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Research into Wartime Losses in the Field of Art Collections. A Case Study of the Malbork Castle

Information about the author: MA in Library Science, manager of the Malbork Castle Museum Library, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1071-7174

Abstract: The paper discusses research on war losses conducted at the Malbork Castle Museum from 2018 onward, focusing on the wartime losses suffered by the castles in Malbork and Kwidzyn. The primary goal of the ongoing project titled Research into Polish Wartime Losses which has already been subsidized three times within a programme run by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage is to compile a catalogue of wartime losses suffered by the two aforementioned heritage institutions. The crucial part of this enterprise is the exploration, consolidation and inspection of the available archive records, the ultimate goal being to determine the fate of the lost old castle collections after World War Two, and to evaluate the scope of wartime losses and the dispersal of looted art.

Keywords: the Malbork Castle Museum, #Projekt Straty, Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, war losses, old castle collections, archive records, provenance studies

doi.org/10.32030/KRZY.2021.01

Tassemberk (on the Outskirts of Kraków) in the Early Modern Documents of the Carmelite Monastery

Information about the author: PhD, historian, an archivist and custodian of the collection of the Carmelite Monastery ‘on Sand’ in Kraków, https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7296-8967

Abstract: The Carmelite Monastery ‘on Sand’ (Pol. na Piasku) near Kraków bordered on an area which, since the Middle Ages, had been called Tassemberk. The area stretched on both banks of the mill leat running along what is today Garbarska Street. To the Carmelite monks, this border area became, from the 17th century onward, if not even earlier, an object of intense interest. Monastic archive records illustrate the dynamics of purchasing and trading of specific plots in the Tassemberk area. Those which were located closest to the monastery were used to construct the novitiate building in the 1670s. Other properties were also attractive for the monks, providing regular income, first of all from rent from the redemption of estates, and then from the ownership and lease of gardens and houses built at their own expense. This was common practice not only in Tassemberk as such, but also in the plots of land located in the immediate vicinity of the church, i.e. on the opposite side of Szeroka Street (currently called Karmelicka Street). In this way the Carmelite jurydyka became surrounded by properties that belonged to the monastery. The archive material preserved at the Carmelite monastery gives us an insight into the history of the most interesting of the aforementioned plots, such as the property on which the Carmelite novitiate was built, or the estate of Grand Chancellor of the Crown Jan Szembek (adjacent to the Carmelite monastery garden); it also enables us to track the relocation of the town hall of the Garbary suburb, which happened twice in the 18th century.

Keywords: Carmelites ‘on Sand’, the town hall of Garbary, the Garbary suburb, Karmelicka (Szeroka) Street, Garbarska Street (Tassemberk), Carmelite graveyard, Carmelite novitiate, Szembek manor, Rudawa Mill Leata

doi.org/10.32030/KRZY.2021.02

On Firearm Flint in Podgórze and Galicia Towards the End of the 18th and in the 19th Centuries, Part 2

Information about the author: historian, retired Curator at the Museum of Kraków, former Head of the Architecture and Urban Development Documentation of Kraków Department at the Historical Museum of the City of Kraków, http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9730-5796

Abstract: The present paper is the continuation of Part 1, published in the 36th volume of Krzysztofory. Scientific Bulletin of the Historical Museum of the City of Kraków (2018), which discussed the beginnings of gunflint industry in Galicia at the turn of the 19th century.

The period of intensive gunflint production in Galicia lasted for several decades, from 1788 until the 1830s; in Podgórze it probably started in 1789. The use of flint in the production of flintlocks commissioned by the Austrian army was a subject addressed by geographer Franciszek Siarczyński (1758–1829) in his writings. Interesting information about Galician flint was also passed on by Marcel de Serres (1783–1862), an eminent French geologist and paleontologist who toured around Galicia in 1809; the latter scholar mentioned the town of Podgórze (currently a district within the city of Kraków), as a site where flint was being mined in large amounts.

In Galicia the production of flintlock strikers concentrated around two flintbearing centres, i.e. in the eastern, and in the western parts of the province. The former area stretched over Podolia, encompassing factories in Nyzhniv and Berezhany. In this region firearm flint was obtained in the Berezhany circle (in the vicinity of Berezhany), in the Chortkiv circle (near Zalishchyki), and in the Stanyslaviv circle (near Maryampol, Nyzhniv, Tlumach, Nezvysko, and the areas located by the River Zbruch). The latter flintbrearing area was located in western Galicia, in the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland where gunflints were manufactured in Bielany (currently a part of the City of Kraków), in Dębnik near Krzeszowice, in Paczółtowice (a village now incorporated into the municipality of Krzeszowice), in Zelków and Aleksandrowice (in the rural commune of Zabierzów), in Morawica, Piekary and Mników (in the rural commune of Liszki), in Ojców (in the municipality of Skała), in Zagacie (in the rural commune of Czernichów), in Bębło and Wielka Wieś (in the rural commune of Wielka Wieś), in Kwaczała (in the municipality of Alwernia), in Sąspów (in the rural commune of Jerzmanowice-Przeginia), and in Podgórze (currently a part of the City of Kraków). In the first half of the 19thcentury Podgórze achieved particular fame and popularity boasting rich deposits of top quality ‘firearm flint’ which was used in the production of flintlock strikers – an industry that also developed in that area.

In the 1870s traces of past gunflint production were encountered by ethnographer and archaeologist Zygmunt Gloger (1845–1910) during his exploration of the area. Attracted by his discoveries, Gloger became the first scholar who attempted to show the differences between Stone Age flint tools and 19th-century flint artefacts (as well as by-products of gunflint manufacture). Piotr Umiński (1830–1906) and Jan Nepomucen Sadowski (1814–1897) wrote about the gunflint industry centres in Morawica – a location where they had discovered traces of this kind of production, while archaeologist Adam Honory Kirkor (1818–1886) reported on the continuation of gunflint manufacturing in the neighbouring villages of Mnikow and Morawica up until 1876. In the 1950s gunflint shops dating from the 18th and the 19th centuries were discovered in Zelkow. In their final years, the workshops would manufacture flints for fire strikers, and the production stopped altogether around 1880.

Keywords: archeology, flints, quarries, production of flintlocks, firearm, Podolia, Dniester River, Nyzhniv, Podgórze, Kraków-Częstochowa Upland, Franciszek Siarczyński

doi.org/10.32030/KRZY.2021.03

From the History of Kraków’s ‘Plantacje’. Planty Park in the Works of Polish Artists

Information about the author: art historian and Curator at the Department of the History and Art of Kraków in the Modern Period at the Museum of Kraków, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5723-7784

Abstract: In the 19th century Planty Park, established in place of the city’s mediaeval fortifications, became one of Kraków’s most significant symbols. Together with the road encircling it, and the main arteries radiating from that road, the Planty green belt formed the core of what is today considered the greatest achievement of urban planning in the era of the Free City of Kraków (1815–1846), i.e. the radial concentric spatial layout of the expanding, modern city. Planty Park was the first public park, and the largest outdoor sculpture gallery in Kraków; it was referred to as przechadzki (‘the strolls’), and gained prestige as the city’s most elegant avenue, and Cracovians’favourite walking route. Planty Park also appeared in the works of numerous Polish artists, becoming the sentimental staffage and decorative supplement to images representing the romantic ruins of mediaeval fortifications, or ‘national historical monuments’. Sometimes it was also depicted as a subject in its own right, portrayed in picturesque compositions and painted studies. The motifs of Kraków’s ‘Plantacje’ (the term is derived from the Polish verb plantować which means ‘to level out’) were used many times by a local watercolourist Stanisław Tondos who popularized the relics of the old defensive walls and the city’s green belt in the wide range of postcards he produced. Jan Stanisławski (assisted by his students from the Kraków School of Landscape) was the author of some small, impressionistic compositions which he painted directly from nature during walks and plein-air workshops in the park, aka ‘Plantacje’, or ‘przechadzki’. Julian Fałat and Wojciech Weiss, on the other hand, often immortalized the views of Planty as they saw them from the windows of their studios, similar to Stanisław Wyspiański who created a unique, symbolic landscape in which reality mingles with a dream. Artists perceived Planty in Kraków in all sorts of ways, and their visions combined together create a colourful, elusive image of this most extraordinary of Kraków’s gardens.

Keywords: Planty, ‘przechadzki’ in Kraków, the motif of Kraków’s plantacje, Planty Park in art, views of Planty Park

doi.org/10.32030/KRZY.2021.04

The Kraków Airport in the Years 1923–1939. An Outline of Its History, Development and an Evaluation of Its Impact on the City

Information about the author: MA in Economics, a councillor of Kraków’s District III Prądnik Czerwony, https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4313-0633

Abstract: The paper discusses the issues of the establishment of the Kraków Rakowice Czyżyny Airport and its development in the interwar period, as well as its impact on the city. An airport servicing passenger flights, airmail and air cargo was established in 1923 in the village of Rakowice, just outside Kraków, on the site where a military air base had already existed. For many years the civilian part of the aerodrome functioned merely as an extension of the military part and, therefore, had to subordinate to the needs of the air force, which enforced the relocation of its rather modest infrastructure on several occasions. This situation changed in 1929 with the founding of LOT Polish Airlines (Polskie Linie Lotnicze LOT) – a state-owned self-governing corporation which became an air transport operator and aspired to expand passenger aviation, which included the development of airports to provide such services to the public. In the case of the Kraków aerodrome, this meant the construction of a state-of-the-art, fully equipped hangar as an extension of the Rakowice airfield stretching further eastward, i.e. expanding into the neighbouring village of Czyżyny.

In the interwar period the Kraków airport played a significant role in the network of air connections in Poland, and was also included in the system of international air transport. However, the airport’s impact on the city as such was very limited at the time, which resulted chiefly from the relatively small number of passengers using its services – the connection becomes clear particularly when we compare these statistics with our contemporary data.

With the construction of the new airfield in Czyżyny, Kraków could boast a modern airport, and the air carrier worked hard to provide the best quality of service to the passengers. Polish authorities supported the actions of the national air carrier, subsidized air tickets, and made sure that air travel was effectively popularized among potential clients. The passenger airport was the living proof of the fact that Kraków was in the vanguard of new technologies and communications, which offered the city a real prospect of further development, however, this much-anticipated growth was stunted by the outbreak of World War II.

The article also attempts to rectify some of the fixed, stereotypical notions about the development of Polish passenger aviation, the aircraft that were used, and the ground infrastructure which ensured smooth flight operations.

Keywords: Rakowice, Czyżyny, Balice, airport, aerodrome, hangar, LOT Polish Airlines, aircraft

doi.org/10.32030/KRZY.2021.05

Outdoor Sculptures from the 1960s and 1970s in the Former Nowa Huta District

Information about the author: art historian, private enterprise, http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3898-8988

Abstract: Built from 1949 onward, Nowa Huta was a city designed for the working class, but at the same time its creators wanted it to be the epitome of modernity. The modern character of the city was being particularly emphasised from the mid-1950s onward, as Nowa Huta’s architecture and urban development became increasingly influenced by modernistic trends spreading to our country from western Europe. It was in that period, beginning with the 1960s, that outdoor sculptures started to be systematically installed in the public areas of the newly constructed housing estates. These works were the result of the cooperation between Kraków artists and institutions, such as the Association of Polish Artists and Designers, the ‘Hutnik’Housing Association, Lenin Steelworks, or the Presidium of the District National Council in Nowa Huta, Kraków. These activities led to the establishment of the outdoor sculpture gallery, heterogeneous in terms of form, material (e.g. Pińczów limestone, metal, artificial stone, and ceramics), and style. Among the artists commissioned to execute sculptures were professors of the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków, e.g. Wiesław Bielak, the creator of such compositions as Aquarium (in Ratuszowy Park), Dynamic Form (The Shape of Space) installed at Bohaterów Września housing estate, and the sculpture titled Mater (Motherhood) at Piastów housing estate. Other artists who created Nowa Huta’s outdoor sculptures included Antoni Hajdecki (Cosmic Spiral, Tysiąclecia housing estate), Wincenty Kućma (Ripening II, Przy Arce housing estate), as well as Marian Kruczek (Acquired Space, Tysiąclecia housing estate), Waleria Bukowiecka (a group of sculptures designed to perform a recreational function in the former Children’s Park at Kolorowe housing estate; the sculptures do not survive today), and Magdalena Pruszyńska-Jaroszyńska (Little Mermaid and Seaweed Flirtng with a Shell installed in the aforementioned Children’s Park – Park Dziecięcy, currently called Wiśniowy Sad Park). Metal installations were created by Stanisław Małek (The Ascent, in the area surrounding Nowa Huta Reservoir), and Lucjan Orzech (Birds at Willowe housing estate, and Small Organs at Wandy housing estate).

Keywords: Kraków Nowa Huta, Polish outdoor sculpture of the 1960s and 1970s, Wiesław Bielak, Antoni Hajdecki, Wincenty Kućma, Marian Kruczek, Waleria Bukowiecka, Magdalena Pruszyńska-Jaroszyńska, Stanisław Małek, Lucjan Orzech

doi.org/10.32030/KRZY.2021.06

The Active Museum, or a Few Words about the Social Responsibility of Museum Institutions and Other Contemporary Challenges They Face

Information about the author: museologist, Curator at the District Museum in Toruń, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3029-6346

Abstract: The fundamental subject of the present paper is an attempt to situate the museum in the context of our contemporary world, and to propose a vision of its functioning and development based on its activity in space and public debate. The author has stressed the importance of education in the context of its goals, form, and scale, with particular emphasis on building a community around the museum by using participative tools. The question of the museum’s active participation in social life, its engagement in the debate about issues which are important for the community has also been raised. The paper depicts a vision of the museum which does not distance itself from current events, but, rather, systematically documents them, offering a commentary, and encouraging a public discussion about them. Finally, the author presents the proposition of the enterprising museum, both in the strictly economic terms, i.e. a museum that competes and cooperates with commercial entities on the leisure market, and in terms of organization and development. Therefore, the present paper is an elaboration of the vision of the modern museum, however, the term ‘modern’ does not refer to the use of stateof- the-art technologies, but to the forms of operation, i.e. a museum which is enterprising, involved in many different fields of activity, and engaged, one that is capable of acting as a partner for diverse communities.

Keywords: active museum, social responsibility of museums, enterprising museum

doi.org/10.32030/KRZY.2021.07

Reenacting the Middle Ages and Museums in Poland after 1989. A Wasted Potential of the Common Heritage?

Information about the author: PhD, historian, Curator at the Museum of Kraków, Department of the History and Art. of Kraków in the Middle Ages at the Museum of Kraków, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3789-0794

Abstract: From the chronological perspective, the Middle Ages constitute roughly a half of Poland’s history. However, this fact does not translate into proportions in terms of preservation and promotion of our cultural heritage, including the activity of Polish museums. This, in turn, has an impact on the consolidation of numerous, unjustified stereotypes about the Middle Ages. Paradoxically, among history lovers, including those involved in the reenactment movement, this very historical period enjoys the greatest popularity. At the same time, the mediaeval reenactment phenomenon develops parallel to the museum boom which has been observed since the mid-1990s. Meanwhile, chronological concurrence does not necessarily mean synergy. So, we have an enormous social potential on the one hand, and a stable and lasting institutional base on the other. The mediaeval period seems, for a number of reasons, a very good subject area for cooperation. Therefore, it is well worthwhile examining the phenomenon of historical reenactment and the role it plays (or can play) in museums, as well as scrutinizing the image of the Middle Ages which is being presented to society.

In order to be able to better understand this phenomenon and its development in the context of Polish museology, it is advisable to go back to the political transformation which took place after 1989 and retrace the process of changes up until the present day. If we follow through the activity of reenactment groups we will notice that such groups often lack factual verification, which frequently leads to oversimplification.The space of museums, we might presume, should be a good place for preventing such risks, a venue of the more comprehensive approach where history can be reenacted in a rich, multi-faceted context. Genuine examples of a direct and very concrete involvement of museums in historical reconstructions, as well as examples of reconstruction groups showing their openness to engage in more institutional forms of activity, including exhibition and academic projects, do exist. It seems, however, that such instances are still too rare. Meanwhile, our mediaeval heritage, despite its limitations, possesses huge potential and presents a major challenge for Polish museology.

Keywords: historical reenactment, mediaevalism, new museology, heritage, definition of a museum, popularization

doi.org/10.32030/KRZY.2021.08

Excuse me, and who exactly was this Piłsudski guy?’ Deliberations on the Permanent Exhibition For the Republic. Józef Piłsudski 1867–1935 at the Józef Piłsudski Museum in Sulejówek

Information about the author: Professor of Social Sciences and historian, Institute of Political Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8229-4342

Keywords: museum, agonistic memory, biography, history of twentieth century, politics of memory

doi.org/10.32030/KRZY.2021.09

Słownik encyklopedyczny muzeologii [Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Museology]. Edited by Andre Desvallees and Francois Mairesse. Academic editor of the Polish edition:Dorota Folga-Januszewska. Translated from French into Polish by Katarzyna Bartkiewicz, in collaboration with Dorota Folga-Januszewska. Warszawa 2020

Information about the author: PhD, historian, Curator at the Museum of Kraków, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1033-0113

Keyword: encyclopaedia articles, dictionary, French museology, museums, contexts of culture, cultural heritage

doi.org/10.32030/KRZY.2021.10

Pomorska Street – 40 Years of Activity as a Branch of the Museum of Kraków

Information about the author: historian, Curator at the Museum of Kraków, Oskar Schindler’s Enamel Factory, Pomorska Street branch, https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0890-8382

Abstract: The goal of the paper is to present the highlights from the history of the branch: museum events, major research, exhibition and publishing projects, and a review of the activity accomplished by the Pomorska Street museum branch to date. The paper revisits the early years which preceded the formal establishment of the branch within the structure of the Historical Museum of the City of Kraków (MHK, in 2019 the institution was renamed the Museum of Kraków, MK). The timespan covered by the paper is 1966 to 2021, i.e. a period which is much longer than what the title suggests. This results from the fact that in reality MK has been present at the Silesian House (Dom Śląski) at 2 Pomorska Street since March 1966. A detailed discussion of the selected aspects from the history and achievements of the Pomorska Street branch will help readers to gain an in-depth understanding of the genesis of the commemoration of this place, so unique in the context of Nazi German occupation in Kraków, explaining the need to preserve it for future generations. Another goal of this paper is to revive the memory of the persons, organizations and institutions that fought for the proper commemoration of this site for decades, and to put the spotlight on the lifetime’s achievements of the three generations of museologists who developed this branch.

Pomorska Street is one of the oldest branches of the Museum of Kraków and over the past several dozen years it has gained considerable achievements to its credit. Its Staff members have also contributed a lot to the creation of the Museum’s new branches, primarily Oskar Schindler’s Enamel Factory at 4 Lipowa Street which has benefited greatly from the experience of Pomorska Street. The present article does not exhaust the entire complexity of subjects connected with the operation of Pomorska Street, but merely indicates the branch’s activity in some selected fields. It was here that certain ideas were first initiated, later to be expanded into popular, cyclical events involving the entire museum structure. And so, the computerization of MK began in this very branch, as IT technology was introduced into the work of museologists. In May 2012 a debate held at this branch was broadcast on the Internet for the first time in the history of MK. Other projects which were born at the Pomorska Street branch included the museum branch festivals which evolved from an event commemorating the victims of totalitarian regimes (Gestapo Victims Memorial Days), the Kraków Colloquium – debates organized cyclically, dedicated to specific issues of contemporary Kraków, or the popular book series titled Wokół… (‘Around…’).

A fact that may amaze contemporary audiences is that for almost two decades the permanent exhibition displayed at the museum branch at 2 Pomorska Street was the only permanent exhibition in Kraków dedicated to the most tragic period in Poland’s twentieth-century history, i.e. World War II.

Keywords: Silesian House, Pomorska Street, Gestapo, victims, inscriptions, prison cells, terror, commemoration, World War II, museum

doi.org/10.32030/KRZY.2021.11

The Chronicle of Activity of the Museum of Kraków in 2020

Information about the author: historian, Curator at the Museum of Kraków, Deputy Program Director at the Museum of Kraków, https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8460-0078

Keyword: pandemic restrictions, hybrid activity, Muzeum online [Museum online], Zostań w domu – opowiedz Kraków [Stay at home – tell us your story of Kraków], e-learning activities, strategic projects, modernization of Krzysztofory Palace, Cracovian identity, museum branch festiwal

doi.org/10.32030/KRZY.2021.12

Stanisław Czerpak, PhD (1928–2021). A Tribute

Information about the author: historian, retired Deputy Scientific Director of the Museum of Kraków, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0036-8986

doi.org/10.32030/KRZY.2021.13

Andrzej Janikowski, MEng (1954–2020). A Tribute

Information about the author: art historian, deputy director for core activity organization at the Museum of Kraków, https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0861-7649

doi.org/10.32030/KRZY.2021.14