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DOI Artikel:Grauer, Elise F.: Bridging the gap: Count Athanazy Raczyński and his galleries in Poland and Prussia
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.28199#0010
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ELISE F. GRAUER
has ... to be able to show that one has served the government. Thus, one has to
pursue a career. The one I am most inclined to is diplomacy. Then one would
wish for a wealthy bride of noble birth; a good position would not do any harm
either.8
Preserving the family’s heritage was of particular importance to the
Polish nobility. The long drawn-out decline of the Polish oligarchy from
the 17th century and the successive divisions of Poland in the late 18th
century had been putting the nobility under considerable strain.9 For
Athanazy, art galleries were one means by which he sought to
perpetuate his own and his family’s glory. Two entries in his diary
illustrate the young man’s ambitions:
All my dreams are related to the enhancement of the reputation of my name.
Constantly, I am thinking about the possibility to found an entail, to add titles,
and to organise everything so that it can last for a long time.10
The state of my household is comfortable and does not call for enlargement. ...
There is a considerable surplus. This I intend to devote to a single goal and this
is creating a collection of classical paintings, which is to form the reputation of
my family.* 11
In 1816, aged 28, Athanazy married Annette Radziwiłł: ‘At 8 o’ clock
in the morning I was married in the church. I stayed overnight in Błonie
in order to start there with the procreation of a new generation of the
Raczyńskis’.12 Annette was heiress to a large fortune and enjoyed close
connections with the Prussian royal family.13 Both through his marriage
and the intelligent administration of his estates, Raczyński increased his
wealth considerably.14 Although a son and two daughters were born in
rapid succession,15 thus fulfilling Raczyhski’s hope to continue the
family line, by the 1820s the couple had become estranged and Athanazy
enjoyed numerous affairs.16
8 Raczyński diaries, entry for 2 March 1813, in Joseph A. Raczyński (1984), op. cit.,
fn. 6.
9 Norman Davies, Ira Herzen Europas. Geschichte Polens, Munich 1999, pp. 268-277.
10 Raczyński diaries, entry for 8 July 1817, in Joseph A. Raczyński (1984), op. cit., fn. 6.
11 Raczyński diaries, entry for 26 February 1821 in Joseph A. Raczyński (1984), op.
cit., fn. 6.
12 Raczyński diaries, entry for 12 November 1816, in Joseph A. Raczyński (1984), op.
cit., fn. 6.
13 Annette’s cousin Count Anton Radziwiłł was married to Louise, daughter of Prince
Ferdinand of Prussia.
14 Raczyński diaries, entries for 26 February 1821 and 17 May 1852.
15 Charles (1817-1899), Wanda (1819-1845) and Therese (1820-?).
16 7 departed from Berlin in order to evade a disreputable liaison. The object of my
love is a 34 year-old girl who is given to drinking and who is kept by two gentlemen at the
ELISE F. GRAUER
has ... to be able to show that one has served the government. Thus, one has to
pursue a career. The one I am most inclined to is diplomacy. Then one would
wish for a wealthy bride of noble birth; a good position would not do any harm
either.8
Preserving the family’s heritage was of particular importance to the
Polish nobility. The long drawn-out decline of the Polish oligarchy from
the 17th century and the successive divisions of Poland in the late 18th
century had been putting the nobility under considerable strain.9 For
Athanazy, art galleries were one means by which he sought to
perpetuate his own and his family’s glory. Two entries in his diary
illustrate the young man’s ambitions:
All my dreams are related to the enhancement of the reputation of my name.
Constantly, I am thinking about the possibility to found an entail, to add titles,
and to organise everything so that it can last for a long time.10
The state of my household is comfortable and does not call for enlargement. ...
There is a considerable surplus. This I intend to devote to a single goal and this
is creating a collection of classical paintings, which is to form the reputation of
my family.* 11
In 1816, aged 28, Athanazy married Annette Radziwiłł: ‘At 8 o’ clock
in the morning I was married in the church. I stayed overnight in Błonie
in order to start there with the procreation of a new generation of the
Raczyńskis’.12 Annette was heiress to a large fortune and enjoyed close
connections with the Prussian royal family.13 Both through his marriage
and the intelligent administration of his estates, Raczyński increased his
wealth considerably.14 Although a son and two daughters were born in
rapid succession,15 thus fulfilling Raczyhski’s hope to continue the
family line, by the 1820s the couple had become estranged and Athanazy
enjoyed numerous affairs.16
8 Raczyński diaries, entry for 2 March 1813, in Joseph A. Raczyński (1984), op. cit.,
fn. 6.
9 Norman Davies, Ira Herzen Europas. Geschichte Polens, Munich 1999, pp. 268-277.
10 Raczyński diaries, entry for 8 July 1817, in Joseph A. Raczyński (1984), op. cit., fn. 6.
11 Raczyński diaries, entry for 26 February 1821 in Joseph A. Raczyński (1984), op.
cit., fn. 6.
12 Raczyński diaries, entry for 12 November 1816, in Joseph A. Raczyński (1984), op.
cit., fn. 6.
13 Annette’s cousin Count Anton Radziwiłł was married to Louise, daughter of Prince
Ferdinand of Prussia.
14 Raczyński diaries, entries for 26 February 1821 and 17 May 1852.
15 Charles (1817-1899), Wanda (1819-1845) and Therese (1820-?).
16 7 departed from Berlin in order to evade a disreputable liaison. The object of my
love is a 34 year-old girl who is given to drinking and who is kept by two gentlemen at the