A dispute in the company of rowers. In the background, two properties worth millions
Have the authorities of the oldest Polish sports association put the organization in debt and are now ready to sell off its assets? Such accusations against the Warsaw Rowing Association are made by activists who were removed from it. The WTW board denies this and claims that the allegations are unfounded. In the background are expensive real estates in popular places in Warsaw.
The Warsaw Rowing Society was founded in 1878 and is the oldest Polish sports association. In the first four years it operated illegally and in secret, because the Russian authorities feared conspiracies and banned the creation of any national organizations.
An organization with huge assets
Today, WTW is not only a recognizable organization, but also very wealthy: in the capital, it owns two very well-located properties – a modern marina on Wioślarska Street in Warsaw (on the Vistula River itself), where competitors can train, and a tenement house at Foksal Street 19. This is a beautiful building built in the late 19th century. Its wall is decorated with a work by the famous painter Henryk Siemiradzki depicting the Warsaw Mermaid against the background of the Old Town. In the past, the tenement house served as the winter headquarters of the Society, and its members trained in fencing and gymnastics there. The banquet hall was the venue for social events, which were attended by Warsaw’s elite in the pre-war period.
