DOI Artikel:
Störtkuhl, Beate: Interactions between the Imperial and Royal Central Commission for the Preservation of Monuments and the Conservator Milieus in Galicia
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.73804#0080
79
whose Denkmalwerte (monument values) contributed de-
cisively to the turn away from the historicizing restoration
practice of the 19th c. - according to the motto coined at
the same time by Georg Dehio: 'Conservation instead of
restoration. Although Dvorak expressed understanding
for the national motivation of the Polish conservators, he
saw in the planned project 'the greatest danger that ever
threatened the castle, called his Polish colleagues 'roman-
tics' whose ideas belonged 'long ago to the past', and criti-
cized en passant the reconstructive treatment of the Col-
legium Maius that had taken place shortly before.16
In May 1909, Dvorak convened a meeting of experts
from Vienna and Galicia on the subject of the Wawel, at
which the 'president' of the West Galician Board of Con-
servators, Stanisław Tomkowicz (1850-1933), ultimately
stood alone in the open. In the end, the decision was tak-
en to work out a new project which, avoiding all attempts
at historicizing reconstruction, will be limited only to the
safeguarding and dignified restoration of the building.'17
As we can still see today, Dvorak and the Central Com-
mission did not prevail, and Hendel's plans remained the
basis for restoration of the Wawel. Nevertheless, the res-
toration measures were supported by Emperor Franz Jo-
seph with an annual endowment of 100,000 crowns (ca.
€ 717,430) until the outbreak of WW I; the Galician Diet
contributed the same amount. Only the political network
in the Diet made possible the operational existence of the
two Galician boards of conservators, whose offices were
financed from the funds of the crown land, as was the
bulk of the realised monument preservation projects.18
This strengthened the self-confidence of the Polish
conservators and their desire to free themselves from
the directives and interference of the Vienna headquar-
ters. In 1913, there eventually was an eclat over a draft stat-
ute that was supposed to upgrade the Galician bodies to
a 'National Council for Monuments', combined with se-
rious accusations against the Central Commission.19 Its
secretary general, Fortunat von Schubert-Soldern, spoke
of open hostility on the part of the authors of this draft
around Stanisław Tomkowicz, and he accused his Polish
colleagues of hubris in an internal letter:
fur Erforschung und Erhaltung der Kunst- und historischen Denk-
male, 2, 1908, pp. 105-112.
16 Ibidem, p. 108.
17 'Die Restaurierung des kóniglichen Schlosses auf dem Wawel',
Mitteilungen der k. k. Zentralkommission fur Denkmalpflege (MZK),
8, 1909, pp. 269-277.
18 Lists of the budgets granted by the Galician Diet from 1911 to 1913
in the records OeStA/AVA Unterricht Bundesdenkmalamt, Kar-
ton 20: Galizien [...], bundle 38, '1914-1918 Landeskonserva-
toren-Amter Galizien', Z 4528.
19 OStA/AVA Unterricht, Bundesdenkmalamt, Karton 20: Gali-
zien [...], bundle 37 'Konservatoren Galizien, Z. 5090. See also
TH. Bruckler, Thronfolger Franz Ferdinand als Denkmal-
pfleger. Die 'Kunstakten' der Militdrkanzlei im Osterreichischen
Staatarchiv (Kriegsarchiv), Wien 2009, pp. 471-473.
[...] the enormously high sum of 350,000 to 500,000
Crowns, which the poor country spends annually 'for
the purposes of historical monuments', is astonishing
and alarming. Just compare that the credits of the C.C.,
which are intended for the preservation of monuments
in all [...] crown lands of the monarchy [...], amount to
a total of only about 280,000 Crowns. And as for the
quality and quantity of monuments, Galicia (with the
exception of Cracow and a few other art sites) cannot
even be compared with the western crown lands.20
Count Karl/Karol Lanckoroński (1848-1933), a Pole
with family roots in Galicia, who had made a political ca-
reer in Vienna and served as Vice President of the Central
Commission between 1910 and 1917,21 also opposed the
claims of his compatriot colleagues - which they would
not forgive him for.22
ESTABLISHMENT OF A STATE
CONSERVATOR IN WESTERN GALICIA
With the establishment of the State Monuments Office
(Staatsdenkmalamt) in 1911 and the gradual installation in
the crown lands of civil servant Provincial Conservators
(Landeskonservatoren) accountable to the Vienna head-
quarters, Dvorak had initiated a fundamental reform of
the Central Commission.23 In order to maintain control
20 OStA/AVA, Unterricht, Bundesdenkmalamt, Karton 20: Galizien
[...], bundle 37 'Konservatoren Galizien, Z. 4528: Kreierung und
Statut eines Landes-Konserv.-Rates in Galizien, 20.09.1913.
21 On Lanckoroński see Th. Bruckler, Zur Geschichte der bster-
reichischen Denkmalpflege (as in note 1), p. 475-476. About the
influence of politicians and intellectuals from Galicia in Viennese
politics H. Binder, Galizien in Wien. Parteien, Wahlen, Frak-
tionen und Abgeordnete im Ubergang zur Massenpolitik, Wien
2005. Lanckoroński was also on Dvorak's side at the meeting on
the restoration of the Wawel Castle; see Die Restaurierung des
kóniglichen Schlosses (as in note 17), pp. 274-275.
22 Archiwum Narodowe w Krakowie (ANK), 29/560/0/2/24, Grono
Konserwatorów Galicji Wschodniej (1913-16), fol. 1, letter from
the Board of Conservators of Western Galicia to Lanckoroński,
21.01.1914, informing him that the Board had lodged a complaint
with the Imperial and Royal Ministry of Education and Culture
against the warning issued towards them by Lanckoroński. Ten-
sions between the Board and Lanckoroński are reflected in the cor-
respondence between Lanckoroński and Szydłowski (1915-1922) in
the Archive of Science of Polish Academy of Science (PAN) and
Polish Academy of Arts and Science (PAU) in Cracow, AN PAN
i PAU, K III - 150, VI/56 (Legacy of Karolina Lanckorońska).
23 On the reform of the Central Commission, with reference to the
tasks of monument protection during WWI M. Dvorak, 'Ein-
richtungen des Kunstschutzes in Osterreich' , in: Kunstschutz im
Kriege. Berichte uber den Zustand der Kunstdenkmdler auf den
verschiedenen Kriegsschaupldtzen und uber die deutschen und bs-
terreichischen Mafnahmen zu ihrer Erhaltung, Rettung, Erfor-
schung, ed. P. Clemen, vol. 2: Die Kriegsschaupldtze in Italien, im
whose Denkmalwerte (monument values) contributed de-
cisively to the turn away from the historicizing restoration
practice of the 19th c. - according to the motto coined at
the same time by Georg Dehio: 'Conservation instead of
restoration. Although Dvorak expressed understanding
for the national motivation of the Polish conservators, he
saw in the planned project 'the greatest danger that ever
threatened the castle, called his Polish colleagues 'roman-
tics' whose ideas belonged 'long ago to the past', and criti-
cized en passant the reconstructive treatment of the Col-
legium Maius that had taken place shortly before.16
In May 1909, Dvorak convened a meeting of experts
from Vienna and Galicia on the subject of the Wawel, at
which the 'president' of the West Galician Board of Con-
servators, Stanisław Tomkowicz (1850-1933), ultimately
stood alone in the open. In the end, the decision was tak-
en to work out a new project which, avoiding all attempts
at historicizing reconstruction, will be limited only to the
safeguarding and dignified restoration of the building.'17
As we can still see today, Dvorak and the Central Com-
mission did not prevail, and Hendel's plans remained the
basis for restoration of the Wawel. Nevertheless, the res-
toration measures were supported by Emperor Franz Jo-
seph with an annual endowment of 100,000 crowns (ca.
€ 717,430) until the outbreak of WW I; the Galician Diet
contributed the same amount. Only the political network
in the Diet made possible the operational existence of the
two Galician boards of conservators, whose offices were
financed from the funds of the crown land, as was the
bulk of the realised monument preservation projects.18
This strengthened the self-confidence of the Polish
conservators and their desire to free themselves from
the directives and interference of the Vienna headquar-
ters. In 1913, there eventually was an eclat over a draft stat-
ute that was supposed to upgrade the Galician bodies to
a 'National Council for Monuments', combined with se-
rious accusations against the Central Commission.19 Its
secretary general, Fortunat von Schubert-Soldern, spoke
of open hostility on the part of the authors of this draft
around Stanisław Tomkowicz, and he accused his Polish
colleagues of hubris in an internal letter:
fur Erforschung und Erhaltung der Kunst- und historischen Denk-
male, 2, 1908, pp. 105-112.
16 Ibidem, p. 108.
17 'Die Restaurierung des kóniglichen Schlosses auf dem Wawel',
Mitteilungen der k. k. Zentralkommission fur Denkmalpflege (MZK),
8, 1909, pp. 269-277.
18 Lists of the budgets granted by the Galician Diet from 1911 to 1913
in the records OeStA/AVA Unterricht Bundesdenkmalamt, Kar-
ton 20: Galizien [...], bundle 38, '1914-1918 Landeskonserva-
toren-Amter Galizien', Z 4528.
19 OStA/AVA Unterricht, Bundesdenkmalamt, Karton 20: Gali-
zien [...], bundle 37 'Konservatoren Galizien, Z. 5090. See also
TH. Bruckler, Thronfolger Franz Ferdinand als Denkmal-
pfleger. Die 'Kunstakten' der Militdrkanzlei im Osterreichischen
Staatarchiv (Kriegsarchiv), Wien 2009, pp. 471-473.
[...] the enormously high sum of 350,000 to 500,000
Crowns, which the poor country spends annually 'for
the purposes of historical monuments', is astonishing
and alarming. Just compare that the credits of the C.C.,
which are intended for the preservation of monuments
in all [...] crown lands of the monarchy [...], amount to
a total of only about 280,000 Crowns. And as for the
quality and quantity of monuments, Galicia (with the
exception of Cracow and a few other art sites) cannot
even be compared with the western crown lands.20
Count Karl/Karol Lanckoroński (1848-1933), a Pole
with family roots in Galicia, who had made a political ca-
reer in Vienna and served as Vice President of the Central
Commission between 1910 and 1917,21 also opposed the
claims of his compatriot colleagues - which they would
not forgive him for.22
ESTABLISHMENT OF A STATE
CONSERVATOR IN WESTERN GALICIA
With the establishment of the State Monuments Office
(Staatsdenkmalamt) in 1911 and the gradual installation in
the crown lands of civil servant Provincial Conservators
(Landeskonservatoren) accountable to the Vienna head-
quarters, Dvorak had initiated a fundamental reform of
the Central Commission.23 In order to maintain control
20 OStA/AVA, Unterricht, Bundesdenkmalamt, Karton 20: Galizien
[...], bundle 37 'Konservatoren Galizien, Z. 4528: Kreierung und
Statut eines Landes-Konserv.-Rates in Galizien, 20.09.1913.
21 On Lanckoroński see Th. Bruckler, Zur Geschichte der bster-
reichischen Denkmalpflege (as in note 1), p. 475-476. About the
influence of politicians and intellectuals from Galicia in Viennese
politics H. Binder, Galizien in Wien. Parteien, Wahlen, Frak-
tionen und Abgeordnete im Ubergang zur Massenpolitik, Wien
2005. Lanckoroński was also on Dvorak's side at the meeting on
the restoration of the Wawel Castle; see Die Restaurierung des
kóniglichen Schlosses (as in note 17), pp. 274-275.
22 Archiwum Narodowe w Krakowie (ANK), 29/560/0/2/24, Grono
Konserwatorów Galicji Wschodniej (1913-16), fol. 1, letter from
the Board of Conservators of Western Galicia to Lanckoroński,
21.01.1914, informing him that the Board had lodged a complaint
with the Imperial and Royal Ministry of Education and Culture
against the warning issued towards them by Lanckoroński. Ten-
sions between the Board and Lanckoroński are reflected in the cor-
respondence between Lanckoroński and Szydłowski (1915-1922) in
the Archive of Science of Polish Academy of Science (PAN) and
Polish Academy of Arts and Science (PAU) in Cracow, AN PAN
i PAU, K III - 150, VI/56 (Legacy of Karolina Lanckorońska).
23 On the reform of the Central Commission, with reference to the
tasks of monument protection during WWI M. Dvorak, 'Ein-
richtungen des Kunstschutzes in Osterreich' , in: Kunstschutz im
Kriege. Berichte uber den Zustand der Kunstdenkmdler auf den
verschiedenen Kriegsschaupldtzen und uber die deutschen und bs-
terreichischen Mafnahmen zu ihrer Erhaltung, Rettung, Erfor-
schung, ed. P. Clemen, vol. 2: Die Kriegsschaupldtze in Italien, im