Palace of Culture

Palace of Culture (Russian: Дворец культуры, romanized: dvorets kultury, Chinese: 文化宫, wénhuà gōng, German: Kulturpalast) or House of Culture (Polish: dom kultury) is a common name (generic term) for major club-houses (community centres) in the former Soviet Union and the rest of the Eastern bloc.

As an establishment for all kinds of recreational activities and hobbies: sports, collecting, arts, etc., the Palace of Culture was designed to have room for multiple uses.

Here was a fine new building in the factory quarter, surrounded by recreation grounds, provided with one large theater, four smaller assembly halls, fifty rooms for club meetings, recreation and games, headquarters for trade unions, costing two million dollars, frequented daily—or rather, nightly—by five thousand persons as a daily average.

Palaces of Culture served another important purpose: they housed local congresses and conferences of the regional divisions of the Communist Party, the Komsomol, etc.

In smaller rural settlements similar establishments of lesser scope were known as "clubs", with main activities there being dance nights and cinema.

Most Palaces of Culture continue to exist after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, but their status, especially the financial one, changed significantly, for various reasons.