Lodz is rife with palaces, most of them created in the late 19th century to house wealthy industrialists. And, while they’re all beautiful to look at today, they also give a sense of the massive wealth disparity that permeated the city during the turn of the century: those locked away in marble-clad rooms were a far cry from the thousands of factory workers who were putting in 12- or 14-hour days the textile mills around the city. 
The Alfred Biedermann palace is another one of these sights – both a beautiful place to visit and a stark reminder of that wealth gap. Like many industrialists, Biedermann thrived around the turn of the 20th century. The son of an early manufacturer in the city, Biedermann followed in his father’s footsteps as a director of one of his father’s factories in 1889. He grew in prominence over the next few decades, when he and a handful of other Lodz manufacturers launched the city’s tram system. And later, when he and other industrialists decided to buy a mine in southern Silesia to reduce their coal costs – an area that they continued to develop after the first world war. 
This palace was built in 1912, at the height of Biedermann’s success, and it shows. There are two rectangular buildings connected by a passageway – and the whole building has all kinds of modernist architectural details, including a light brown mansard roof (with a low pitch). Outside, there are beautiful grounds with a little fountain and preserved old trees. 
Inside, the palace is classic early 20th-century opulence: an intricately decorated winding wood staircase, carved wood friezes throughout the space, and detailed ornamental ceilings. Since 2008, the palace has been owned by the University Lodz, which uses it to house the Department of Art History and the Institute of Contemporary Culture. They’ve made some restorative changes to the building since taking over, including adding stylized stained glass windows and renovating the facade and roof.