PAST

PAST
Pre-war look of the Large PAST (background) and Small PAST (foreground) buildings
The PAST building burning during the Warsaw Uprising.

PAST (short for Polska Akcyjna Spółka Telefoniczna, Polish Telephone Joint-stock Company) was a Polish telephone operator in the period between World War I and World War II. It is notable for its main headquarters in Warsaw, which at the time of its construction was the first and tallest skyscraper in the Russian Empire and the tallest building of Warsaw. The fight for the building during the Warsaw Uprising of 1944 also added to the legend of the place.

The Swedish-owned company Towarzystwo Akcyjne Telefonów ", also known as Cedergren", won a competition in 1900 to expand the Warsaw telephone network. For that purpose, two buildings were built at Zielna street in downtown Warsaw, holding the telephone exchange and the company's headquarters. The building, located at 37 Zielna Street, was built between 1904 and 1910 and was constructed in two phases. The lower part, designed by L. Wahlman, I.G. Clason and B. Brochowicz-Rogoyski, was completed in 1904-1905; the upper part was added in 1907-1910. The building was one of the first reinforced concrete constructions of this magnitude in Europe.

The Cedergren license expired in 1922 and the building was consequently taken over by the PAST company. This is why it was referred to by Varsovians either by the name of Cedergren or PAST, or, colloquially, Pasta (English: Paste). During the German occupation of Poland, it was the regional telephone center for General Government. During the Warsaw Uprising, on August 20, 1944, the building was captured by Polish insurgents of AK battalion „Kiliński” after 20 days of bloody fighting. The building was severely damaged. It was rebuilt in a simplified architectural form after World War II. The company was not recreated after the war and its assets were nationalized by the Polish communist authorities.

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  • past — /past, pahst/, adj. 1. gone by or elapsed in time: It was a bad time, but it s all past now. 2. of, having existed in, or having occurred during a time previous to the present; bygone: the past glories of the Incas. 3. gone by just before the… …   Universalium

  • past — /past / (say pahst) verb 1. Rare past participle and occasional past tense of pass. –adjective 2. gone by in time. 3. belonging to, or having existed or occurred in time previous to this. 4. gone by just before the present time; just passed: the… …  

  • past — [past, päst] vi., vt. rare pp. of PASS2 adj. 1. gone by; ended; over [our past troubles] 2. of a former time; bygone 3. immediately preceding; just gone by [the past week] 4. having served formerly …   English World dictionary

  • Past — Past, prep. 1. Beyond, in position, or degree; further than; beyond the reach or influence of. Who being past feeling. Eph. iv. 19. Galled past endurance. Macaulay. [1913 Webster] Until we be past thy borders. Num. xxi. 22. [1913 Webster] Love,… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • past — ► ADJECTIVE 1) gone by in time and no longer existing. 2) (of time) that has gone by. 3) Grammar (of a tense) expressing a past action or state. ► NOUN 1) a past period or the events in it. 2) a person s or thing s history or earlier life. 3) …   English terms dictionary

  • Past — Past, Present Future Past, Present Future сборник Rob Zombie Дата выпуска …   Википедия

  • past — Ⅰ. past UK US /pɑːst/ US  /pæst/ preposition ► above a particular age or outside a stated limit: »More and more people are working until past retirement age. »We re past the point where losing a couple of employees will save us. Ⅱ. past UK US… …   Financial and business terms

  • Past — (‚Vergangenheit‘) steht für: Simple Past, eine Zeitform des Englischen (Past Tense) Past heißen: Ambar Past (* 1949), US amerikanisch mexikanische Poetin und bildende Künstlerin Siehe auch Past Perfect, Past Progressive …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Past — Past, a. [From {Pass}, v.] Of or pertaining to a former time or state; neither present nor future; gone by; elapsed; ended; spent; as, past troubles; past offences. Past ages. Milton. [1913 Webster] {Past master}. See under {Master}. [1913… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • past — I adjective ancient, antediluvian, antiquated, archaic, back, defunct, departed, elapsed, expired, forgotten, former, gone, gone by, historical, irrecoverable, lapsed, last, late, lost, no longer functioning, obsolete, old, outdated, outmoded,… …   Law dictionary

  • Past — Past, n. A former time or state; a state of things gone by. The past, at least, is secure. D. Webster. [1913 Webster] The present is only intelligible in the light of the past, often a very remote past indeed. Trench. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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