The institution of pawnbrokers, – establishments granting loans against the pledge of valuables, is centuries-old, with origins dating back to the 13th century. In the Polish lands, this form of interest-free lending was for a long time associated with the activity of the Church's Montes Pietatis (Pious Banks). The first government and municipal pawnbrokers began to be established at the end of the 18th century and became widespread, especially in the Russian partition, in the second half of the 19th century. In the interwar period, 28 pawnshops operated in Poland, including 13 belonging to the Communal Savings Bank (data from 1933). They granted around half a million loans a year; in the event of non-repayment of a loan, the pledged item was put up for public auction.

There were two pledge companies active in interwar Vilnius: Zakład Zastawniczy Komunalnej Kasa Oszczędności and Vilnius Lombard „Kresowia”. The latter was a private institution, operating from 1927 in premises at 1 Hetmańska Street (corner of Wielka Street); in 1935 the pawnshop was closed, and its owners, S. Gordon and A. Lejbowicz, were prosecuted for usurious practices.

Communal Savings Banks were institutions of local self-government whose purpose was to safely store the savings deposits of the population and to provide loans. The Pledge Establishment (pawnshop) of the KKO in Vilnius was located at 14 Trocka Street, in a post-Franciscan building. After the Order regained ownership of the building in 1934, the municipal authorities received a court order to vacate the premises occupied by the KKO pawnshop.

History of the building

In the building on Trocka Street, the City Lombard operated – despite the eviction order – for several more years. Lack of funds made it impossible to start the construction of a new premises, the location of which was indicated in the Municipal Urban Planning Office: it was a square located on the newly designed street located between Mickiewicza and Portowa Streets. An annex with this location was attached to the terms and conditions of a nationwide architectural competition, announced in November 1937 by the Association of Polish Architects on behalf of the Municipal Savings Bank of the City of Vilnius. The competition was resolved in March 1938: out of 40 entries, the competition committee, consisting of representatives of the KKO (architects Przemysław Grodzki, Aleksander Zasztowt, Antoni Sobolewski), the Vilnius branch of the SARP (architects Wilhelm Markiewicz, Jerzy Paprocki) and a representative of the Municipal Urban Planning Bureau (arch. Stanisław Bukowski) and the committee's secretary (arch. Stefan Narębski), selected three awarded works and one to be purchased. All the awarded projects were by Lviv architects: the first prize winners were Tadeusz Brzoza and Jan Krug, the second prize went to the team: Adam Kawalerski and Alpiński, the third prize – Jerzy Gölis, assistant professor at the Faculty of Architecture of the Lviv Polytechnic. The release also announced the purchase of project No. 6 by Anastasia and Roman Piotrowski.

Construction of the new pawnbroker's premises began in the last quarter of 1938 and was scheduled to be completed at the end of the following year. In August 1939, the press reported that the City Lombard building was almost ready; however, the events of the following months prevented its planned opening.

Architecture

The building of the Pledging Unit of the Vilnius Municipal Savings Bank is a free-standing building, consisting of two bodies: an administrative building situated in the street building line and a warehouse connected with it perpendicularly. The four-storey front building housed, in addition to offices, administrative premises, cash registers, etc., a large operating room for the public, where auctions were also to be held. In the storage wing, rooms arranged over three floors were used to store stored items. A well-protected vault for valuables was located in the basement. The building was equipped with the latest technical solutions: ventilation and fire protection systems, freight lifts.

The modernist design of the Vilnius City Lombard building, referring to the forms of industrial architecture, is characterised by the original solution of the façade of the main body. Its composition was dominated by a uniform rhythm of square, framed by massive bands of windows located on the three upper storeys; small windows on the ground floor were placed high and originally barred (now the ground floor windows have been completely rebuilt, enlarged into shop windows). The main entrance was sheltered by a reinforced concrete canopy, slightly turned upwards and supported by four circular columns.

The attribution of the completed project is not clearly established. The literature to date points to Irena Heilman, but this has not been conclusively proven from sources. It could also have been Tadeusz Brzoza and Jan Krug, the authors of the winning competition entry, as well as Anastasia and Roman Piotrowski, whose design was purchased; as the practice at the time indicates, often – regardless of the competition results – the purchased work was sent for realisation.

Historical address: 9 Portowa Street,

Contemporary address: A. Smetonos g. 5