DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.29195#0014
VUt>
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Secrets of the Past
Paiace's
History
Number 415 on the Krakowskie Przedmiescie, the erstwhile residence of Count Jdzef
Potocki andpreviously ofthe Princes Sieniawski, Denhoff, and Lubomirski, opposite the
Governor’s (once Radziwill, now Presidential) Palace and recently restored to its original
splendour — is one ofthe finest, ifnot the finest edifice in terms of historic status and style,
on Warsaw’s most representational boulevard.
That’s what Aleksander Kraushar, a distinguished polyhistor and connoisseur of
Warsaw’s memorabilia, wrote in the early 20th century (Tygodnik Ilustrowany 23
(1904), p. 451). In 1896, when the Palace was about to be restored, one of War-
saw’s newspapers reported that all the shops would be removed from its corps degarde
(guardhouse), and had started to move out. Built in a barocco style[!], the structure
had been spoiled by the shops and would now be demolished, in a measure neces-
sary to straighten out the course of the Krakowskie Przedmiescie, and in its place
a wrought iron trellis, appropriate for the edifice, would be installed, giving a view of
the building’s extensive court and faijade (Teki Walerego Przyborowskiego).
Fortunately the plan to “straighten out the course of the Krakowskie Przedmiescie”
was not put into practice. The exquisite Rococo (not Baroque, as the notice on the
gate says) corps de garde, the Palace’s vanguard and immediately recognisable show-
piece, survived the Second World War and the Warsaw Uprising of 1944 virtually
unscathed. An invisible power must have been keeping vigil over this fine and so
characteristic building, with its rounded corners and the well-nigh diaphanous sculp-
tures along its attic. The charming Rococo with its fine pilasters, its subtly framed
windows and entrance, and its delicate ornamental motifs, are in excellent harmony
with the wrought iron gates, the Palace itself, and the large court enclosed within the
Palace’s wings, sometimes referred to as pavilions or annexes.
Less than half a century after this restoration, the Palace - along with virtually
the whole of Warsaw - lay in ruins, ravaged during the Second World War. It was
rebuilt in 1946-1950. The design for its reconstruction was devised by a team led by
Professor Jan Zachwatowicz of the Department of Polish Architecture at the Warsaw
University of Technology. In Moja Warszawa, his poignant recollections of the War-
saw he had known, the engineer and bridge-builder Stanislaw Gieysztor left the fol-
lowing reminiscence on the Palace’s pre-war state and its post-war restoration:
Opposite, in the Potocki (formerly Czartoryski) Palace, the only thing that changed was
thefine pair ofLouis XVgates, designed by Wladyslaw Marconi and installed in thefirst
years ofthe present [20th] century. In my schooldays the gates fell into neglect, just like the
central building ofthe corps degarde, which housedZelistawski’s jeweller's shop. . . . The
ground-floor corner ofthe wing on the Czysta (now Ossolinskich) street side had always
accommodated Gebethner and Wolffs bookshop, a familiar place for me, as it practised
the good custom of selling books fior payment in instalments. The other wing contained
Franaszek’s wallpaper shop, which supplied the whole ofWarsaw with wallpaper. Today,
with the removal ofboth shops, the Palace has certainly gained much, though on the other
hand it is almost inconceivable that Gebethner's has gone. The Palace’s recent restoration
was accomplished with a considerable amount of dedication, just as for all ofWarsaw’s
historic houses. Its tall, tiled roof(in my days the tiles were taken down even from church
roofs) and elegantly shaped chimneys are in perfect harmony with the building’s fagade.
Alas, the beautiful walls hide an emptiness which was once one ofWarsaw’sfinest interiors
in the Stanislaw August style (Gieysztor 2010, pp. 663—664).
12
J
mmm Wwwwwwfxx
Secrets of the Past
Paiace's
History
Number 415 on the Krakowskie Przedmiescie, the erstwhile residence of Count Jdzef
Potocki andpreviously ofthe Princes Sieniawski, Denhoff, and Lubomirski, opposite the
Governor’s (once Radziwill, now Presidential) Palace and recently restored to its original
splendour — is one ofthe finest, ifnot the finest edifice in terms of historic status and style,
on Warsaw’s most representational boulevard.
That’s what Aleksander Kraushar, a distinguished polyhistor and connoisseur of
Warsaw’s memorabilia, wrote in the early 20th century (Tygodnik Ilustrowany 23
(1904), p. 451). In 1896, when the Palace was about to be restored, one of War-
saw’s newspapers reported that all the shops would be removed from its corps degarde
(guardhouse), and had started to move out. Built in a barocco style[!], the structure
had been spoiled by the shops and would now be demolished, in a measure neces-
sary to straighten out the course of the Krakowskie Przedmiescie, and in its place
a wrought iron trellis, appropriate for the edifice, would be installed, giving a view of
the building’s extensive court and faijade (Teki Walerego Przyborowskiego).
Fortunately the plan to “straighten out the course of the Krakowskie Przedmiescie”
was not put into practice. The exquisite Rococo (not Baroque, as the notice on the
gate says) corps de garde, the Palace’s vanguard and immediately recognisable show-
piece, survived the Second World War and the Warsaw Uprising of 1944 virtually
unscathed. An invisible power must have been keeping vigil over this fine and so
characteristic building, with its rounded corners and the well-nigh diaphanous sculp-
tures along its attic. The charming Rococo with its fine pilasters, its subtly framed
windows and entrance, and its delicate ornamental motifs, are in excellent harmony
with the wrought iron gates, the Palace itself, and the large court enclosed within the
Palace’s wings, sometimes referred to as pavilions or annexes.
Less than half a century after this restoration, the Palace - along with virtually
the whole of Warsaw - lay in ruins, ravaged during the Second World War. It was
rebuilt in 1946-1950. The design for its reconstruction was devised by a team led by
Professor Jan Zachwatowicz of the Department of Polish Architecture at the Warsaw
University of Technology. In Moja Warszawa, his poignant recollections of the War-
saw he had known, the engineer and bridge-builder Stanislaw Gieysztor left the fol-
lowing reminiscence on the Palace’s pre-war state and its post-war restoration:
Opposite, in the Potocki (formerly Czartoryski) Palace, the only thing that changed was
thefine pair ofLouis XVgates, designed by Wladyslaw Marconi and installed in thefirst
years ofthe present [20th] century. In my schooldays the gates fell into neglect, just like the
central building ofthe corps degarde, which housedZelistawski’s jeweller's shop. . . . The
ground-floor corner ofthe wing on the Czysta (now Ossolinskich) street side had always
accommodated Gebethner and Wolffs bookshop, a familiar place for me, as it practised
the good custom of selling books fior payment in instalments. The other wing contained
Franaszek’s wallpaper shop, which supplied the whole ofWarsaw with wallpaper. Today,
with the removal ofboth shops, the Palace has certainly gained much, though on the other
hand it is almost inconceivable that Gebethner's has gone. The Palace’s recent restoration
was accomplished with a considerable amount of dedication, just as for all ofWarsaw’s
historic houses. Its tall, tiled roof(in my days the tiles were taken down even from church
roofs) and elegantly shaped chimneys are in perfect harmony with the building’s fagade.
Alas, the beautiful walls hide an emptiness which was once one ofWarsaw’sfinest interiors
in the Stanislaw August style (Gieysztor 2010, pp. 663—664).
12
J