Presidential Palace, Warsaw

Coordinates: 52°14′34.83″N 21°00′58.5″E / 52.2430083°N 21.016250°E / 52.2430083; 21.016250
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Presidential Palace
Pałac Prezydencki
Government of Poland
Design and construction
Architect(s)Chrystian Piotr Aigner (1818)
Historic Monument of Poland
Designated1994-09-08
Part ofWarsaw – historic city center with the Royal Route and Wilanów
Reference no.M.P. 1994 nr 50 poz. 423[1]

The Presidential Palace (

Belweder Palace, located in Warsaw, Poland. Originally constructed in 1643 as an aristocratic mansion, it was rebuilt and remodelled several times over the course of its existence by notable architects. The current neoclassical
palace was completed in 1818.

Throughout its history, the palace was a venue for important historical events in Polish, European, and world history. In 1791, the facility hosted authors and advocates of the

namiestnik) of Congress Poland
.

Following Poland's resurrection after World War I, in 1918, the building was taken over by the newly reconstituted Polish authorities and became the seat of the Council of Ministers. During World War II, it served as a Deutsches Haus for the country's German occupiers and survived the 1944 Warsaw Uprising intact. After the war, it resumed its function as seat of the Polish Council of Ministers. On 14 May 1955, the Warsaw Pact was signed inside the Presidential Palace between the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc countries. Since July 1994, the palace has been the official seat of the president of the Republic of Poland.

History

Construction of the present-day Presidential Palace in Warsaw was begun in 1643 by Crown Great

latifundia situated in Poland's eastern borderlands; hence the palace's first name was "Pałac Koniecpolskich"—the "Koniecpolski Palace".[2] It was said that he owned so much landed property that he could cross the breadth of the Commonwealth
while spending every night in one of his own manors. The palace was not completed in the Hetman's lifetime, as he died unexpectedly in 1646 at his Brody residence, a few weeks after taking a young wife.

Koniecpolski Palace in 1656; it was burned down during the Deluge

The palace's architect was

Erik Dahlberg
confirms this.

The next owner of the palace was

Aleksander Koniecpolski
.

In 1674 the palace became, for the next 144 years, the property of the

Radziwiłł
family.

It was bought from descendants of Jerzy Sebastian Lubomirski—

Jan III Sobieski. After her death, her son Karol Stanisław Radziwiłł I
began renovation of the palace and tidied up its surroundings. He entrusted this task to the king's architect, Augustyn Locci.

Radziwiłł Palace in 1762

The next-to-last heir in tail of

zlotys
.

Carmelite Church and Radziwiłł Palace (right) in 1780, painting by Bernardo Bellotto

On the night of May 2–3, 1791, a conspiratorial group of members of the Four-Year Sejm who were bent on saving the Commonwealth met at the palace to strategize means to secure the adoption, next day, of the

May 3rd Constitution. This document is called "the first constitution of its kind in Europe" by historian Norman Davies.[4]

Karol Stanisław Radziwiłł II died a sick and blind man at age 56. His property was inherited by Dominik, son of his half-brother Hieronim. Dominik, who had been wounded at the Battle of Hanau, died heirless on November 11, 1813. The line of the Nieśwież–Ołyka heirs in tail died out with him.

In 1818 the palace became the seat of the Viceroy of the

Berezina River
and was carried about by his valets in an armchair.

Grand staircase

Beginning in 1818 the palace was rebuilt in classicist style by the architect

balustrade and stone statues
. Aigner is inseparably linked with the Viceregal (Polish: Namiestnikowski)—today, Presidential—Palace as the creator of its classicist exterior, which survives unchanged to this day.

The year 1852 brought disaster to the palace. A fire burned the main body of the building almost to the ground. Only charred walls remained. Reconstruction was entrusted to Alfons Kropiwnicki (1803–1881). The reconstruction of the palace was completed in 1856. The palace obtained the same architectural exterior as before the fire, but the interior was enriched with new decorative elements. The author of the room decorations was Bolesław Podczaszyński.

Viceregal Palace, with statue of Ivan Paskevich, before 1900

In the rebuilt palace, gatherings of the Agricultural Society were held, and balls were organized when the tsars visited Poland. In 1870, a statue of

Ignacy Paderewski
.

In 1918 the building was taken over by the newly reconstituted Polish authorities, and renovation of the palace was entrusted to Marian Lalewicz. The building became the official seat of the chairman of the Council of Ministers (the prime minister) and of the Council of Ministers itself. The side wings housed the chancellery offices of the Council of Ministers. As restored by Lalewicz, the building was greatly admired by Warsaw's inhabitants and visitors. Germany's Hermann Göring, when in February 1937 calling there on Prime Minister General Felicjan Sławoj Składkowski, took such a keen interest in the palace that he arrived late to his meeting with Polish Foreign Minister Józef Beck.

Equestrian statue of Prince Józef Poniatowski

In 1939 the palace suffered minimal damage. In 1941–1942 it was radically reconstructed into a Deutsches Haus by the Polish architects Janusz Nagorski and Jan Lukasik. In the course of the work, rococo ornamentation in the rooms overlooking the garden was renovated with great care. A couple of grisaille paintings were uncovered on the staircase, featuring eagle and weapon motifs. The Germans wanted to remove the eagles as Polish national emblems, but allowed them to remain after it was explained that these were Napoleonic eagles, a favorite motif of the French Empire period. On the ground floor of the right wing, a restaurant was put in, with wooden beam ceiling and a spacious cloakroom. The palace survived the Warsaw Uprising intact.

After World War II, the palace was thoroughly reconstructed by Antoni Brusche and Antoni Jawornicki. In 1965

Saxon Square
"), was relocated to the courtyard before the "Viceroy's Palace."

The reconstructed palace again served as the seat of the

Ujazdów Avenue
.

Since July 1994, the palace has been the official seat of the

Bronislaw Komorowski decided to move the residence back to Belweder, purportedly in honor of Józef Piłsudski and the early presidents of Poland, but the move was understood as an attempt to avoid confrontations with mourners of the late president Lech Kaczyński, killed in the April 2010 Smolensk air disaster in Russia
, who were congregating in front of the palace.

Gallery

  • Column Hall
    Column Hall
  • Drawing Room
    Drawing Room
  • White Room
    White Room
  • Rococo Room
    Rococo Room
  • The Blue Hall
    The Blue Hall
  • Dining Room
    Dining Room
  • Chapel
    Chapel
  • President's Office
    President's Office
  • Jerzy Nowosielski Hall
    Jerzy Nowosielski Hall
  • Hetman's Room
    Hetman's Room
  • Illumination
    Illumination
  • Garden
    Garden
  • Orangery
    Orangery
  • A lion sculpture by Camillo Landini
    A lion sculpture by Camillo Landini
  • Plaque commemorating Frédéric Chopin's first performance on 24 February 1818
    Plaque commemorating Frédéric Chopin's first performance on 24 February 1818

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Zarządzenie Prezydenta Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej z dnia 8 września 1994 r. w sprawie uznania za pomnik historii., M.P. z 1994 r. Nr 50, poz. 423
  2. ^ a b c (in English) "Presidential Palace". eGuide / Treasures of Warsaw on-line. Retrieved 2008-07-24.
  3. ^ The Eagle and Three Crowns
  4. ISBN 0-19-820171-0
    .

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Presidential Palace in Warsaw.

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