DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.25050#0089
ski, the leading Polish Romantic painter. He spent his youth in
Cracow, and stayed here, too, in the last twenty years of his life.
In contemporary sculpture there were no great names, but due to
the patronage of the Potockis and other noble families, Cracow
acquired some works by Bertel Thorvaldsen and a set of tomb
sculptures by contemporary Italian artists.
Under Austrian Rule. The twenty years between 1846 and
1866 were a very difficult time for Cracow. The Austrian rulers
stepped up repression and aimed at the elimination of self-
-government for the Grand Duchy of Cracow, as the former
Republic was renamed. The Germanization campaign was rene-
wed, especially at the University, which was gradually losing its
autonomy. Deprived of its status as a neutral, free trade city,
Cracow, with the whole of Galicia, became a remote province of
Austria, supplying the more industrialized regions of the Empire
with raw materials and agricultural produce. The Austrian go-
vernment started an intensive fortification project, including some
points in the town itself (like the Wawel Hill) and environs. This
powerful system of forts, still partly preserved, is a rare example of
military architecture from the middle of the last century. Defen-
sive needs spurred another important undertaking, railway con-
struction. The first line leading to Myslowice, begun back in 1844,
was opened in 1847. Cracow soon had links with Warsaw and
Vienna, then with Lvov, and by the late nineteenth century all the
major railway lines in that part of the country had already been
built.
Around the middle of the century, two calamities struck the
city: in 1847 a terrible famine, combined with a typhoid epidemic,
ravaged entire Galicia, and in 1850 a several-days-long fire
consumed much of the area between the Market Square and
Poselska Street. Close on 160 houses, the Franciscan and Domini-
can Churches and the Bishop’s and Wielopolski palaces burnt
down. Beside severe material damage, this meant a loss of many
precious monuments and collections.
81
Cracow, and stayed here, too, in the last twenty years of his life.
In contemporary sculpture there were no great names, but due to
the patronage of the Potockis and other noble families, Cracow
acquired some works by Bertel Thorvaldsen and a set of tomb
sculptures by contemporary Italian artists.
Under Austrian Rule. The twenty years between 1846 and
1866 were a very difficult time for Cracow. The Austrian rulers
stepped up repression and aimed at the elimination of self-
-government for the Grand Duchy of Cracow, as the former
Republic was renamed. The Germanization campaign was rene-
wed, especially at the University, which was gradually losing its
autonomy. Deprived of its status as a neutral, free trade city,
Cracow, with the whole of Galicia, became a remote province of
Austria, supplying the more industrialized regions of the Empire
with raw materials and agricultural produce. The Austrian go-
vernment started an intensive fortification project, including some
points in the town itself (like the Wawel Hill) and environs. This
powerful system of forts, still partly preserved, is a rare example of
military architecture from the middle of the last century. Defen-
sive needs spurred another important undertaking, railway con-
struction. The first line leading to Myslowice, begun back in 1844,
was opened in 1847. Cracow soon had links with Warsaw and
Vienna, then with Lvov, and by the late nineteenth century all the
major railway lines in that part of the country had already been
built.
Around the middle of the century, two calamities struck the
city: in 1847 a terrible famine, combined with a typhoid epidemic,
ravaged entire Galicia, and in 1850 a several-days-long fire
consumed much of the area between the Market Square and
Poselska Street. Close on 160 houses, the Franciscan and Domini-
can Churches and the Bishop’s and Wielopolski palaces burnt
down. Beside severe material damage, this meant a loss of many
precious monuments and collections.
81