for the narrow construction not to fall over, it was stabilised by 15 guy-wires. When the mast was originally erected in 1976, it was only 269 metres tall, but in later years it was expanded and reached its current height. It’s just two metres higher than the second-tallest construction in Poland: the RTCN Olsztyn Pieczewo broadcasting mast in Olsztyn.
RTCN Katowice is equipped with various transmitters which allow for the broadcasting of TV and radio programmes (the Polish acronym RTCN stands for Radio & Television Broadcasting Centre). The mast isn’t open to visitors but you can always come to Mysłowice and take a look at it from a distance – the sight is quite impressive.
But the mast in Mysłowice wasn’t always Poland’s tallest structure! It used to be dwarfed by the radio mast in Konstantynów. Built in 1974 from steel pipes, it was a whopping 646 metres tall, which made it the tallest construction in the entire world!
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The antenna took root in the [local] landscape, it was also mentioned in the Guinness World Records as the world’s tallest engineering construction. The mast’s broadcasting power was also a source of wonder. The waves of Polish Radio Programme 1 were received, among others, in North Africa, Kazakhstan, Iran, Iraq and even in the eastern regions of the USA and Canada.
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From the article ‘Najwyższa budowla inżynieryjna świata stała kiedyś w Polsce’, noizz.pl, trans. MK
Sadly, the mast in Konstantynów collapsed during maintenance work in 1991. Fortunately, nobody was injured in the event. The world’s tallest mast wasn’t rebuilt, and it wasn’t until the construction of the Burj Khalifa skyscraper in Dubai in the 2000s (828 metres tall) that a higher structure was erected.
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The wooden radio mast in Gliwice (the tallest wooden construction in Europe), photo: Wojciech Wojcik / Forum
Another mast noted for its size can be found in southern Poland’s town of Gliwice. There, at 129 Tarnogórska Street, stands a 111-metre wooden radio mast which makes it the tallest wooden construction in Europe (commonly known as the Silesian Eiffel Tower).
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The Gliwice antenna tower was built in 1935 by a company named Lorenz. […] The object was constructed from impregnated logs of larch wood, joined by over 16,000 brass screws. Interestingly, there’s not a single steel nail in the tower.
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From ‘Radiostacja Gliwice’ an article at zabytkitechniki.pl, trans. MK
The Gliwice Radio Tower is linked to a dramatic moment in history. When it was built, Gliwice was still in Germany, albeit right on the Polish border. On 31st August 1939, a small Nazi German unit stormed the building of the radio station. The soldiers were posing as Silesian insurgents and sent a short broadcast saying that the station was now in Polish hands. This provocation, which came to be known as the Gleiwitz incident, created the false impression that Nazi Germany was under attack from Poland. The plot was supposed to justify Nazi Germany’s invasion of Poland the very next day.
After World War II, Gliwice became a part of Poland, and for a few years the mast was used to retransmit the signal of Radio Katowice. Today, the Gliwice mast has the status of a Monument to History and is part of the Museum in Gliwice. Visitors can access the area of the tower and get a close-up look at it but aren’t allowed to climb it. Even though the Gliwice Radio Tower is a museum exhibit, it’s still used for communication purposes.
Dethroning the Palace of Culture & Science
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Varso Tower in Warsaw, photo: Tomasz Jastrzębowski / Reporter / East News
Whereas the Gliwice mast is the tallest wooden construction in Europe, the next item on our list – Warsaw’s newest skyscraper, Varso Tower, is the tallest building in the European Union! Varso Tower reached its full height of 310 metres on 21st February 2021, when the final elements of its massive 80-metre spire were put in place. The 53-storey building is located at 69/71 Chmielna Street in downtown Warsaw, and its façade and interiors are still being completed as these words are being written. The skyscraper is set to be ready at the beginning of 2022.
At the moment Varso Tower is ten metres taller than the EU’s second highest building – the Commerzbank Tower in Frankfurt. The skyscraper on Chmielna Street also dethroned the most well-known part of Warsaw’s skyline, the Palace of Culture of Science (237 metres), as the tallest building in Poland.
Varso Tower, which is part of a complex that includes two other buildings, will primarily house offices. However, those not seeking to do business in the skyscraper will also be able to enjoy its lofty architecture. The building will have two viewing terraces available to the public – on the 49th floor and on the roof. Also, a restaurant and bar are planned on the three floors directly below the lower terrace (hopefully soon we’ll be able to enjoy such establishments again).
The EU’s tallest building was designed by the Foster + Partners architectural studio, founded by the renowned architect Norman Foster. The studio is known for a number of successful high-rise designs such as the London ‘Gherkin’ or New York City’s Hearst Tower. Here’s architectural monthly Builder on Varso Tower:
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The elegant silhouette of Varso Tower will become one of the characteristic symbols of contemporary Warsaw and the building itself, despite its scale, will stand out because of its lightness.
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From the article ‘Varso Wychodzi z Ziemi’, trans. MK
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The brick lighthouse in Świnoujście, photo: Kacper Kowalski / PAP
Although nowhere as high as Varso Tower, we head to another record-breaker in the north-west. In Świnoujście, which lies on the Baltic coast, you’ll find the tallest brick lighthouse in the world. Located at 1 Ku Morzu Street, this historical structure is 68 metres high which also makes it the tallest lighthouse of any kind on the Baltic Sea. It might be worth adding that the world’s second-highest brick lighthouse is in in Buxton, North Carolina and measures in at 64 metres.
The Świnoujście lighthouse was designed by a Berlin construction councillor by the surname of Severin. It was built in 1857, back when Świnoujście was still a German town (the city became part of Poland after World War II). Originally, the Świnoujście lighthouse was octagonal, but during renovations that took place at the beginning of the 20th century, it took on a cylindrical form. Today, it still serves navigational purposes and is also open to visitors. Those that climb up its 308 steps can enjoy breath-taking views of the Baltic coastline.
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[The lighthouse] is definitely a landmark of Świnoujście and one of the biggest tourist attractions on the Polish coast.
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From ‘Latarnia Morska w Świnoujściu’ an article at swinoujscie.com, trans. MK
In a building adjacent to the lighthouse, you can find the Lighthouse and Maritime Rescue Museum. At this splendid institution you can explore, among other things, an historic diving suit weighing 70 kilograms or a 4,200-watt lighthouse lightbulb.
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The dam on Lake Solina, photo: Kacper Kowalski / Forum
Next up we have another structure that’s closely linked to water – the huge dam on Lake Solina in south-eastern Poland. At 82 metres, this dam is the tallest hydro-technical structure in Poland. It’s also 664 metres long and thanks to its impressive size is one of the biggest constructions of its kind in Europe.
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The amount of concrete used for its construction would suffice to line the borders of Poland with a 1-metre-high wall. The completed object weighs about 2 million tons and is 760 thousand cubic metres large.
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From ‘Trzy Największe Zapory w Polsce’, an article at tech.wp.pl, trans. MK
The enormous dam was designed under the supervision of engineer Feliks Niczke and built in the years 1961-68. It banked up the waters of the River San creating Lake Solina. With a surface area of 22 square kilometres this body of water is Poland’s largest artificial lake. The water from it is used to produce power at the hydroelectric plant that’s adjacent to the dam. This way 112 gigawatts of clean energy are produced yearly.
In 2015, the dam on Lake Solina was embellished with a massive ecological mural showing animals and plants from the nearby Bieszczady Mountiains. This curious work of art covered an area of about 5,000 square metres and was created by selectively removing the dirt that had accumulated on the dam over the years. The mural’s creators used pressurized water to clean the dam and the dirt that remained on its surface formed the mural. Today, however, due to the passing of time this mural isn’t as visible as when it was first made.
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The statue of Christ the King in Świebodzin, photo: Robert Neumann / Forum
While the dam on Lake Solina is Poland’s tallest hydrotechnical structure, the giant statue of Christ the King in the western town of Świebodzin is the biggest figures of Jesus in the country – and one of the biggest in the world. The Świebodzin Jesus is 36 metres tall and stands on a 16.5-metre artificial mound. The white, reinforced-concrete figure is topped by a 3-metre gold-plated crown. The statue’s measurements are meant to carry a symbolic meaning:
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The figure itself, without the crown and base, is 33 metres tall, which is the number of years Jesus lived. But there are more symbols. The crown is 3 metres tall which reflects the amount of years Jesus was a public figure. The mound is made up of five rings, which correspond to Earth’s continents.
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From ‘Pomnik Chrystusa Króla w Świebodzinie Ma Już 6 Lat’, an article at gazetalubuska.pl, trans. MK
The statue of Christ the King was built on Sulechowska Street per the initiative of Father Sylwester Zawadzki of Świebodzin’s Divine Mercy Parish. It was designed by sculptor Mirosław Patecki and erected in 2010. Back then, it was the tallest figure of Jesus in the world! However, it lost that status in 2015, when a 40-metre figure of Christ, called Jesus Buntu Burake, was built in the Indonesian town of Makale. Together with its pedestal the Indonesian statue measures 52.55 metres, whereas the Świebodzin Jesus, with its mound, is half a metre smaller. Still, the statue of Christ the King is the second-tallest figure of Jesus in the world and one of Poland’s most famous sculptures.
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The border crossing on Mount Rysy, photo: Adam Golec / AG
So far we’ve been discussing man-made objects, but what about nature’s tallest treasures? When it comes to natural wonders, the tallest is definitely Mount Rysy in the Tatra Mountains. The uppermost Polish peak of this mountain is 2499 metres above sea level, which makes Mount Rysy the highest mountain in Poland.
It’s worth pointing out, though, that this mountain actually has an even higher peak. Mount Rysy lies on the Polish-Slovakian border, and it is in Slovakia that the mountain reaches its highest point of 2501 metres above sea level.
As the highest mountain in Poland, Rysy is a much cherished natural landmark. It’s a favourite with tourists who enjoy hiking all the way up to its summit. On the way up, you pass the picturesque Morskie Oko lake – the biggest lake in the Tatra Mountains. Be advised, though, that if you’re planning to go up Mount Rysy, you should be prepared to have a full day off to spare – a typical trip up and down the mountain takes over 10 hours! However, the effort will be well worth it. Here’s a description of the amazing views that can be seen from Poland’s highest point:
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The views are breath-taking. You can clearly see the high Slovakian Tatra Mountians. […] You can also easily discern the western Tatra Mountains. […] In good weather conditions, from Rysy you can see 80 other peaks and 13 lakes. They say that when the conditions are perfect you can see as far as 200 kilometres away, so you should actually be able to see Kraków in the distance!
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From ‘Jak Wejść na Rysy Latem’, an article at skalnik.pl, trans. MK
Poland’s tallest Douglas fir in the Ujsoły Forest District, photo: Łukasz Tram Let’s move on to another mountain range in southern Poland – Beskid Żywiecki. There, deep in the woodlands, near the village of Ujsoły, grows Poland’s tallest tree. The tree in question is a Douglas fir which is 58.2 metres high.
Poland’s tallest tree was actually discovered in the summer of 2020 by Łukasz Tram, an employee of the Kraków Bureau of Forest Management and Geodesy. Sharing his find in a Facebook post, he wrote:
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While conducting road inventorying in the Ujsoły Forest District, I happened to discover this beautiful Douglas fir; it’s probably the tallest tree growing in Poland; up until now the Douglas fir growing near the village of Meszna in the Bielsko Forest District was considered the tallest.
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From Facebook, trans. MK
Using a laser altimeter, Tram estimated that the Douglas fir was 58 metres tall. Later a more precise measurement was made using a steel tape, which revealed that this impressive tree was actually 0.2 metres taller. That officially made it the highest measured tree in Poland. It’s almost a metre taller than the previous holder of this record.
Poland’s tallest tree appears to be rather healthy so it might even keep growing. Perhaps in the years to come it will keep breaking records!
Eugeniusz Taraciński, the tallest Pole to have ever been measured, photo: ZS archive in Bystrzyca & Michał Skiba’s family archive Last, but not least, let’s take a look at the tallest Poles. You read that right. Eugeniusz Taraciński (1928-1978) is considered the tallest Pole to have ever been measured. He was 2.28 metres tall.
Taraciński was born in the village of Herawiec, in today’s Ukraine, and after World War II moved to the village of Bystrzyca in southern Poland. He worked in various capacities: as a lumberjack, a bus-factory worker and a house painter. Taraciński is said to have been exceptionally strong, here’s how he was remembered by Waldemar Dawidowicz, a former resident of Bystrzyca:
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He worked in the woods with my father and when one time the tractor got stuck in the dirt, he pulled it out all on his own.
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From ‘Wielkolud z Bystrzycy’, an article at tuolawa.pl, trans. MK
Unfortunately, Taraciński suffered from a brain tumour, which caused him to grow even into his thirties. He was, however, treated for his illness in Warsaw. Toward the end of his life he moved to Jelcz, where he lived at a worker’s hotel.
As to the identity of the tallest living Pole, we can’t be sure. A seemingly good candidate is Jakub Kuśmieruk (born in 1989), who was a basketball player for the Szczecin club Wilki Morskie. He is 2.24 metres tall and is considered the tallest Pole to have professionally played basketball in Poland.
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, another professional Polish basketball player, Małgorzata Dydek (a.k.a. Margo Dydek), holds the record for the tallest athlete to ever compete in the WNBA. Dydek, who was born in 1974, was an astounding 2.18 metres tall. She played, among others, for the Utah Starzz and the Connecticut Sun. Sadly, she passed away in 2011 due to heart failure.
Well, it looks like our list of Polish tallnesses has come to an end. If you’d like to find out more about tall things in Poland, check out our Up in the Sky: Polish Skyscrapers article.
Written by Marek Kępa, Mar 21
