Art Nouveau District, Riga, Latvia

Riga was a major centre of the Hanseatic League, deriving its prosperity in the 13th–15th centuries from the trade with central and Eastern Europe. The urban fabric of its medieval centre reflects this prosperity, though most of the earliest buildings were destroyed by fire or war. Riga became an important economic centre in the 19th century, when the suburbs surrounding the medieval town were laid out, first with imposing wooden buildings in neoclassical style and then in Jugendstil. It is generally recognized that Riga has the finest collection of art nouveau buildings in Europe. In 1997 the Art Noveau District of Riga was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.





Jugendstil



The Historic Centre of Riga boasts the largest collection of Art Nouveau buildings in Europe. Between 1896 and 1913, the city expanded and a housing boom followed. The style which developed in Riga was influenced mainly by German, Austrian and Finnish architects.



Before World War I Riga was a growing industrial city and the wealth of the 'haute' bourgeoisie naturally found its way onto the facades of their new luxury town homes. Many of the designs were of the Art Nouveau style. I am particularly fond of this short-lived style because so much emphasis was placed on creating something unique, free flowing, and just a little 'off the scale.' ...Not so different from today's avant-garde and in a way it’s uniqueness expresses Latvian’s desire to be free and part of the European mainstream.

















Alberta Street



After the revolution of 1905 a distinctively Latvian variation of Art Nouveau developed, known as National Romanticism. Architects started to use traditional Latvian folk elements and natural building materials. Typical elements were steep roofs, heavy structures and the use of ethnographic ornamental motifs.

Riga as a city made its first mark in history in the 1201. In that year, Albert the Bishop of Bremen established his first German fortress here. With his Knights of the Sword he executed a Crusade to the Baltic’s. The town started to prosper as a trading station. This resulted in joining the Hanseatic League in 1282. What makes it different is something to do with Latvia and Lithuania being the last two European countries to adopt Christianity in the 12th Century and as a result most of the traditional symbols and icons are distinctly pagan. Pre-Christian symbolism persists in Latvian folk tradition and can be seen in Art Nouveau buildings which display the face of Mother Nature and the look of intricately carved wood, both of which are distinctly Baltic features. It's a little eerie (and possibly fun) to walk down a dark side street and notice all these symbols normally associated with witchcraft and the devil.





Mother Nature















Walking around in Riga what most surprises is the eclectic architecture. Notably in the Old Town there is always a medieval highlight next to some Stalinist leftover. This diversity in styles adds a lively atmosphere to the town. Generally, Riga is less an open-air-museum like than Tallinn for example. The main reason for inclusion is Riga's fine collection of Art Nouveau buildings. They can be found a few blocks north from the city center. There are several streets adorned with great specimens. The buildings by Mikhail Eisenstein are well restored and freshly painted. Another feature of Riga are the 19th century wooden buildings. They are less prominent than the Art Nouveau ones, and less often renovated.















The architectural and artistic answer to the literary Modernist movement that began in the late 19th century was the Art Nouveau movement in Europe. The Art Nouveau movement reached its peak in the early 20th century, which is when the majority of Riga’s Art Nouveau houses were built, beginning in 1899. Riga’s term for the movement, Jugendstil, comes from the German and Scandinavian movement named after the avant-garde periodical Jugend (“Youth”). Unlike the stiffer sensibilities of Victorian style, Art Nouveau stressed a complete creative freedom, mixing fantastic elements with a tendency to show all utilitarian construction elements as artistic value, with very characteristic elements such as dynamic, undulating, and flowing lines and geometrical ornaments. In Riga, Art Nouveau could be split into two main directions, decorative and romantic-nationalistic Art Nouveau.





Jugendstil Frauenkopf



Riga is one of the largest centres of Art Nouveau, with more than a third of the buildings of its Central District built in the style; other significant centres include Paris, Barcelona, Berlin, Vienna, Krakow, and Moscow and St. Petersburg, among others. The main street for Riga’s Art Nouveau district is Elizabetes, which intersects Brivibas Boulevard. In addition to Elizabetes Street, Alberta and Strelnieku Streets also feature impressive examples of the style. In total, there are over 800 Art Nouveau buildings in Riga, but finding them all would be quite an ambitious undertaking, so I’ll try to guide you to the most noteworthy ones. Significantly, most of the Art Nouveau buildings were designed and built by Latvian architects.











Buildings in the decorative Art Nouveau style by one of the most famous architects, Mikhail Eisenstein can be found at Elizabetes 10a and 10b, as well as at Alberta 2, 2a, 4, 8 and 13. On Alberta 13 stands a building from 1904 which now houses the Riga Graduate School of Law, which is fully restored and publicly accessible. Right around the corner, Strelnieku Street also features eccentric examples of the style. Romantic-nationalist Art Nouveau can be seen in the buildings by Latvian architects E. Laube, K. Peksens, and A. Vanags, such as those on Terbatas Street 15/17 and Brivibas Street 47, 58, and 62. The most famous of the local architects was Mikhail Eisenstein. His son, Sergei, was a pioneer of early cinema. Ironically, Sergei moved to Moscow to make propaganda for the Bolsheviks who despised (and eventually destroyed) the same bourgeoisie that supported his father and fed him as a child.





Art Nouveau Staircase







More information can be learned about Art Nouveau and other architecture in Riga in the Latvian Museum of Architecture located in one of the Three Brothers in the Old Town. The Riga Art Nouveau Centre in Latvia, that used to be linked on the website of the City of Riga, now has its own website where the centre and Art Nouveau architectural heritage of the city are presented and where events related to Art Nouveau in Riga are listed. The Riga Art Nouveau Centre also moved into new premises in the Art Nouveau building located at 12, Alberta Street, the facade having being restored a few years ago and the interior still being in the restoration process.



This is their website; (Only in Latvian at the moment)



http://www.jugendstils.riga.lv/lv



Riga is a rewarding place to visit both for its Architecture and its vibrant urban life. The old town is richly textured with the wondrously titled “House of the Blackheads”, essentially a palace for visiting Hanseatic merchants. Due to their indulgent lifestyle they developed blackheads and turned this into a little joke by calling this rather rich palace after what was originally its nickname! The old town is a rich and rewarding mix with Swedish gun towers, a castle, museums, Art Nouveau district and many fine churches including St Peter’s Cathedral in the Baltic brick gothic style. St Petri has a lift to the top of the steeple affording good views of the city and the river Daugava on which it sits.



I’ll remember it for its energy, sense of purpose and historic and human interest which makes it such a worthwhile travel destination. The persistence of the ideals of personal freedom and free association cemented by trade of the Hanseatic League can be seen in the way the cities of the newly free Baltic countries have readopted their Hanseatic titles after gaining their freedom.



http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2007/08/lbeck-queen-of-hansa.html



My abiding feeling coming back from Riga is how important freedom is to people who have been deprived of it and how much in the West we take it for granted, not something they will ever do in Riga which is watched over by the symbol of Latvian nationhood “The Freedom Monument.” The Art Nouveau District is another testament of the determination of the people of this small nation to look westwards and assert their unique culture, language and cultural identity. It is a deserving UNESCO World Heritage Site.



See also;



http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2007/08/riga-capital-of-country-in-transition.html











For more on Architecture and Design see ArchiBlogs in the Blog sidebar.

Kraków – The Heart of Poland

Kraków’s destiny was to be a great city at the heart of Europe and it is very much the centre of Mittel Europa. The city was created by trade where the routes from the south to the Baltic converge with the routes from the East to the West. And Kraków is also the heart of Poland, a country which has disappeared from the maps 3 times in history and in the 20th century alone this city experienced Austrian rule as the capital of Galicia, General Piłsudski’s flawed military dictatorship in the inter-war period, the Nazi invasion and occupation which saw one fifth of the population die and the years of Soviet dominated totalitarianism before regaining its rightful place as an independent nation again.


Dominican Church

Kraków is the fascinating spiritual, cultural and educational capital of Free Poland and was the actual capital and seat of the Polish Kings for over 400 years. It is a city wrapped in legend which in its vitality captures the greatness and strength of Poland and in its melancholy the unspeakable suffering and cruelty which it has witnessed. For centuries Kraków was the capital of Poland, the seat of kings, drawing great scholars and artists from the whole world. It is their talents and imagination we must thank for the city’s rich legacy of unique historical relics, which reflect the most important trends in European culture.

A city forged in battle, war, conquest and fate, Kraków is in many respects the most Polish of all this nation’s cities. The ancient seat of kings and intelligentsia comes steeped in legend and myth, and evokes the most fanciful of images, from dragons occupying the catacombs of Wavel, to Tartar hordes repelled at the gates, to an earnest Vladimir Lenin plotting revolution while sitting in the city’s cafes. The city has much of interest. The renaissance Royal Castle at Wavel, the gothic St Mary’s Basilica, the historical trade pavilions of the Cloth Hall, the former separate Jewish city of Kazimierz, and even the Nowa Huta district, absorbed by Kraków together with its socialist-realist, industrial architecture, are all places which make a visit to Kraków extremely worthwhile.


Kraków cafe

Kraków has always been, in many respects, a charmed city. With a history that dates back to the 4th century settlement of Wavel Hill, Kraków has fortuitously avoided destruction since the pesky Mongols stopped bullying the area in the 13th century, growing into one of the most prominent cities in Central Europe. The most important city in Poland not to come out of World War II looking like a trampled Lego set, even the Soviets failed to leave their mark on the enchanted city centre during 45 years of supervision, forced to erect their grey communist Utopia in the outlying suburb of Nowa Huta. As a result, Kraków is today one of the most beautiful showpieces of Eastern Europe – a claim validated by its historic centre’s inclusion on the first ever UNESCO World Heritage List in 1978, along with the nearby Wielicka Salt Mine and only ten other places in the world. A city of majestic architectural monuments, cobbled thoroughfares, cultural treasures, timeless courtyards, priceless artworks and legendary beer cellars and gardens, Kraków’s historic centre is the pride of Poland.

To understand the importance of Kraków to Poland’s sense of nationhood you have to understand the tortured history of a country which was once great but was wiped off the maps of Europe by surrounding powers. Austria, Prussia and Russia imposed the first partition of Poland in 1772-73. The constitution of May 3, 1791, restored hereditary monarchy and reforms the political system. The constitution is the second democratic constitution in the world (after the USA’s), but is short-lived. Prussia and Russia carry out a second partition of Poland in 1792-93. One year later, in 1795, Austria, Prussia and Russia impose a third partition of Poland and Kraków becomes part of Austria.


Franciscan church

Between 1807-15, Napoleon establishes the semi-independent Duchy of Warsaw which includes Kraków. After Napoleon’s defeat and the Congress of Vienna in 1815, Poland is partitioned anew with a large part going to Russia. The Republic of Kraków is established as an independent entity for a short period between 1815-1846, but the city is eventually absorbed into the Austrian partition.

After WWI, the partitioning powers of Germany, Austria and Russia collapse and the independent Second Polish Republic arises. In 1918, the Austrian army in Kraków disarms and Poland regains independence on November 11 after 146 years of foreign occupation. WWII begins in 1939 with the September 1 invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany and the September 17 invasion by the Soviet Union. On September 6, 1939, the Nazis take over and begin their occupation in Kraków. On November 6, Jagiellonian University professors and other Kraków intellectuals are arrested and transported to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. In 1941, the Jewish ghetto in Podgórze is established. As well as killing one fifth of the Polish population during WW11 the racist state of Nazi Germany commits the greatest mass murders of the modern era on Polish soil

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2009/04/auschwitz-birkenau.htmll

and enslaves most of the adult male population as forced labourers from the “inferior races.” By the end of the war the Polish nation is deeply traumatised.

From 1945, Kraków undergoes ‘Sovietisation’. All property and businesses are nationalised, organised religion comes under attack and opposition leaders are imprisoned. The history of post-war Poland through 1989 consists of the distribution of power by the USSR to chosen individuals and the Soviets’ attempt to maintain their hold. Poland, however, did not take well to Soviet domination, as even Stalin said that implementing communism in Poland was like trying to put a saddle on a cow. The effect was a constant effort by the Poles to claim and practice their independence. Poland, for example, is the only formerly Communist-reigned country whose religious practices and churches weren’t severed, restricted or all together destroyed. The beauty of Kraków is tarnished by forced industrialization such as the monstrous steelworks of Nowa Huta (New Factory) constructed in the late 1940s. The factory and surrounding blocks of workers’ residences, built on top of Kraków’s best farming soil, is the USSR’s obvious attempt to undermine Kraków’s cultural and religious intelligence.








Rynek Główny

The layout of Kraków is relatively straightforward. The “Old Town” radiates off the square known as Rynek Główny. This was the largest plaza of medieval Europe and one of the worlds finest with its spectacular landmarks and has remained the hub of the city since the 13th century. The old town is oval shaped and the site of the walls is marked by the Planty. Kraków’s medieval city walls were largely demolished after 1807 save the part with the main gate, its adjoining towers and the great barbican. Fortunately, a green belt of public parks called Planty took up the emptied area of 52 acres in the 1820s.


Planty Kraków

It takes an hour to two hours to walk around the Old Town historical district down the leafy alleys among old trees. And the stroll is the more delightful as Krakow’s ancient buildings reveal their unusual aspects. On the other hand, it appears also a journey through the art of gardening for the Planty ring actually proves to be a chain of some 30 gardens in varied styles. Joining the main town and the seat of the Polish Kings, Wavel Castle, is the Royal Road which was the ceremonial route for the coronations and funerals of the monarchs. Continue beyond Wavel and you will cross over what was once a bed of the Vistula River and is now a tramway and a park to arrive in the Kazimierz where for hundreds of years a unique and successful Jewish and Christian culture flourished.

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2009/04/jewish-krakow.html


Vistula

It is often compared to Prague in the guides due to it being a medieval city overlooked by a castle. However in truth the Vistula is not the Vltava and Kraków largely turns its back on its river. Nor indeed does it have the same critical mass and variety of the districts of Prague nor its baroque exuberance, Kraków can appear sullen by comparison. So, let us not make spurious comparisons but enjoy and explore this city for its own uniqueness, a vibrant young university city which is in every sense the Heart of Poland.




The Cloth Hall (Sukiennice)

Most essential sites can be seen while taking a walk on what is known as the Royal Road which starts at Floriańska Gate and leads into the Market Square, The Rynek. Take a small diversion at the start to the Czartoryski Museum (ul. Św. Jana 19) where you will find one of only five Da Vinci paintings on display in the world – the Lady with an Ermine. Getting back onto the Royal Route, the Market Square was originally designed in 1257, the year Kraków was awarded its charter and the grid like layout of the old town and its central square has changed little in the years that have followed. Measuring 200 x 200m, the Rynek ranks as one of the largest medieval squares in Europe. It is here that you will find two of Krakow’s defining buildings – The Cloth Hall (Sukiennice) and St. Mary’s Basilica (Bazylika Mariacka).




St. Mary’s Basilica (Bazylika Mariacka)

Tartar invasions of the 13th century left the original St. Mary’s Basilica in a heap of ruins and construction began on St. Mary’s using the existing foundations. It doesn’t matter how many times you see it, the altarpiece, stained glass windows of the nave, and the blue, starred ceiling will take your breath away. The magnificent altarpiece was for 12 painstaking years the principal work of the 15th century German artist Veit Stoss (aka Wit Stwosz), and depicts the Virgin Mary’s Quietus among the apostles. Surrounding the altar are polychrome paintings by Matejko, Mehoffer and Wyspiański. Several local legends are attached to St. Mary’s. The architect of the smaller tower murdered his brother (the architect of the taller), apparently jealous that his structure was shorter and less elaborate. Racked with guilt he then committed suicide by throwing himself off the roof of the cathedral. Nowadays the taller tower is home to one of Kraków’s most enduring traditions. The bugle call played on the turn of every hour apparently takes its origins from an event in 1241. Having spotted invading Tartar forces on the horizon, a lone fire watcher in the tower started playing his trumpet to alert the habitants of Kraków. He was shot with an arrow in his neck, abruptly cutting off the tune mid-melody, but the town was roused from its sleep and defended itself. In honour of this event, seven local firemen now have task of tooting the tune every hour. The first written mention of the tradition dates back to 1392, though a local magazine recently claimed the whole custom was invented by an American in 1929. Attending a service in the Basilica you are impressed with the devoutness of the Polish people. The church is full to overflowing and throughout the mass penitents knell at the confessionals on either side. The church in its Brick Gothic glory betrays the town’s Hanseatic connections but where you see churches like this in Germany, Latvia and Sweden the walls are plain white for they were stripped of their decoration at the Reformation. Here at St. Mary’s you see Brick Gothic in originalis with every surface painted in colour, the heavens represented by the golden stars on the high vaulted roof and everywhere surrounding Catholic iconography in its gilded gaudy richness, statues of the saints, stations of the cross, glowing altars in side chapels and the kaleidoscope of the stained glass windows. It is glorious and joyful as no doubt was intended.


Kraków Map

Poland’s most historic city, currently weighing in with 11 major theatres and 30 museums, Kraków has always been the ‘Cultural Capital’ of Poland, and bore that banner on behalf of all Europe back in 2000. Galleries include Bunkier Sztuki (the Art Bunker), Starmach and Pauza. Classical music fans will be spoilt for choice at the Philharmonic and Kraków Opera, while those who favour something more contemporary should beat a track to Rotunda and Loch Ness. The cultural depth of the city is easily revealed by the range of its festival calendar, with annual standouts like the Street Theatre Festival, Jewish Culture Festival and the Kraków Film Festival, offset by more eccentric endeavours like the annual Dragon and Dachsund Parades (respectively), the Pierogi Festival and Juwenalia (student mayhem!).

The National Museum was granted its first statute in 1883 and was created as a municipal institution to avoid control by the then occupying powers in Vienna. The museum’s mission is to protect the nation’s legacy by promoting world and Polish art particularly that of the Kraków artistic community. It is Krakow’s if not Poland’s most impressive museum with impressive permanent exhibitions which are displayed alongside an ever-changing calendar of temporary exhibitions.


The Royal Road




All Saints Kraków

Continuing down the Royal Route takes you along ul. Grodzka where you pass the church of St. Peter and Paul with its impressive statues of the 12 apostles guarding its front boundary. Moving off to your right, fans of the late Pope John Paul II should take a walk around his former residence nowadays housing the Archdiocesan Museum (ul. Kanonicza 19-21). You then come to Wavel Castle, the defining landmark of the city, and itself worthy of several hours of exploration. For Poles this castle and cathedral complex is a symbol of national strength and patriotism; the ancient home of kings, and the material embodiment of Polish resistance and culture. Perched on top of a 50m-high rock on the edge of old town, it is today remarkably intact and accessible to visitors, though in an effort to preserve the exhibits only a limited number of visitors are allowed to enter each day.


Wavel Cathedral






Wavel

The glorious ensemble that is Wavel, perched on top of the hill of the same name immediately south of the Old Town, is by far the most important collection of buildings in Poland. A symbol of national pride, hope, and self-rule and not least of all fierce patriotism, Wavel offers a uniquely Polish version of Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey rolled into one. A gorgeous assortment of predominantly Romanesque, Renaissance and Gothic architecture dating from around the 14th century onwards, visiting Kraków and not seeing Wavel is like playing tennis without a ball.
The scene of the crowning of almost every Polish king and queen throughout history, the current Wavel Cathedral is the third to be built on the site. The first cathedral was built of wood, probably around 1020, but certainly after the founding of the Bishopric of Kraków in 1000 A.D. Destroyed by fire it was replaced by a second cathedral that subsequently burnt down again. The current building was consecrated in 1364 and built on the orders of Poland’s first king to be crowned at Wavel, Władysław the Short (aka. Władysław the Elbow-high, 1306-1333), who was crowned among the charred rubble of its predecessor in 1319. Considered the most important single building in Poland, Wavel’s extraordinary Cathedral contains much that is original, although many glorious additions have been made over the centuries. Arguably not as stunning as that of its cousin St. Mary’s in the Rynek, the interior of Wavel Cathedral more than makes up for its visual shortcomings thanks to the sheer amount of history packed inside. At its centre is the imposing tomb of the former Bishop of Kraków, St. Stanisław (1030-1079), a suitably grand monument dedicated to the controversial cleric after whom the Cathedral is dedicated. Boasting 18 chapels, all of them about as ostentatious as you’re ever likely to see, of particular interest is the 15th-century Chapel of the Holy Cross, found to the right as you enter and featuring some wonderful Russian murals as well as Veit Stoss’ 1492 marble sarcophagus to Kazimierz IV.


Plac Nowy


Kazimierz

Further on is Kazimierz, the district that housed Kraków’s Jews for some 500 years. In the last decade it has been rediscovered, and its hollowed-out Jewish culture gradually reintroduced. Peeling façades and wooden shutters hide dozens of smoky cafes, each one affecting an air of pre-war timelessness. This is an area of Kraków that cannot be missed. Crossing the river will take you to the Podgórze district, the site of the former Jewish Ghetto. Today fragments of the Ghetto wall can be viewed, as can the sight of Oskar Schindler’s factory (ul. Lipowa 4) which is scheduled to open as a proper museum in autumn 2009. There’s more to the historic Jewish quarter than cemeteries and synagogues. Lying between shops selling buttons and spanners, you’ll find the heart of Krakow’s artsy character. Peeling façades and wooden shutters hide dozens of smoky cafes, each one affecting an air of pre-war timelessness. Alternative, edgy and packed with oddities this is an essential point of interest to any visitor.

While Kraków’s main square, Rynek Główny, makes all the postcards and photographs, it is Plac Nowy in Kazimierz that has emerged as the spiritual centre of Kraków sub-culture. Lacking the splendour of the Old Town, Plac Nowy is, if anything, something of an eyesore – a collection of unkempt buildings surrounding a concrete square filled with chipped green market stalls and rat-like pigeons flapping about. If you want something completely different from the Old Town, however, here it is. Kraków is split by the river Vistula (Wisła). At 1,047km it is Poland’s longest river and flows into the Bay of Gdańsk (Zatoka Gdańska).

Immortalised by Thomas Keneally’s book ‘Schindler’s Ark’, and then later in the Spielberg epic ‘Schindler’s List’, Oskar Schindler is a name synonymous with Kraków. A hard-drinking, profiteering playboy, Schindler does not fit the standard mould for a hero, though neither was he the typical Nazi. Credited with saving 1.200 Jews his actions continue to serve as an example and inspiration. Born on April 28th, 1908 in what is now Svitavy, Czech Republic, Schindler enjoyed a privileged upbringing and was a childhood friend with the Jewish family residing next door. The 1930s economic crisis saw his family firm slide into bankruptcy, and like so many disaffected German’s he signed up to the Nazi party.


Schindler Factory

Hot on the heels of the invading German army Schindler found himself arriving in Kraków in 1939 where he took charge of a formerly Jewish-owned enamel factory. Motivated by greed he principally employed cut-price Jewish labour, and involved himself in the thriving black market. Living a careless, lavish lifestyle his world and motives appear to have changed after witnessing the emptying of the Podgórze ghetto. Both Keneally and Spielberg pay particular importance to his fascination with the plight of a small girl dressed in a red cape and Schindler would later claim, ‘Beyond this day, no thinking person could fail to see what would happen. I was now resolved to do everything in my power to defeat the system.’

He arranged for workers housed in the notorious Płaszów camp to be moved to his factory, shielding them time and time again from deportation and death through bribery and cunning. With the war coming to a close, and ‘his Jews’ facing the prospect of death marches and gas chambers, he miraculously managed to persuade Nazi authorities to relocate his factory and his workers to Brunlitz. Estimates suggest he spent four million marks during the war on protecting his workers, with his wife even selling her jewellery so as to provide funds for medicines and food. Moreover, in the seven months he spent as director of a shell factory in Brunlitz, not one usable shell left the production line.



Following the war he emigrated to Argentina with his wife to settle as a farmer, though by 1957 he was declared bankrupt and returned to Germany alone. Financial woes were to blight him for the rest of his life. Regarded as a traitor to the fatherland he was cold shouldered by Germans and more business ventures fell by the wayside. By the time of his death in 1974 he was fully dependent on the charity of those he had saved. Buried in Jerusalem, his acts of courage have been honoured by Yad Vashem as one of the Righteous Amongst Nations. Schindler sights in Kraków include the house he lived in at ul. Starszewskiego 7, before moving permanently into his factory on ul. Lipowa 4.


Nowa Huta

No visitor can leave Kraków without being struck by its beauty. Almost overwhelming at times it’s a city of pristine townhouses and cobbled alleys. Feminine in its touch it has none of the brutal rotting concrete horror shows of Warsaw, or so you’d think. But fans of communist architectural genius need not panic. Of course there’s the Socialist Realist city of Nowa Huta close by, but there’s also three equally amazing abandoned oddities within the city limits. First off there’s the Skeletor (szkieletor) tower rising above rondo Mogilska . This 22 storey structure is rated the tallest building in the city, and is a remarkable reminder of the follies of communism. The 91 metre tower has never been occupied, standing empty for over a quarter of a century. Originally designed in 1968 to serve as a congress hall and office block work commenced in 1975, with local authorities pressuring architects to make it as tall as possible. Another eight floors were hastily added to the original blueprint, with a TV studio, hotel and panoramic terrace all part of the master plan. Alas, Poland’s economic crisis hit soon after and all work on it was abandoned in 1979, never to be resumed. Today the monster stands fenced off from the public, a ghostly reminder of the golden dawn promised by the nation’s leaders. Recently acquired by GD&K and Verity Developments it’s more than likely that the coming years will finally see it transformed into something completely glittery. In the meantime don’t miss a visit to this astonishing white elephant.


Skeletor Tower

Next up on your tour of forgotten Kraków is what the Forum Hotel (ul was once Marii Konopnickiej) described as ‘a legacy of the era of Soviet hospitality’. You’ll know why when you visit. Essentially a concrete oblong set on sticks construction on this beauty began in 1978, with the ribbon cutting taking place 11 years later. Even still when it was unveiled in 1989 it came to be regarded as one of the most futuristic buildings in Kraków. Awarded four stars the hotel featured perks unknown in 80s Kraków; air-conditioned rooms, an outdoor electronic clock with temperature displays, swimming pool, minigolf and casino. Bond would have loved snooping round these corridors. Having passed from the Orbis brand to the Sofitel in 2001 the hotel was closed at the end of 2002, apparently because of a construction fault that led to frequent flooding of the basements. Today the vacant building is owned by the Wavel-Imos group, and though its future is uncertain it sometimes finds itself rented out to function as Poland’s longest billboard.


St. Stanislaus Skala - Statue of John Paul II

Finally, there’s the Liban Quarry, right by the Kraków Krzemionki train station. Originally established in 1873 as a lime quarry by Liban & Ehrenpreis, the area was utilized by the Nazis as a labour camp for Poles, with Płaszów camp lying adjacent. After the war it saw heavy industrialization, and you’ll still see great big rusting hulks of industrial leftovers lying around. Although the quarry closed in 1990 that didn’t signal the death of Liban. Overgrown and neglected, Liban has become a natural sanctuary for lizards, harriers and waterfowl. It was here in 1993 that much of ‘Schindler’s List’ was filmed in 1993, with half a million dollars invested into recreating Płaszów camp. Amazingly traces of the film set remain visible, including barbed wire fences and gates, and a visit here is a haunting trip through times past.



The enterprising tourist should consider picking up the Kraków Card, a superb piece of plastic that allows you free travel on trams and buses, day and night. The best bit though is free entry to 30 Kraków museums, an impressive saving for the serious tourist. Two and three day cards are available, priced at 50 and 65 złoty respectively and they are valid until midnight on the day indicated on the reverse. For a full list of vendors and benefits visit

www.krakowcard.com


Barbican

Crowned in 1384 at the age of eleven, Queen Jadwiga was destined to become the greatest queen in Polish history. Grandniece of Casimir the Great, the last of the Piast Kings of Poland, and the youngest daughter of Louis the Great, King of Hungary, Jadwiga was selected by Polish nobles to end absentee rule by foreign monarchs. Jadwiga of Anjou’s betrothed whom she loved was William of Hungary but she was not allowed marry for love by her Nobles. Their choice was the dreaded Jagiello, ruler of pagan Lithuania, who agreed to unite the vast Lithuanian territories with Poland, release Polish prisoners, defend the united countries against the Order of Teutonic Knights, and lastly, embrace the Catholic faith. The marriage of Queen Jadwiga and King Jagiello starts off more than four centuries of a jointly governed Polish-Lithuanian state. These were the years of Poland’s greatness and to this day Queen Jadwiga is revered as the incarnation of Polish nationhood and a saintly woman who sold her jewels to endow the university named after her husband, the Jagiellonian University. Poles still go to her crypt in Wavel and more than 600 years after her death every day ordinary people place candles and flowers on her tomb. This place is the heart of Polish Nationhood. Jadwiga of Anjou, Queen of Poland was canonised a Saint by another Pole who helped Poland reclaim its sense of nationhood and identity, Pope John Paul II on June 8, 1997.


Collegium Maius

Karol Józef Wojtyła (18 May 1920 – 2 April 2005) reigned as Pope and Sovereign of the State of the Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death almost 27 years later. His was the second-longest pontificate. He has been the only Polish pope, and was the first non-Italian since the Dutch pontiff Adrian VI in the 1520s. He was born 40 km from Kraków and his character was forged in response to the daily inhumanity he witnessed during the Nazi occupation. Wavel Castle was the base for Hans Frank, the odious lawyer, who was Governor of Poland under the Nazis with the Western half of Poland in Silesia being annexed to the Reich. Poland felt the full force of Nazi racism with Jews and Gypsies being killed as part of the “Final Solution” and the “Inferior Race” of Poles conscripted into slave labour.

The pope lived for 40 years in and around Kraków, and when he last visited a staggering crowd of 2.5 million gathered at Błonie field. As a youth, Wojtyła was an athlete and often played football (soccer) as a goalkeeper; he was also a supporter of Polish club Cracovia Kraków. His formative years were influenced by numerous contacts with the vibrant and prospering Jewish community of Wadowice. School football games were often organised between teams of Jews and Catholics, and Wojtyła would voluntarily offer himself as a substitute goalkeeper on the Jewish side if they were short of players.



As an 18-year-old-student, he took spartan quarters at ul. Tyniecka 10, just across from the Grunwaldzki Bridge. A plaque honours his darting presence in basement room of the house. In those days he was known as quite a sports fanatic: an avid swimmer, skier and an adept goalkeeper, it was during a spell studying in London that he began following the (mis)fortunes of Fulham football club. Upon graduation in 1938 he entered the Jagiellonian University to study Polish language and literature. In September 1939 Poland fell to Nazi Germany, 174 Professors were brutally taken off to a German labour camp (50 never returned) and the University closed. The young Wojtyła spent his days breaking rocks at the Zakrzówek quarry (later at the Solvay chemical factory), his nights studying theology - and in defying Nazi edict by performing in underground theatre. The first non-Italian pontiff in more than 400 years heard mass every morning at the Church of St. Stanisław Kostka (ul. Konfederacka 6). He would preach his second mass there on November 3, 1946. The day before he delivered his first in the Crypt of St. Leonard, underneath Wavel Cathedral. Between 1958 and 1963 he resided at ul. Kanonicza 19, now the archdiocesan museum. His final Kraków home (1963-1978) was the Bishop’s Palace, adjacent to the Basilica of St. Francis on ul. Franciszkańska 3. A statue of a sprightly looking Pope John Paul II stands inside the courtyard.




Archbishops Palace



Karol Wojtyła’s character was formed by living under and resisting two totalitarian systems’s which denied individual’s humanity. Whilst criticised for his conservatism you can understand that war time Kraków led to his condemnation of abortion, euthanasia and virtually all uses of capital punishment, calling them all a part of the "culture of death" that is pervasive in the modern world. He also campaigned for world debt forgiveness and social justice. John Paul II has been credited with being instrumental in bringing down communism in Eastern Europe, by being the spiritual inspiration behind its downfall, and a catalyst for "a peaceful revolution" in Poland. Lech Wałęsa, the founder of the ‘Solidarity’ movement, credited John Paul II with giving Poles the courage to rise up. "The pope started this chain of events that led to the end of communism," Wałęsa said. "Before his pontificate, the world was divided into blocs. Nobody knew how to get rid of communism. "He simply said, ‘Do not be afraid, change the image of this land...’ "

“Warsaw, Moscow, Budapest, Berlin, Prague, Sofia and Bucharest have become stages in a long pilgrimage toward liberty. It is admirable that in these events, entire peoples spoke out — women, young people, men, overcoming fears, their irrepressible thirst for liberty speeded up developments, made walls tumble down and opened gates.” ”

— Pope John Paul II (1989)



In Kraków even to non-believers he is respected and revered as the person who in 1989 precipitated the events which lead to Poland reclaiming its nationhood and identity. Opposite the palace where he not just lived as Archbishop and Cardinal but also hid in the basement for six months as a secret seminarian after 6 August 1944, ‘Black Sunday’, when the Gestapo rounded up 8,000 young men in Kraków to avoid an uprising similar to the previous uprising in Warsaw there is a wall by the Franciscan Church. Looking down on this wall is the window where Karol Wojtyła used to speak to the young people of Kraków after Sunday mass and here too each day you will find lanterns and flowers laid in memory of the city’s favourite son just as you see in the Cathedral on the hill of Wavel above the town at the tomb of a Queen who also reclaimed Polish nationhood. This is the Heart of Poland and it still beats strong in tribute to these resilient people.

I've relied upon and quoted from a number of excellent local resources in compiling this piece including;

Jewish Kraków

www.jewishkrakow.net

Kraków site devoted to Jews from Kraków

www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/krakow/

Kraków Info

www.krakow-info.com

Galicia Jewish Heritage Institute

www.galiciajewishmuseum.org/

Cracow Life

www.cracow-life.com/poland/