DOI article:
Störtkuhl, Beate: Interactions between the Imperial and Royal Central Commission for the Preservation of Monuments and the Conservator Milieus in Galicia
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.73804#0081
80
over Galicia, a salaried Conservator with civil servant
status, which would keep him loyal to the state and its
institutions,24 was installed here, too. In April 1914, thir-
ty-one-year-old Tadeusz Szydłowski (1883-1942) was ap-
pointed Provincial Conservator for western Galicia, based
in Cracow.25 Szydłowski had studied in Cracow with Mar-
ian Sokołowski (1839-1911) and Georg/Jerzy Mycielski
(1856-1928),26 and had also completed a guest semester
with Heinrich Wolfflin (1864-1945) in Berlin.
With this personnel decision, the Central Commission
seemed to have made broad concessions to the Board of
Polish Conservators, whose influence it actually want-
ed to curtail: Szydłowski came from precisely this envi-
ronment; it had been Mycielski, since 1902 chairman of
the Society for the Protection of Polish Art and Cultural
Monuments at the Cracow Academy of Arts and Scien-
ces, who had recommended him to the Central Com-
mission.27 In the Vienna headquarters, Szydłowski found
a mentor in Vice President Lanckoroński. In him, the pro-
tection of Polands artistic heritage had an influential ad-
vocate; without Lanckorońskis interventions on the rel-
evant Imperial and Royal institutions, Szydłowski would
not have been able to act so effectively, especially during
the coming wartime.
However, for the Board of Conservators under Tom-
kowicz's leadership, the Provincial Conservator was just
the representative of the detested Vienna headquarters,
and it took time until they finally acknowledged his work:
Szydłowski was not invited to the meetings of the Board
until the second year of his term of office, and he was not
accepted as a Board member until the beginning of 1917.28
It is noteworthy that, until the end of the monarchy,
no salaried Provincial Conservator was appointed for
Eastern Galicia, although there was a pressing aspirant in
the person of the Lviv art historian Josef/Józef Piotrowski
(1873-1939), who had been working in the Vienna office of
the Central Commission.29 In the end, however, Dvorak
and Schubert-Soldern did not consider him suitable for
this position.30
'ART PROTECTION IN WAR TIME'
Only three months after taking office, Szydłowski was
confronted with the consequences of war on cultural
property. Archival records show him to be the driving
force in the establishment of art protection structures
throughout the crown land and later also in the Military
General Governorate Lublin (MGG) under Austro-Hun-
garian military administration. At the beginning of Octo-
ber 1914, when military tensions seemed to be easing after
the heavy losses of the first weeks of the war, Szydłowski
immediately requested an official appointment with the
Central Commission in order to define his field of activi-
ty in the safeguarding of cultural heritage.31 The work was
difficult: without the permission of the military authori-
ties, heritage protection activities in the liberated combat
zones were not possible, not even in Galicia, although it
was part of the Habsburg Monarchy.
At the end of August 1915, when the German and
Austro-Hungarian armies had finally pushed the Rus-
sian army out of 'Russian Poland', Szydłowski was im-
mediately also entrusted with the agendas of monument
Osten und Sudosten, Leipzig 1919, pp. 1-10, here p. 1; see F. Leit-
ner, '"Causa Infinita" - die Verlanderungsdebatte in der óster-
reichischen Denkmalpflege', Osterreichische Zeitschrift fur Kunst
und Denkmalpflege, 73, 2019, nr 1/2, (as in note 2), pp. 35-41, here
pp. 35-38.
24 OStA/AVA Unterricht, Bundesdenkmalamt Karton 20: Galizien
[...], Z. 186, letter from the Vice-President of the Central Com-
mission, Karl Lanckoroński, to the Chancellery of Archduke
Franz Ferdinand as the Protector of Monument Conservation,
10.01.1914.
25 Bundesdenkmalamt Wien, Archiv (BDAA), personal files
Szydłowski, Z 127 14/1914: Appointment letter to Szydłowski by
the Minister for Culture and Education Max Hussarek von Hein-
lein, 20.04.1914.
26 In the correspondence with the Central Commission, the German
variants of the first names and surnames is used, i.e. Karl Lanc-
koronski, sometimes also Thaddaus von Szydłowski. On Myciel-
ski see TH. Bruckler, U. Niemeth, Personenlexikon zur óster-
reichischen Denkmalpflege (1850-1990), Horn 2001, p. 186.
27 Letter from Karl Lanckoroński to Archduke Franz Ferdinand,
10.01.1914 (as on note 24).
28 ANK, 29/560/0/2/24, Grono Konserwatorów Galicji Wschodniej
(1913-16), fol. 315: For the first time, Szydlowski's name appears on
the invitation to the Board's meeting on 17 August 1915. One issue
on the agenda was the 'Relationship between the Conservators'
Office and the Board of Conservators'; as well as at the meet-
ings on 30 August 1915 (fol. 421) and 3 November 1915 (fol. 427).
Szydlowski's nomination for the Board in January 1917 is do-
cumented in ANK, 29/560/0/2/25, Grono Konserwatorów Galicji
Wschodniej (1917-20), fol. 7, pp. 11-14.
29 Vgl. Th. Bruckler, Thronfolger Franz Ferdinand, pp. 334, 356 (as
in note 19).
30 BDAA, personal files Josef Piotrowski, Z. 128, letter from
Schubert-Soldern to the Ministry of Culture and Education, with
a commentary by Max Dvorak, 25.10.1915. Piotrowski complained
to Lanckoroński about his demotion; ibidem, Z. 256, letter from
Piotrowski to Lanckoroński, 24.12.1915. In independent Poland,
Piotrowski held the post of the Voivodeship Conservator in Lviv
from 1920 to 1929; see P. Lasek, Inwentaryzacja zabytków archi-
tektury w lwowskim okręgu konserwatorskim 1920-1939. Szkice
z dziejów, Warszawa 2020, pp. 7-62.
31 BDAA, personal files Szydłowski, Z 82, letter from Szydłowski
to Schubert-Soldern, 09.10.1914. For a broader view on the cir-
cumstances of heritage protection in wartime see B. Stórtkuhl,
Galizien im Ersten Weltkrieg - Kunstschutz an der Heimatfront;
kunsttexte.de, nr 4, 2023, Sektion Ostblick, special issue Kunst-
schutz-Initiativen im Ersten Weltkrieg in Ostmitteleuropa, eds.
R. Born, B. Stórtkuhl (14 pages), www.kunsttexte.de. https://
doi.org/1o.48633/ksttx.2o23.4.
over Galicia, a salaried Conservator with civil servant
status, which would keep him loyal to the state and its
institutions,24 was installed here, too. In April 1914, thir-
ty-one-year-old Tadeusz Szydłowski (1883-1942) was ap-
pointed Provincial Conservator for western Galicia, based
in Cracow.25 Szydłowski had studied in Cracow with Mar-
ian Sokołowski (1839-1911) and Georg/Jerzy Mycielski
(1856-1928),26 and had also completed a guest semester
with Heinrich Wolfflin (1864-1945) in Berlin.
With this personnel decision, the Central Commission
seemed to have made broad concessions to the Board of
Polish Conservators, whose influence it actually want-
ed to curtail: Szydłowski came from precisely this envi-
ronment; it had been Mycielski, since 1902 chairman of
the Society for the Protection of Polish Art and Cultural
Monuments at the Cracow Academy of Arts and Scien-
ces, who had recommended him to the Central Com-
mission.27 In the Vienna headquarters, Szydłowski found
a mentor in Vice President Lanckoroński. In him, the pro-
tection of Polands artistic heritage had an influential ad-
vocate; without Lanckorońskis interventions on the rel-
evant Imperial and Royal institutions, Szydłowski would
not have been able to act so effectively, especially during
the coming wartime.
However, for the Board of Conservators under Tom-
kowicz's leadership, the Provincial Conservator was just
the representative of the detested Vienna headquarters,
and it took time until they finally acknowledged his work:
Szydłowski was not invited to the meetings of the Board
until the second year of his term of office, and he was not
accepted as a Board member until the beginning of 1917.28
It is noteworthy that, until the end of the monarchy,
no salaried Provincial Conservator was appointed for
Eastern Galicia, although there was a pressing aspirant in
the person of the Lviv art historian Josef/Józef Piotrowski
(1873-1939), who had been working in the Vienna office of
the Central Commission.29 In the end, however, Dvorak
and Schubert-Soldern did not consider him suitable for
this position.30
'ART PROTECTION IN WAR TIME'
Only three months after taking office, Szydłowski was
confronted with the consequences of war on cultural
property. Archival records show him to be the driving
force in the establishment of art protection structures
throughout the crown land and later also in the Military
General Governorate Lublin (MGG) under Austro-Hun-
garian military administration. At the beginning of Octo-
ber 1914, when military tensions seemed to be easing after
the heavy losses of the first weeks of the war, Szydłowski
immediately requested an official appointment with the
Central Commission in order to define his field of activi-
ty in the safeguarding of cultural heritage.31 The work was
difficult: without the permission of the military authori-
ties, heritage protection activities in the liberated combat
zones were not possible, not even in Galicia, although it
was part of the Habsburg Monarchy.
At the end of August 1915, when the German and
Austro-Hungarian armies had finally pushed the Rus-
sian army out of 'Russian Poland', Szydłowski was im-
mediately also entrusted with the agendas of monument
Osten und Sudosten, Leipzig 1919, pp. 1-10, here p. 1; see F. Leit-
ner, '"Causa Infinita" - die Verlanderungsdebatte in der óster-
reichischen Denkmalpflege', Osterreichische Zeitschrift fur Kunst
und Denkmalpflege, 73, 2019, nr 1/2, (as in note 2), pp. 35-41, here
pp. 35-38.
24 OStA/AVA Unterricht, Bundesdenkmalamt Karton 20: Galizien
[...], Z. 186, letter from the Vice-President of the Central Com-
mission, Karl Lanckoroński, to the Chancellery of Archduke
Franz Ferdinand as the Protector of Monument Conservation,
10.01.1914.
25 Bundesdenkmalamt Wien, Archiv (BDAA), personal files
Szydłowski, Z 127 14/1914: Appointment letter to Szydłowski by
the Minister for Culture and Education Max Hussarek von Hein-
lein, 20.04.1914.
26 In the correspondence with the Central Commission, the German
variants of the first names and surnames is used, i.e. Karl Lanc-
koronski, sometimes also Thaddaus von Szydłowski. On Myciel-
ski see TH. Bruckler, U. Niemeth, Personenlexikon zur óster-
reichischen Denkmalpflege (1850-1990), Horn 2001, p. 186.
27 Letter from Karl Lanckoroński to Archduke Franz Ferdinand,
10.01.1914 (as on note 24).
28 ANK, 29/560/0/2/24, Grono Konserwatorów Galicji Wschodniej
(1913-16), fol. 315: For the first time, Szydlowski's name appears on
the invitation to the Board's meeting on 17 August 1915. One issue
on the agenda was the 'Relationship between the Conservators'
Office and the Board of Conservators'; as well as at the meet-
ings on 30 August 1915 (fol. 421) and 3 November 1915 (fol. 427).
Szydlowski's nomination for the Board in January 1917 is do-
cumented in ANK, 29/560/0/2/25, Grono Konserwatorów Galicji
Wschodniej (1917-20), fol. 7, pp. 11-14.
29 Vgl. Th. Bruckler, Thronfolger Franz Ferdinand, pp. 334, 356 (as
in note 19).
30 BDAA, personal files Josef Piotrowski, Z. 128, letter from
Schubert-Soldern to the Ministry of Culture and Education, with
a commentary by Max Dvorak, 25.10.1915. Piotrowski complained
to Lanckoroński about his demotion; ibidem, Z. 256, letter from
Piotrowski to Lanckoroński, 24.12.1915. In independent Poland,
Piotrowski held the post of the Voivodeship Conservator in Lviv
from 1920 to 1929; see P. Lasek, Inwentaryzacja zabytków archi-
tektury w lwowskim okręgu konserwatorskim 1920-1939. Szkice
z dziejów, Warszawa 2020, pp. 7-62.
31 BDAA, personal files Szydłowski, Z 82, letter from Szydłowski
to Schubert-Soldern, 09.10.1914. For a broader view on the cir-
cumstances of heritage protection in wartime see B. Stórtkuhl,
Galizien im Ersten Weltkrieg - Kunstschutz an der Heimatfront;
kunsttexte.de, nr 4, 2023, Sektion Ostblick, special issue Kunst-
schutz-Initiativen im Ersten Weltkrieg in Ostmitteleuropa, eds.
R. Born, B. Stórtkuhl (14 pages), www.kunsttexte.de. https://
doi.org/1o.48633/ksttx.2o23.4.