Dworcowa Street, thanks to its location, from the very beginning, was an excellent location for hotels and other facilities related to servicing travellers arriving in Katowice on the railway line opened in 1846. One of these was the Monopol, built in 1903 by Arnold Lustig. From the beginning, it was one of the most luxurious in the city. Many distinguished guests used its services: Artur Rubinstein, Karol Szymanowski, Josephine Baker, Charles de Gaulle. In 1936, it was the venue for the lavish wedding of the tenor Jan Kiepura, who was at the height of his fame at the time, to the Hungarian film star Martha Eggerth. The Monopol Hotel luckily survived the war, although its prestige diminished over the years and it was finally closed in the 1980s. In 2003, the hotel found a new owner and is once again serving guests. Monopol is the only five-star hotel in Katowice.