DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.25050#0087
Father Sebastian Sierakowski' Research into the country’s past
began on an unprecedented scale. The most eminent scholar was
Amrozy Grabowski, who revealed Veit Stoss as the author of the
St Mary’s altarpiece and published A Historical Description of the
City of Cracow. The patriotic atmosphere which prevailed in
Cracow and its national culture revival gave the city much
drawing power. Many families of Austrian clerks and other
immigrants from various provinces of the Empire became Poles
in the second generation, and gave the country many fervent
patriots, scholars and artists.
Tensions in the tiny state increased with the outbreak of the
November Uprising of 1830—1831, to which the Republic of
Cracow did not accede, but served as an arms transfer point and
communications link with the West. For its assistance to the
Uprising the town paid with a Russian occupation in 1831 and
restraints on its autonomy imposed in 18 3 3. A wave of immigrants
from the Russian zone arrived in Cracow, and many secret
patriotic organizations formed. To clamp down on this activity,
Austria occupied Cracow from 1836 to 1841. Despite deportations
and mass arrests, the effort to stamp out patriotic movement was
unsuccessful. On the night of February 20—21, 1846, an uprising
broke out in Cracow, but the plan for concerted struggle in all
three partitions fell flat. The attempt for freedom was bloodily
broken down with the hand of local peasants who were manipu-
lated by the Austrian government into a fight against the uprising
organized by the nobles and the intelligentsia. On February 26, the
rebels were crushed at Gdow, and on the following day a revolu-
tionary leader Edward Dembowski was killed leading a patriotic
demonstration. Surrendered after scarcely any resistance, Cracow
was occupied by Russian and Austrian forces. The former authori-
ties were replaced by an Administrative Council, and in Novem-
ber 1846 the Republic was annexed to Austria.
Cultural and artistic life in the first half of the nineteenth
century was unimpressive, but it was significant for the entire
country, because its national aspects could develop relatively
79
began on an unprecedented scale. The most eminent scholar was
Amrozy Grabowski, who revealed Veit Stoss as the author of the
St Mary’s altarpiece and published A Historical Description of the
City of Cracow. The patriotic atmosphere which prevailed in
Cracow and its national culture revival gave the city much
drawing power. Many families of Austrian clerks and other
immigrants from various provinces of the Empire became Poles
in the second generation, and gave the country many fervent
patriots, scholars and artists.
Tensions in the tiny state increased with the outbreak of the
November Uprising of 1830—1831, to which the Republic of
Cracow did not accede, but served as an arms transfer point and
communications link with the West. For its assistance to the
Uprising the town paid with a Russian occupation in 1831 and
restraints on its autonomy imposed in 18 3 3. A wave of immigrants
from the Russian zone arrived in Cracow, and many secret
patriotic organizations formed. To clamp down on this activity,
Austria occupied Cracow from 1836 to 1841. Despite deportations
and mass arrests, the effort to stamp out patriotic movement was
unsuccessful. On the night of February 20—21, 1846, an uprising
broke out in Cracow, but the plan for concerted struggle in all
three partitions fell flat. The attempt for freedom was bloodily
broken down with the hand of local peasants who were manipu-
lated by the Austrian government into a fight against the uprising
organized by the nobles and the intelligentsia. On February 26, the
rebels were crushed at Gdow, and on the following day a revolu-
tionary leader Edward Dembowski was killed leading a patriotic
demonstration. Surrendered after scarcely any resistance, Cracow
was occupied by Russian and Austrian forces. The former authori-
ties were replaced by an Administrative Council, and in Novem-
ber 1846 the Republic was annexed to Austria.
Cultural and artistic life in the first half of the nineteenth
century was unimpressive, but it was significant for the entire
country, because its national aspects could develop relatively
79