About the brand
HERSE IN 1868 "TRADE IN LACE AND WHITE GOODS"
The history of the family-owned company HERSE dates back to 1868, when two Poznań natives, Bogusław Maciej Herse (1839-1880) and Władysław Jerzykiewicz, opened a shop in Warsaw. A sign reading "Trade of Lace and White Goods" hung above the entrance to the company's first location, located in the Sandbang tenement house at 10 Senatorska Street. Jerzykiewicz quickly lost interest in the business and withdrew from the company.
His place was taken by Bogusław's brother, Adam Szczepan Herse (1850-1915), my great-grandfather. At that time, thanks to Adam's artistic talents, the company changed its name to "Magazyn Nowości" (Now Magazine) and embarked on a new direction. Shortly thereafter, a third brother, Ferdynand Robert Herse (1845-1905), joined the company.
photo from the company catalogue from the end of the 19th century
photo from the company catalog from 1899
HERSE IN 1899 "BOGUSŁAW HERSE FASHION HOUSE"
The magnificent, four-story Louis XVI-style building, designed by architect Józef Huss, had three facades: facing Marszałkowska Street, Kredytowa Street, and Dąbrowski Square.
"Honored Lady!
The Bogusław Herse company in Warsaw is pleased to announce that it has moved its warehouses and workshop this spring from Senatorska Street No. 10 to its own house at Marszałkowska Street No. 150.
This is how on the first page of its 1899 catalogue, the HERSE company informed its customers about the change of location.
"A large, magnificent multi-story building, with towers at street corners, stood on the spacious grounds of 150 Marszałkowska Street, with an entrance hall and marble stairs covered with patterned carpet, and an elevator leading to other private apartments. Further on, the building stretched along Kredytowa Street and Dąbrowski Square, a gate, and a second staircase, the front one with marble stairs... all the large-paned windows were display windows around the entire house."
The description of the Fashion House comes from Krystyna Machlejd's memoirs published under the title "The Ulrich-Machlejd Saga".
ADAM SZCZEPAN HERSE
Adam Szczepan Herse (1850-1915) devoted 34 years of his life to building the reputation of the Bogusław Herse Fashion House – first as co-owner, and then, after the tragic death of his brother, Bogusław Maciej, as president. Besides his innate business acumen, he also possessed a talent for art, which he utilized to chart a new course for the company's development. It was at his initiative that the Fashion House began sewing clothes based on designs by top Parisian designers, using only the finest materials. On this foundation, Adam Szczepan Herse built the company's prestige and reputation. He was renowned for his unwavering character and iron will.
When, after Bogusław's death, the debt-ridden company, still located on Senatorska Street, found itself on the brink of bankruptcy, Adam didn't give up for a moment. Instead, he took matters into his own hands and began steadily paying off the debts. The entire family moved into the shop, which had been relocated to the gateway of the tenement building. Bogusław's widow, Filipina née Kotka, lived on the mezzanine floor with her two children: Marynia and Bogusław Władysław. Young Bogusław went to school, while the rest of the family worked – Adam cut and sewed, while Filipina and Marynia did light finishing work. Thanks to his immense determination and great talent, as well as the immense kindness of the Warsaw community, after a few years the debts were paid off, and the Fashion House returned to its first-floor showrooms.
Over the next few years, the company flourished under Adam's leadership, who in 1899 moved its headquarters to a newly constructed building at 150 Marszałkowska Street. Adam was able to share his success – he was a great social activist and often donated significant amounts to charity.
"The best years in every respect were the years of the "reign" of an ideal, understanding partner and boss, the late Adam Herse, our Janek's father. Generous, fair, attentive to the needs of his staff, who valued and simply adored his boss."
A quote from the "Ulrichów-Machlejdowska Saga" by Krystyna Machlejd, mother-in-law of Jan Herse, son of Adam Herse.
in the photo: Adam Szczepan Herse with his nephew Bogusław Władysław Herse
in the photo Bogusław Władysław Herse (on the right) with the President of the International Chamber of Commerce and Industry Fentener Van Vllssingen (on the left)
BOGUSŁAW WŁADYSŁAW HERSE
Bogusław Władysław Herse (1872–1943) was the son of Bogusław Maciej Herse (1839–1880), founder of the Bogusław Herse Fashion House. After completing his studies at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales in Paris, he began working in the family business. Shortly before his uncle Adam Szczepan's death in 1915, he succeeded him as president of the Fashion House.
He was a member of the BP Council, president of the Polish Merchants Association, president of the Supervisory Board of the Polish Merchants Association, vice president of the Central Association of the Polish Mining, Trade, and Finance Industry, vice president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Warsaw, and vice president of the Chamber of Commerce in Paris. He was awarded the French Legion of Honor.
He was also an accomplished mountaineer. He always spent summers with his family in Zakopane on the Bystre Mountains, and hiked with Klimek Bachleda, among others. He owned the "Schodnica" villa on the slopes of Gubałówka, where he hosted, among others, Kazimierz Tetmajer, Władysław Orkan, and Jan Kasprowicz. In 1909, he was a member of the committee for the construction of the Mieczysław Karłowicz Mountain Shelter.
INTERIOR OF THE BOGUSŁAW HERSE FASHION HOUSE
"Inside, a magnificent, wide staircase—the balustrade was made of celadon majolica pillars, and the stairs themselves were covered with such a fluffy carpet that you could lose your feet—forked to the first floor, and there the supporting pillars created a vast space. There were no walls at all. And again: carpets, vases and antique chests of drawers, old clocks and polished tables, on which were piled fashionable tulles and silks."
A quote from "Ulrichów-Machlejdowska Saga" by Krystyna Machlejd.
photo from the company catalog from 1899
company catalog from 1905
HERSE COLLECTIONS
The specialty of the Bogusław Herse Fashion House was sewing dresses and coats based on the patterns of Parisian fashion houses such as Woerth, Beer, Lafferiere, Doucet, Callot Soeurs, Paquin, Lebouvier, Drecoll, Amy, Linker, Francis.
"A grand staircase or a comfortable elevator make it easy to get upstairs. We are at the heart of the company, its real atelier, where orders are received, the type of each toilet is devised, its style is conceptualized, materials are selected, detailed conferences are held with clients, the latest Parisian models are shown to them, new variations are assembled and combined, tried on, tried on, improved, and in this way – created."
"The left floor houses the storeroom for ell goods, coats and furs, the right floor contains laces, ribbons, fans, gloves, umbrellas, belts and all sorts of trinkets, complementing women's toiletry."
A quote from "Ulrichów-Machlejdowska Saga" by Krystyna Machlejd.
The Fashion House also had other departments: hats, veils, underwear and corsets, men's, children's, carpets, packaging and shipping.
LETTER TO THE FRENCH MISSION... THERE IS A BOGUSŁAW HERSE FASHION HOUSE IN WARSAW!
Mrs. Laroche, wife of the French ambassador Jules Laroche (who served as ambassador from 1926 to 1935), declared in one of her official statements that "there's nowhere to get dressed in Warsaw, so you have to go to Paris." Bogusław Herse's response was lightning fast – he wrote a letter to the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stating that "Warsaw is a beautiful and modern city, and for clothes there's the Bogusław Herse Fashion House." Bogusław Herse first received an official apology and, shortly thereafter, the French Legion of Honor. And Mrs. Laroche? The ambassador became a regular at Herse's fashion shows.
in the photo: French Ambassador Jules Laroche (in the center) with his daughter and wife
photo from the "Architecture and Construction" magazine from 1929
HERSE PAVILION DESIGNED BY BOHDAN PNIEWSKI PWK 1929
The Herse Pavilion, designed by Bohdan Pniewski in 1929, was built as part of the General National Exhibition organized in Poznań to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Poland regaining independence. Bogusław Herse was a member of the Main Council, and the Herse company received the Grand Gold Medal of the Polish National Exhibition.
THEY STAYED AT THE BOGUSŁAW HERSE FASHION HOUSE
"We wish to continue to maintain and serve a refined clientele who, in each individual case, wish to be dressed according to their own taste and to choose from the treasury of the latest fashions an outfit that best and most effectively suits their personal needs."
Quote from the company catalog from 1899.
"On the corner, at the entrance to the warehouse, the smiling, polite, bowing doorman Szymon, who had held this position for many years, was constantly greeting elegant ladies, many of whom had probably spent half their lives in Herse's warehouse. There was never a single instance where lines of elegant cars and private carriages weren't parked, as if in front of an embassy or a ministry, waiting for hours for the fashionable ladies, posing as "gods" and "the latest in fashion."
A quote from "Ulrichów-Machlejdowska Saga" by Krystyna Machlejd.
The Bogusław Herse Fashion House was frequented by: Marja Mościcka - wife of the President of the Republic of Poland, Mrs. Laroche - wife of the French ambassador, Countess Beata Branicka from Wilanów, Countess Maria Potocka née Brydzińska from Jabłonna - actress, Maria Majdrowiczówna - actress, Hanka Ordonówna - singer, dancer, actress, Stefania Grodzieńska - actress and writer, Augustowa Zaleska - wife of the president of Bank Handlowy, later president of the Republic of Poland in London, Zofia Batycka - Miss Polonia 1930...
photo from the company catalog
photo of the poster of the film "My Excellency the Clerk"
FILM "MY EXCELLENCE THE SUBIEKT" WITH EUGENIUSZ BODO
The poster for the film "My Excellency, the Shop Assistant" dates back to 1934. The film starred Eugeniusz Bodo and Mieczysława Ćwiklińska, and most of the scenes were filmed at the Bogusław Herse Fashion House. The film tells the story of a charming salesman, Jurek, who falls in love with Ania, the daughter of a high-society family...
GENEALOGY OF THE HERSE FAMILY
The Herse family originated in France. In the 13th century, its members were lawyers at the ducal courts. The ancestors of today's Herses were Huguenots and likely lived in the north of the country. During the religious persecution between 1562 and 1685, the family fled France and sought refuge in a German principality.
Traces of the family can be found in the 18th century in the Grand Duchy of Poznań, which was then part of Prussia. Gotfried Leberecht Herse (1774-1828) was married to Natalia Klossin, and after her death, to her sister Rozyna. He owned a bakery in Krotoszyn and later founded a mechanical bakery in Poznań.
His son, Ernest Wilhelm Herse (1802-1881), was born in Stęszew and never showed any interest in a career as a baker. He completed practical agricultural studies in Halle and purchased the Gnuszyn estate near Pniewy in the Piła district. After some time, he decided to sell it and invested the proceeds in another estate – this time Radłowo near Września. It was there that he was the first to cultivate sugar beets, which in the first half of the 19th century replaced sugar cane, which was subject to an import ban. Ernest also served as administrator of Count Seweryn Mielżyński's estate near Radłów. He became close friends with the Count, and the others remained close friends for life. He was artistically talented – he painted and drew. He always felt Polish and without hesitation joined the November Uprising along with his friend, the Count, who was also the forester on his estate. He married Augustyna Werner, with whom he had nine children. Their eldest son, Jarosław, graduated from the Faculty of Law in Poznań, was a notary and deputy mayor of Poznań.
With the proceeds from the sale of the Radłów estate, Ernest purchased a carriage and a pair of horses, using the remainder to provide for his children. Three of them, Bogusław Maciej, Adam Szczepan, and Ferdynand Robert, founded a company in Warsaw in 1868 that gave rise to the Bogusław Herse Fashion House.
a photo of the Huguenot cross - a Maltese cross with a hanging dove symbolizing the Holy Spirit who gives Christians grace and courage
HERSE CATALOGS 1899 / 1910 / 1935
WELCOME TO OUR BOUTIQUES:
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Herse Warsaw
Krucza Street 51
00-022 Warsaw
Opening hours:
Monday - Friday 11:00 - 19:00
Saturday 11:00 - 16:00
Phone: +48 798 653 628
Email: warszawa@herse.com -
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Herse Krakow
Szpitalna Street 20
31-024 Krakow
Opening hours:
Monday - Friday 11:00 - 19:00
Saturday 11:00 - 16:00
Phone: +48 690 670 684
Email: krakow@herse.com -
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Herse Wroclaw
St. Nicholas Street 73/76
50-126 Wroclaw
Opening hours:
Monday - Friday 11:00 - 19:00
Saturday 11:00 - 16:00
Phone: +48 797 311 694
Email: wroclaw@herse.com -
