The Imperial Castle in Poznań: Histories of its Polonization
Résumés
Le Château impérial de Poznań, conçu comme une résidence pour Wilhelm II, reflète une histoire complexe de « polonisation ». Le projet initial visait à « élever » (heben) culturellement et politiquement les provinces orientales allemandes. Le château était au centre d’un espace symbolique, entouré d’institutions (bâtiment de l’Académie, Commission de colonisation prussienne, etc.) mettant en valeur l’identité nationale. Après la Première Guerre mondiale, le bâtiment a été « polonisé » par la suppression des symboles allemands et son aménagement en tant que résidence du Président de la République, tandis que de nombreux bâtiments environnants abritaient désormais des facultés clés de la nouvelle Université de Poznań. Le rôle du château pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale en tant que résidence d’Hitler et son adaptation ultérieure pendant la période d’après-guerre ont également façonné son récit identitaire. La décision de le préserver après la guerre a rencontré de l’opposition, mais depuis sa transformation en « Palais de la culture » en 1962 (rebaptisé « Centre culturel Zamek [Château] » en 1993), il est rapidement devenu une partie de la mémoire publique. Après 1989, les discussions sur la fonction et l’identité du château ont conduit à des rénovations, à la création de la « Route des empereurs et rois » destinée aux touristes, à un intérêt renouvelé pour son histoire, et même à une fierté locale. Le château, autrefois symbole du pouvoir allemand, est maintenant un élément dynamique de l’histoire de la ville, intégrant les récits passés avec des fonctions culturelles contemporaines. Cependant, la reconstruction du Château royal « polonais » de Przemysł II, entamée en 2010, un projet controversé visant à éclipser le Château impérial « allemand », reflète les tensions entre les récits historiques à Poznań. Les développements récents, tels que les événements organisés par la communauté LGBT+, mettent en lumière l’évolution du sens du château.
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1When Lviv-born architect Władysław Czarnecki, who later won much recognition in Poznań, saw its city centre for the first time, he noted:
- 1 Hanna Grzeszczuk-Brendel (ed.), Wspomnienia architekta. Władysław Czarnecki 1895-1930, vol. 1, Poz (...)
“The view from the Kaponiera makes an awful first impression. The overwhelming, heavy silhouette of the pseudo-Romanesque stone castle and the tall tower as a dominant feature in the foreground lent the city a typically German character”1.
- 2 Florian Znaniecki, Miasto w świadomości jego obywateli: z badań Polskiego Instytutu Socjologiczneg (...)
Let us add that this was not an isolated opinion2.
2The view which unfolded before Czarnecki’s eyes is still there today in its essential outlines and components (Fig. 1).
Fig. 1. Imperial Castle (Franz Schwechten, 1905-1910), photograph, before 1940.
Audiovisual Archives, Faculty of Art Studies, Adam Mickiewicz University Poznań.
- 3 Next to various offices, the building also houses the AMU Auditorium, which serves as the concert (...)
- 4 Zenon Pałat, Architektura a polityka. Gloryfikacja Prus i niemieckiej misji cywilizacyjnej w Pozna (...)
The eponymous Imperial Castle/University Quarter is broadly conceived as the city centre area of Poznań, located around the former Imperial Castle of Wilhelm II, currently the city’s main cultural institution: “Zamek [Castle] Culture Centre”, neighbouring to the west with the Collegium Minus – housing the head offices of the Adam Mickiewicz University3 – and the AMU Collegium Iuridicum. To the north of the castle there is the AMU Collegium Maius, the Grand Theatre (Opera House) to the north-west, and the Ignacy Jan Paderewski Academy of Music to the south-west. In the minds of the residents, that space also includes al. Niepodległości – a circumferential street (an incomplete Ring) – home to other premises of the AMU and the University of Economics alongside, numerous office buildings and the Dominican Church and Monastery. It is an imposing and functional layout, generously supplied with smaller and larger parks, created according to the plan of the able urban planner Josef Stübben. Its symbolic completion can be dated to 1910, which saw the opening of the Imperial Castle with Emperor Wilhelm II attending, upon which the city was granted the status of an official residence4 (Fig. 2).
Fig. 2. Throne Hall of the Imperial Castle, photograph, before 1919.
Audiovisual Archives, Faculty of Art Studies, Adam Mickiewicz University Poznań.
- 5 Z. Pałat, Architektura a polityka (note 4).
- 6 Małgorzata Praczyk, Materia pomnika. Studium porównawcze na przykładzie monumentów w Poznaniu i w (...)
- 7 Maciej Michalski, Miejsce Uniwersytetu: infrastruktura uniwersytecka w przestrzeni miejskiej Pozna (...)
- 8 To some extent, the matter is also addressed in Stephen Naumann, “Od pamięci spornej do wspólnej n (...)
At the time, the district did not yet have all of the aforementioned edifices, but it was that initial idea, the envisioned functionality and aesthetics that determined its fate and the associated identity narratives. There would be no point in recapitulating the studies on the original significance of the development and its elements, as this has been comprehensively elucidated by e. g. Zenon Pałat5, Małgorzata Praczyk6 or Maciej Michalski7, but it may be recalled that the urban plan for that area was the product of a policy that aimed to elevate the eastern provinces of the German Empire culturally: it was to be an imperial forum, encompassing the symbolically active seat of the ruler in the first place, as well as public institutions such as the Royal Academy (now Collegium Minus), the Prussian Settlement Commission (now Collegium Maius), and the Municipal Theatre (now the Grand Theatre). Deriving from the past, their architectural costumes – chosen specifically to correspond with the different functions of the buildings – were intended as a visual testimony to the national and cultural provenance of their occupants. Over the more than one hundred years that followed, the Imperial District and especially the castle have repeatedly triggered gestures of local identification involving memory, conveyed through altered functions of the buildings, their transformation, the respective conservation schemes, as well as actions taken outside that area, but targeting the identifying power of the eponymous district8. Let us briefly review them.
The interwar period
- 9 Szymon P. Kubiak, Modernizm zapoznany. Architektura Poznania 1919-1939, Warszawa, Centrum Architek (...)
- 10 As described by architect Kazimierz Ruciński, after Sz. P. Kubiak, Modernizm (note 9), p. 20.
- 11 Ibid., p. 21.
- 12 “Wielkie święto pracy polskiej”, Światowid, no. 22 (“Otwarcie Powszechnej Wystawy Krajowej w Pozna (...)
3Reportedly, the following ditty circulated among the Polish builders during the construction of the castle: “Willie’s building the Castle / So what? / It’ll be ready when we come one day.” Before that actually happened, the very existence of the building drew an interesting response just after it had been completed. In 1912/13, Poznań architect Lucjan Michałowski delivered lectures and published texts enumerating the quarter’s architectural mistakes, and presented his own vision for its redevelopment9. Interestingly, his concept did not envision making the area more Polish (nor did it concern the function of those buildings), but only mitigated the intrusiveness of the “talking architecture” (architecture parlante). The issue resurfaced with renewed vigour once Poland regained independence, as the visual aspect of those buildings was not only unequivocally associated with German architecture, but also believed to epitomize 19th-century historicism. Thus, architect Kazimierz Ruciński referred to the quarter as “a collection of copies and reproductions”10, while Ludwik Puget, a sculptor, satirist and coordinator of the castle’s adaptation to stately occasions, considered it “one of those cerebral outpourings that captivated the philistines whose knowledge of art went no further than a textbook about styles”11. Although other ideas for the castle were advanced at that time (including one by the architect and painter Stanisław Noakowski), only the most conspicuous elements of the former identification – heraldic ones in the main – disappeared from the quarter’s edifices. What that roughly looked like is evinced, for example, by the treatment the castle itself received from the aforementioned Puget. The latter removed the throne of Emperor Wilhelm II from the Throne Room and had a portrait of Józef Piłsudski (interwar’s Marshal of Poland) hung on the wall behind where it had stood; the throne was replaced with a classicist armchair from the period of the last Polish King Stanisław August Poniatowski. As one may read in the newspaper Światowid, “In general, the entire throne room has now assumed a different character, more agreeable to the Poles”12, even though neo-Romanesque chairs specially designed and made for the Imperial Castle still stood around in great numbers (Fig. 3).
Fig. 3. Former Throne Hall transformed into the Reception Room of the Polish Presidency, depicted in Światowid, no. 22 (1929), p. 3.
- 13 Aleksandra Paradowska, “Hitler’s Officials at Home in Germany-Occupied Poland”, Uměni Art, no. 1 ( (...)
- 14 M. Michalski, Miejsce Uniwersytetu (note 7), p. 27-28.
4That and similar events were, of course, peripheral to the adaptation of the castle and the quarter to meet the needs of the city under Polish governance; here, the most important achievement was making it home to the newly established University of Poznań. This was the most potent and enduring gesture of adaptation, surpassing the superficial aesthetic Polonization of its edifices13, not least because it had the power of being repeated, as it turned out. After all, it was successfully done yet again after the Second World War. On a symbolic level, not only did it involve the foundation of a long-awaited Polish university, but it was also being installed in the edifices erected on the initiative of a power which had hitherto denied permission to have it established. In fact, the takeover of the buildings by the University of Poznań was neither prompt nor trouble-free, having been delayed by clashes with other institutions, such as the Ministry of the former Prussian Quarter in the case of Collegium Medicum. As for the castle, the school was granted only a part of its premises, while the remainder would be at the disposal of the President of Poland as his residence14. Apart from the obvious and crucial change in terms of who were to use the buildings and how they were to be used, the new designations were also significant as it eradicated any associations with their previous “occupants”: the castle became Collegium Maius and the Royal Academy was renamed Collegium Minus, while the Settlement Commission was renamed as Collegium Medicum.
- 15 Ibid., p. 93-95.
- 16 Michalski/Pałat, Collegium Maius (note 7), p. 179. Other plans to make the quarter more Polish wer (...)
- 17 M. Michalski, Miejsce Uniwersytetu (note 7), p. 88-90.
- 18 Gabriela Klauze, Roger Sławski 1871-1963: architekt, Poznań, Wydawnictwo Miejskie, 1999, p. 180.
5The University, however, had much more extensive plans of putting down roots in the quarter. For instance, additional wings were to be erected between the former Academy and the castle and in the castle garden, which were to be connected by a series of arcades above the streets. Further wings were planned as an extension of the former Settlement Commission and more buildings were to go up along the Ring towards the Citadel. That gigantic scheme aimed to yield a new forum, this time a “forum of science” as opposed to power15. Even so, the architecture was also envisioned in neo-styled forms, whereby the buildings would have emulated “the style of the Polish Renaissance, drawing on the Danzig Renaissance of the Old Academy”16. This grand plan for the further annexation of the quarter by the University was ultimately confined to a hall of residence (1925-1929, the current AMU student house Hanka), located on the Ring17. In its case, it was not so much the gesture of construction, but primarily the architectural guise which should be considered symbolic and meaningful in its dialogue with the existing architecture of the district. Situated in a prestigious location and aligned with the previous formula of its surroundings, it was delivered in the classicizing forms of residential architecture which the contemporaries considered intrinsically national: a grandiose manor house or even a Polish palace18; thus, the mechanism underlying its creation was not unlike the one which informed the monumentally Pfalz-esque make-up of the Imperial Castle less than two decades earlier.
The Second World War and after
- 19 Heinrich Schwendemann, “Rezydencja Führera”, in: Pazder/Zimmermann, Kaiserschloss Posen (note 12), (...)
- 20 Heinrich Schwendemann, Wolfgang Dietsche (in collaboration with Bożena Górczyńska-Przybyłowicz), H (...)
6The Second World War left a particularly sinister aura around the castle. It was converted to serve as Adolf Hitler’s residence, though in fact it was occupied by the governor of the Gau Wartheland (Land of the Warta), Arthur Greiser, and saw visits from other key figures of the regime (Joseph Goebbels, Heinrich Himmler, etc.)19. The conversion works, particularly in the interiors (1941-1944), lent them the monumental aspect of the official Third Reich style seen in government buildings; apparently, the Führer himself was involved in certain decisions regarding the design20 (Fig. 4-6).
Fig. 4. The Imperial Castle being transformed into Hitler’s Residence (Franz Böhmer, 1939-1944), photograph, 1942 (?).
Audiovisual Archives, Faculty of Art Studies, Adam Mickiewicz University Poznań.
- 21 Anna Ziółkowska, “Dzielnica Zamkowa w okresie okupacji hitlerowskiej”, in: J. Pazder, Odkryj Dziel (...)
- 22 A. Paradowska, “Hitler’s Officials” (note 13), p. 47.
- 23 Michalski/Pałat, Collegium Maius (note 7), p. 118.
- 24 M. Michalski, Miejsce Uniwersytetu (note 7), p. 111, 120
The castle became the venue and the backdrop to Greiser’s rule, a visual reification of Nazi propaganda, and was extensively publicized in photographs and texts alike21. With a view to re-Germanizing the quarter, plans were made to create a Gauforum with the Posener Schloß (also known as the Deutsches Schloß) as its heart22. The Collegium Medicum housed the Police Headquarters and later the military General Headquarters23. The university did not disappear from the district; on Hitler’s 52nd birthday, i. e. 20 April 1941, the Reich University was established using the estate of the University of Poznań, followed a week later by the inauguration ceremony in the auditorium of the Collegium Minus, during which the first and last rector of the former Royal Academy wished the new authorities successful completion of the Germanization process he had started24.
- 25 “Echa poznańskich wydarzeń”, Głos Wielkopolski, 15.08.1946, p. 5; “Maleje wieża poznańskiego zamku (...)
- 26 Leszek Adamczewski, “Tajemnice rezydencji wodza”, Głos Wielkopolski. Głos Poznaniaka, 10-11.08.200 (...)
- 27 Biuletyn Informacyjno-Prasowy Województwa Poznańskiego, no. 9 (1946), p. 19. Also Szczęsny Dettlof (...)
- 28 S. Naumann, “Od pamięci” (note 8).
- 29 Janusz Pazder, “Zamek jako ‘Nowy Ratusz’ i ośrodek kultury”, in: J. Pazder, E. Zimmermann, Kaisers (...)
- 30 Biuletyn (note 27), p. 19.
- 31 J. Pazder, “Zamek” (note 29), p. 216-217.
7For obvious reasons, the period following the Second World War was crucial, not only in terms of the material existence or functional purpose of the building, but also for the cultural and identity narratives constructed around the quarter. I believe that the decision to preserve the Imperial Castle was paramount in this regard; the scale and the extent of reconstruction of the buildings played an important role as well. In the first post-war months, it was evident from the sentiment voiced in newspapers and among the public that they were much in favour of, even demanding, that the castle should be demolished, not merely as a visual symbol of Poznań’s Prussian past, but as a stain left by the Second World War and German occupation in general25. However, the claim that such a notion of the building’s future fate was widespread and prevalent is untenable. It was left in place, even if the tower, which had suffered war damage, was shortened. While it is true that the debates concerning potentially tearing down the castle were cut short at top government level, the mythologized contribution of General Karol Świerczewski, a Polish officer serving in the Red Army since First World War, in this regard persisted in the collective memory of the city26. In reality, the ultimate decision stemmed from the rationalization of the early post-war emotions27, which may have initially overshadowed the practical dimension of preserving the building, such as its potential to serve the public. In consequence, the city’s vice-mayor was able to declare to the Municipal National Council in November 1947 that the edifice would not be demolished, which was favourably received by the newspapers and architects28. The castle was then earmarked to house the New City Hall29. This shift in overall attitude was probably encouraged by the promises to convert the building: “to refashion the ugly Prussian castle into the most beautiful new Polish town hall possible”, as it was asserted in an unambiguously propagandistic vein30. No such “conversion” ever took place, and the castle only lost some of its vertical elements. At the same time, it should be underlined that the interiors redesigned during the Second World War were not at odds with the aesthetics of government architecture which would soon be defined by the doctrine of socialist realism. In turn, the topical Polonization of the façade was achieved by installing monumental portraits of communist heroes31. In 1962, the castle was designated as the premises of a cultural institution, becoming the Palace of Culture.
- 32 “Zburzyć zamek – symbol krzyżackiej buty”, Głos Wielkopolski, 02.03.1945, p. 1; Michalski/Pałat, C (...)
- 33 Michalski/Pałat, ibid.
8The scope of this paper does not allow for a summary of the extensive discussion in the newspapers, but it is worth noting that the arguments in defence of the castle cited exaggerated aversion to Germanness on the one hand and, on the other, the capacity for rational assessment of the situation, allegedly intrinsic to Poznań and its people. Those in favour of demolition spoke of its symbolic dimension, denoting German rule, while the process of removing the building itself would have been a performative act. In March 1945, it was proposed that German prisoners of war be forced to labour there, and the material thus obtained should be used to erect “a new stately building displaying Polish character”32. Interestingly, the same article maintained that the castle was a blemish on what was virtually the most beautiful quarter of the city, meaning that the neighbouring edifices did not arouse such negative emotions. The symbolic potential of reusing the material from the demolished castle was revealed in a utopian concept by the eminent sculptor Ksawery Dunikowski, who suggested taking the stone to create a statue of Adam Mickiewicz matching the castle’s tower in height33.
- 34 Sz. Dettloff, “Polemiki” (note 27), p. 160-169. Examples of practical and symbolic uses of post-wa (...)
9It may also be recalled that the Rev. Prof. Szczęsny Dettloff, the founder and head of Poznań University’s History of Art Department, defended the castle in a public debate in 1946. He simultaneously made a very cogent case against demolition, referred to the dominance of emotion over reason, and alluded to excessive anti-Germanism; Detloff was even critical of removing the tower turret, arguing for a possible conversion of the castle, though in the spirit of contemporary rather than any other historicizing architecture34. Without going into details, it is necessary to say how it concluded. Nothing was demolished, but the badly damaged turret of the main castle tower was removed, lowering its original height of 75 metres by about 20 metres (Fig. 7).
Fig. 7. Present-day Zamek Culture Centre, the former Imperial Castle, photograph, 2023
Photo Marcin Sokalski.
- 35 Michalski/Pałat, Collegium Maius (note 7), p. 125, 132-133. Today, however, when the practical sid (...)
In the case of the Collegium Medicum, the dome of the building was lowered35. The measures thus applied consisted in reducing the vertical elements of the buildings, undoubtedly following instructions from higher up to neutralize the architectural signs of German presence and rule in the city. The interiors of both buildings saw minor artistic changes which introduced polonizing elements of design and new iconography. In the 1960s, bas-relief compositions by Ryszard Skupin were placed on the walls of the first-floor hallway of the castle (Fig. 8). The panels showed selected events from the history of Poznań and Greater Poland, which highlighted constant disputes and conflicts with the Germans and attested to the indelible Polishness of that land.
Fig. 8. Present-day first-floor hallway, the former “Gallery of the Cities” (or “Hall of Arms”) of the Imperial Castle, transformed by the Nazis into a foyer, showing Ryszard Skupin’s bas-reliefs installed in 1966 to celebrate the millennium of the founding of the Polish state, photograph, 2023.
Photo Piotr Korduba.
The Regional Committee of the Polish United Workers’ Party
- 36 H. Grzeszczuk-Brendel, “Historia i przekształcenia” (note 4).
- 37 Piotr Korduba, Architektura Collegium Martineum i jego otoczenie, 2024 [in print]. Currently, the (...)
- 38 Until 1950, the institutions of the new authority resided in another prestigious part of the city, (...)
- 39 Grzegorz Piątek, Niezniszczalny: Bohdan Pniewski – architekt salonu i władzy, Warszawa, Wydawnictw (...)
10The interwar period saw new buildings appear in the quarter, some of which significantly complemented its character, and the period after 1945 was no different. The essential new project – both visually and symbolically – consisted of the construction of the headquarters of the Regional Committee of the Polish United Workers’ Party in the immediate vicinity of the castle. It should be noted, however, that apart from the obvious negative associations some members of the public had with the occupant, the building did not arouse much controversy because it proved a very successful architectural and urban planning solution; not unlikely, it was also due to the positive feelings towards the very author, the aforementioned architect Władysław Czarnecki36. It was the correct decision for the new structure to replace the former building of the Prussian Military Commissariat (used in the interwar period by a branch of the General Staff of the Polish Army, where the Enigma code was broken)37, which was not only damaged, but also architecturally uninteresting and incompatible with the scale and quality of the castle quarter. Building the premises of the Regional Committee of the Polish United Workers’ Party there, on the city’s main thoroughfare (Czerwonej Armii at the time, now Św. Marcin), was an ideological gesture. On the one hand, it was an element of the post-war Polonization of that area, but simultaneously it aimed to demonstrate a new authority in what was invariably regarded as the most prestigious district38. The task was entrusted to Czarnecki who, as already noted, found this part of Poznań highly unattractive and very German on seeing it for the first time two decades earlier. In a paradoxical twist of history, he was now to demonstrate his ability to polonize it, a task in which he succeeded without interfering with the existing urban and architectural arrangements. He proposed a modernistic edifice whose bulk was substantial but not exaggerated. A structure thoroughly adhering to the conventions of stately, public projects of the 1930s, which echoed both his former designs and the concepts of the prominent capital city architect Bohdan Pniewski39. Czarnecki skilfully adapted the new edifice to the scale of the castle, finding a middle ground between the former residence and the surrounding residential structures, whilst avoiding any attempt to dominate the bulk of the “great neighbour”, which would have failed in any case. At the same time, he distinguished it from the residential buildings by means of a stone facing, which in its turn shared the use of similar material with the facades of the castle, as well as lending an unobtrusive prominence to the entrance corner at the junction of Kościuszki and Św. Marcin streets. Nonetheless, although the building gave rise to urban legends and narratives, and manifested its aspirations by being located precisely in that part of the city, it was unable to eclipse the dominant traits of the quarter, which yet again became a space of learning, education and culture.
Transformation times
11As during the previous historical and political watershed moments, the former Imperial Castle came to the fore of discussions concerned with the functions and identity of the quarter after 1989. In 1993, Zbigniew Theuss was appointed to head the ossified and underfunded institution located there, associated with the communist “Palace of Culture” formula. The new director initiated a number of changes (such as renaming it to “Zamek Culture Centre”), and encouraged a debate on what the building and the institution should be and what purpose they should serve. In brief, several main themes were addressed at the time: the aesthetic and technological neglect of the building and the necessity to raise funds for its renovation and modernization; one would consider the possibilities of relying solely on public funding or the potential participation of private capital (including the complete or partial privatization of the castle), as well as the involvement of German public funds (subsidizing German heritage outside its national borders).
- 40 Bartosz Borowski, “W górę wieżę”, Gazeta Wyborcza, 06-07.05.2000, p. 1; Bartosz Borowski, “Odbuduj (...)
12An issue which recurred constantly in the polemics and plans of prospective undertakings was the reconstruction of the lowered tower; this was announced on several occasions as the objective to be accomplished for the centennial of the castle40. The debates focusing on the castle and the quarter were accompanied by scientific research (both Polish and German) and extensive popularizing activities, which at the time seem to have been less of a deliberate strategy than a pure and sincere curiosity to discover local history in greater depth. Among the opinions voiced in the first half of the 1990s, one cannot fail to notice a remarkably sober assessment, which was formulated before expert knowledge of the district and the castle became more widespread in Poznań. In 1995, the Gazeta Poznańska daily published an article entitled “To the Emperor what belongs to the Emperor”, which asserted as follows:
- 41 Błażej Kusztelski, “Co cesarskie cesarzowi…”, Gazeta Poznańska, 13.01.1995, p. 7.
“There is no need to be offended by history, and we will not change the facts: yes, this is the former imperial residence. Today it still sounds better than the Palace of Culture”41.
13A year later, the well-known Poznanian writer and publisher Sławomir Leitgeber (born in 1921), highly knowledgeable about the region and its history and a representative of the established bourgeois elite, stated in Dziennik Poznański:
- 42 Sławomir M. Leitgeber, “Bankiet na zamku”, Dziennik Poznański, 16.04.1996, p. 15.
“For my father’s and my own generation, the castle was the most compelling symbol of German rule over the city, an epitome of enslavement and Prussian pride. And yet, the form of the world is transient, or at least the resentments and prejudices fade, the heated fervour of sentiment and hostility diminishes. Today we are able to look at the castle with different eyes. It has become an integral part of the city’s panorama, which can hardly be imagined without it. The Germans actually held it for a short time, then came the independent Republic, the University”42.
- 43 J. Pazder, “Zamek” (note 29), p. 218.
- 44 Sylwia Wilczak, “Tron stanął w Sanssouci”, Gazeta Wyborcza, 04.08.2003, p. 6.
- 45 Włodzimierz Braniecki, “19 krzeseł”, Głos Wielkopolski, 11.03.1994, p. 4; Anna Zatorska, “Fotel na (...)
- 46 Aleksander Przybylski, “Tajemnica orła z dzwonkiem. Bajkowe odkrycie na zamku”, Magazyn TVN24, tvn (...)
- 47 Schwendemann/Dietsche, Hitlers Schloß (note 20); Piotr Bojarski, “Miliony Führera”, Gazeta Wyborcz (...)
14The castle and the quarter would become a venue of encounter with its own history and shared heritage. In 1999, the Days of German Culture were organized, and a year later the castle became one of the protagonists of the 8th European Heritage Days, as part of the programme Romanesque and Neo-Romanesque Greater Poland43. Two years later, a major exhibition dedicated to the castle and the quarter, prepared jointly with the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, was held both in Potsdam and Poznań44. On that occasion, an appeal to the citizens of Poznań asked for information about the displaced furnishings of the Imperial and Nazi Castle; this yielded some pieces of furniture and other paraphernalia45, along with a fragment of the official tableware prepared for Adolf Hitler46 (Fig. 9). Also, in this atmosphere of growing interest and knowledge of the castle, a dedicated high-profile German work was published; entitled Hitlers Schloß, it explored the lesser-known aspects of the wartime history and transformation of the building47. The 1990s also saw the first assertions that the castle was the only place in the world housing such well-preserved interiors period of the Third Reich.
Fig. 9. Exhibition of different types of chairs and other objects used in the Imperial Castle at various moments, photograph, 2023.
Photo Marcin Sokalski.
- 48 Daina Kolbuszewska, “Będzie świetnie”, Gazeta Wyborcza, 26.08.2005, p. 6; Piotr Korduba, “Mieszcza (...)
- 49 E.g. Marcin Libicki, “Przeciw wytyczaniu traktu cesarsko-królewskiego”, Gazeta Wyborcza, 20.10.200 (...)
- 50 Daina Kolbuszewska, “Poznań jak królewna na szklanej górze. Rozmowa z Dorotą Matyaszczyk o trakcie (...)
- 51 Elżbieta Podolska, “Tajemnice naszego jubilata”, Głos Wielkopolski, 02.08.2010, p. 15.
- 52 Elżbieta Podolska, “Ostatni taki zamek w Europie”, Głos Wielkopolski, 05.08.2010, p. 17.
- 53 Ibid.
- 54 [MS], “Poznań nie pamięta o Zamku”, Gazeta Wyborcza, 17.10.2011, p. 2.
15In 2005, the then Minister of Culture and the Arts, Waldemar Dąbrowski, signed an agreement with local government officials to establish the “Royal-Imperial Route”48. Admittedly, as soon as the institution came into being, the idea of integrating the castle of the German Emperor into that route was criticized as misguided49, but such voices were few, and promptly subsided when faced with the imperative of creating a tourist attraction aiming to increase the appeal of the city, as well as counter-arguments along the lines of: “The castle is a symbol of our victory over Germany”50. The apogee of approval, familiar sentiment or even pride in having the castle and the surrounding quarter was observed during the celebrations of the building’s centennial. Although the plans to rebuild the tower had to be abandoned, the anniversary’s celebration was marked by such personifying labels as “The Secrets of our Jubilarian”51, “The Last Such Castle in Europe”52, and “Our Magnificent Centenarian”53, as well as expressions of regret that the castle was not included in the list of the seven wonders of Poland54. According to the narratives created in these circumstances, the castle was a permanent part of the city’s history, its enduring element. An author stated in 2010:
- 55 E. Podolska, “Ostatni taki zamek” (note 52).
“This is where children played, students studied, people from Poznań got married and activists held banquets. It endures in spite of the turmoil of history, ‘Our wonderful centenarian’”55.
Conservation policy
- 56 Mieczysław Chojnacki, “Kiedy zamek odzyska wieżę? Wpisany na listę dziedzictwa”, Dziennik Poznańsk (...)
16The castle was entered in the Registry of Cultural Property as early as 1974. It is worth mentioning that ideas for rebuilding the tower appeared as early as the 1970s. However, it was not to be a rebuilding in the sense of reconstruction as a modern form was planned, allowing for the installation of a glass restaurant on top. The topic of rebuilding the tower returned after the transition. In 1994, the editors of Dziennik Poznański published a reader’s letter, “When will the castle get the tower back?”, with a robust, supportive commentary56. Among the various arguments for reconstruction (and historical reconstruction at that), was one that tied the whole matter to the pro-Western and pro-European strand of Polish politics and social expectations. Thus we read:
- 57 Ibid.
“Poland, from the dawn of its statehood, having adopted Christianity, found itself in the sphere of influence of the Western Latin world. Therefore, in the situation when we are trying to enter the European Union, all monuments of Western provenance should be reconstructed”57.
- 58 B. Borowski, “W górę wieżę” (note 40).
- 59 Schwendemann/Dietsche, Hitlers Schloß (note 20).
- 60 P. Bojarski, “Miliony Führera” (note 47).
17The approaching 100th anniversary of the castle kindled dreams of rebuilding the tower, which were also lent emotional support by explaining that “old Poznanians miss it”58. So when Schwendemann (co-author of Hitlers Schloß59) was asked during a lecture in Poznań if he would support rebuilding the tower, and he said no (as it stands today, it is a symbol of the dramatic events of 1945), the audience was reportedly unpleasantly surprised60. It was not only the restoration of the tower that interested the public. Even more detailed restoration projects were reported, such as the renovation of the entrance gate, the opening of which was attended by President Lech Wałęsa (1995). The intention was to develop a new national ceremony around it, involving people of distinction who have contributed to Polish culture, science and politics walking through it. It was to be “Poznań’s Triumphal Arch”.
- 61 Michalski/Pałat, Collegium Maius (note 7), p. 182.
- 62 Monika Lamęcka, “Piaskowy zamek w listopadzie”, Gazeta Wyborcza, 01-02.06.2002, p. 3; Elżbieta Pod (...)
- 63 On paint and colour as factors which contribute to humanization of the cityscape, see Marek Krajew (...)
18An even broader wave of public approval or even pride of having such a quarter in their city was inspired by the renovation of the facades of all its buildings, whose colours gradually changed from nearly black to light tones over the first decade of the 21st century61. That particular undertaking, which restored brightness to the sandstone facing and plasterwork, greatly improved the attitudes of the residents towards this part of the city and especially of the castle62. The mechanism described by sociologist Marek Krajewski as “magical properties of a covering substance”63 was at work here. In this case, it was not so much the paint, but the cleaning – identified with the Ordnung value so desirable in Poznań, that lent the castle a new visual quality and was visible evidence of the revitalization of the urban space. Previously, darkened by dirt, the facades would elicit negative opinions about the buildings from the people of Poznań and evoked pejorative associations related to their history.
- 64 For further information, see the “Zamek Culture Centre” website: ckzamek.pl/podstrony/3-siedziba/ (...)
19The next major work took place between 2010 and 2012 and was the reconstruction of the multi-purpose, spectacle-hosting Grand Hall complex (the former throne room of Kaiser Wilhelm II removed during the Nazi reconstruction)64. While it is difficult to consider it a clear aesthetic success, this work undoubtedly modernized this part of the castle technologically and increased its attractiveness and functionality for various cultural and artistic events. In turn, in 2018-2020, extensive conservation work was carried out in the staterooms of the western part of the castle. Although the project description referred to the interiors of the former Imperial Castle, in reality it was the aforementioned Third Reich-era interior complex that was actually renovated. More than 3.000 m2 of stone wall paneling, almost as much of stone flooring, as well as wooden wall paneling, 203 wall sconces, and 12 chandeliers underwent conservation. A number of reconstruction works were also carried out. Such extensive work had not been done in this part of the castle since the 1940s. The restoration revealed the actual quality of the castle interiors, the variety and fineness of the materials, but also added a new, attractive point to the historical and tourist map of Poznań – the castle interiors. It is worth noting how the issue of their use and historical identification was handled. In addition to the rooms being open to the public all day long, visiting is also free of charge. Each has a brief informative description, which does not avoid problematic information as in the case of the Ash Room – the hallway in front of Adolf Hitler’s bedroom. However, the interiors have not been musealized; they are empty (although the castle has remnants of their furnishings from the time), and have not become a museum of interiors. The rooms are off-limits to visitors when they are being used to carry out the Zamek Culture Centre’s program. To learn more about their history, just use an audio-guide or take a guided tour of the castle.
The response
- 65 The link between that project and the reception of the German-Polish heritage has also been noted (...)
20Even though the attitudes towards the Imperial Castle and quarter and their complex history have been worked through in many ways and demonstrate apparent approval, its invariably dominant presence triggered a controversial project, namely the construction of the Castle of Przemysł II65 (Fig. 10).
Fig. 10. “Reconstruction” of the Polish Castle of Przemysł II (Witold Milewski, 2007), photograph, 2023.
Photo Marcin Sokalski.
- 66 Komitet Odbudowy Zamku Królewskiego w Poznaniu, Zamek Królewski (note 65).
- 67 Ibid., p. 241.
- 68 Based on the public debate organized by the Poznań City Hall in connection with the competition fo (...)
The Reconstruction Committee was established in 2002 and, the following year, it announced an architectural competition for designs, whose terms clearly indicated that historicizing forms were preferred. Despite growing public concern about the future shape of the castle, which was supposedly to emulate its original form – largely unknown due to lack of iconographic evidence – and the 2007 forward-looking, neo-Modernist development concept for the hill (designed by Jarosław Kozakiewicz), the building was eventually constructed in line with the historicizing vision (designed by Witold Milewski)66. Although the Committee and its supporters declared that the intention behind “rebuilding” the castle was to highlight that Poznań had once been the capital of the country, no one tried to hide that the project, involving a tall tower (whose original scale cannot be reliably determined in any way), was intended to overshadow the presence of the Imperial Castle. The confrontational overtone of that undertaking is evinced in the arguments supporting the appeal to “rebuild a symbol of Polishness”; simultaneously, questions were asked why substantial amounts of money were being spent on renovating and promoting Prussian buildings, or on exhibitions and publications concerning the latter67. Thus, the Royal Castle was built to a freely conceived design whilst relying on the same paradigm which yielded the Imperial Castle, i. e. creating a desirable “historical monument” that the city lacked. The aspirations to construct a counterpoint to the Imperial Castle and the entire Imperial Quarter around the castle of Przemysł II – quite commonly referred to as “Gargamel’s Castle” – are still in evidence. Intense efforts are being made currently by another committee which envisions a historicizing equestrian monument to Przemysł II at the foot of the castle, while its adherents explicitly admit that the project is to be the final step in creating a “Royal” Poznań as a counterbalance to the “Imperial” one68.
Conclusions
- 69 After Krzysztof Podemski, “Społeczna funkcja Dzielnicy Zamkowej”, in: J. Pazder, Odkryj Dzielnicę (...)
- 70 Piotr Korduba, “Poznania rozterki z dziedzictwem kulturowym i tożsamością”, in: Maciej Moszyński, (...)
21The castle and space we have discussed is undoubtedly a “district of contention for collective memory”69, a site marked by identity gestures, inclusive of any possible narrative or material retrospection. In my opinion, the identity status of that quarter represents the success of local attitudes to regional history70. However, this history is by no means over; it is invariably a dynamic process and a seismograph of social and political sentiment. At the root of its success lies, first and foremost, the decision not to demolish the castle, as well as the post-war repurposing of the Imperial Quarter as a university and cultural district. Even the erection of the Polish United Workers’ Party headquarters in this part of the city did not change this character. The transformation of the district of authority (Prussian) into a district of learning and culture with the castle as a publicly accessible Palace of Culture and later the Zamek Culture Centre proved to be a guarantee of its operation and social recognition. This is because it replaced the collective memory of the castle’s history as a symbol of cultural and political domination with individual memories associated with the activities of a cultural institution liked and visited by many generations of Poznań residents.
- 71 Which has already been noted in press articles, see Krzysztof Smura, “W cesarskiej dzielnicy”, Exp (...)
- 72 For obvious historical reasons, the material and narrative testimonies of German history in Poznań (...)
- 73 Michalski/Pałat, Collegium Maius (note 7), p. 177.
22The material dimension – including the architectural and artistic component – is another extremely important asset of the district, which in my opinion contributed to its social acceptance. Paradoxically, it has been as much of a problem (being identified with the culture of the partitioner and occupier) as an advantage: the monumental and sturdy edifices, the thoughtfully designed vistas, axes and parks effectively enhanced the recognizability of the institutions which were crucial to the identity of the city and the region. Moreover, regardless of the period, the quarter manifested urbanity of the Western European variety, which was much desired in Poznań71. It was not insignificant for these processes that the community of Poznań has developed a characteristic trait of being accustomed to living in the immediate, permanent and multifaceted proximity of the tokens of Prussian and German presence in its history72. In a history spanning over a century, the neighbourhood has been the object of various strategies, including a tactic of disregard – as in the interwar period – in which national and local identity was built on the basis of its own institutions and vision of history73. The present-day positive attitude towards the quarter with its “Prussian” buildings is also owing to the increasing recognition of historicizing architecture, its inclusion in the conservation agenda, as well as the aforementioned conservation measures. Nevertheless, we are aware today, after all, that discussions about the reconstruction of the tower (possible in the 1970s and full of hope and wide-ranging projects in the 1990s), today would not have occurred at all, or would have triggered an avalanche of criticism based solely on political and ideological grounds – precisely the kind which were behind the tower’s post-war lowering.
23Broadly understood, the district’s German past does not seem to be repressed or overlooked at present. In fact, all related undertakings suggest that it has been acknowledged as an immanent part of the city’s history. However, there are certain ramifications: an absence of historical imagination is palpable and, to put it bluntly, one has to deal with the architectural and artistic materializations of other components of local memory and the need to supplement them. An outlet for such strivings has been found in the projects in the area of the Hill of Przemysł and in the contrived narratives of the city’s royal past, all deliberately aiming to undermine that vision of Poznań which is epitomized by the quarter around the former Imperial Castle, with all its performative charge accumulated over more than one hundred years of existence. That the castle’s meaning is still undergoing transformations is evidenced by recent developments. At the end of 2022, the LGBT+ community’s Nowe Lokum Stonewall Club, run by the Stonewall Group, the most prominent organization in Poland fighting for the rights of LGBT+ people, made its home in the castle’s former outbuildings (Fig. 11).
Fig. 11. Party at the Nowe Lokum Stonewall Club in the castle courtyard, photograph, 2023.
Photo Alex Aender/Aleksander Unruh.
24Nowe Lokum not only serves as a bar and dance club, but is also a cultural institution where debates, book readings, etc. are held. Founded in 2015, the Stonewall Group annually organizes Poznań Pride Week along with the Equality March, which traditionally sets out from the castle or its vicinity. The 2015 march saw the mayor of Poznań take part, becoming the first official of his rank in Poland to do so. Thus, in a paradox of history, the castle built to serve as a symbol of foreign rule and cultural domination of some over others, has become the headquarters of an institution working for equality and against discrimination, a place for near-daily meetings of a community invariably discriminated against in Poland.
Notes
1 Hanna Grzeszczuk-Brendel (ed.), Wspomnienia architekta. Władysław Czarnecki 1895-1930, vol. 1, Poznań, Wydawnictwo Miejskie Posnania, 2005, p. 72.
2 Florian Znaniecki, Miasto w świadomości jego obywateli: z badań Polskiego Instytutu Socjologicznego nad miastem Poznaniem, Poznań, Wydawnictwo Polskiego Instytutu Socjologicznego, 1931, p. 48-49, 76-78; Ludwik Puget, “O wygląd Poznania”, Kronika Miasta Poznania, no. 4 (1996), p. 204.
3 Next to various offices, the building also houses the AMU Auditorium, which serves as the concert hall of the Poznań Philharmonic.
4 Zenon Pałat, Architektura a polityka. Gloryfikacja Prus i niemieckiej misji cywilizacyjnej w Poznaniu na początku XX wieku, Poznań, Wydawnictwo Poznańskiego Towarzystwa Przyjaciół Nauk, 2011; Hanna Grzeszczuk-Brendel, “Historia i przekształcenia Dzielnicy Zamkowej”, in: Janusz Pazder (ed.), Odkryj Dzielnicę Zamkową, Poznań, Centrum Turystyki Kulturowej Trakt, 2011, p. 7-17; Grażyna Kodym-Kozaczko, “Poznański Ring w przestrzeni miasta. Krótka nauka według obyczaju europejskiego”, in: ibid., p. 19-32; Łukasz Bugalski, Planty, promenady, ringi. Śródmiejskie założenia pierścieniowe Gdańska, Poznania, Wrocławia i Krakowa, Gdańsk, Fundacja Terytoria Książki, 2020, p. 196-215.
5 Z. Pałat, Architektura a polityka (note 4).
6 Małgorzata Praczyk, Materia pomnika. Studium porównawcze na przykładzie monumentów w Poznaniu i w Strasburgu w XIX i XX wieku, Poznań, Instytut Historii UAM, 2015; Małgorzata Praczyk, Reading Monuments. A Comparative Study of Monuments in Poznań and Strasbourg from the Nineteenth Century and Twentieth Centuries, Berlin int. al., Peter Lang, 2020.
7 Maciej Michalski, Miejsce Uniwersytetu: infrastruktura uniwersytecka w przestrzeni miejskiej Poznania i okolic (1919-2019), Poznań, Wydawnictwo Naukowe UAM, 2019; Maciej Michalski, Zenon Pałat, Collegium Maius w Poznaniu, Poznań, Wydawnictwo Miejskie Posnania, 2020; Maciej Michalski, Jakub Skutecki, Collegium Minus w Poznaniu, Poznań, Wydawnictwo Miejskie Posnania, 2021.
8 To some extent, the matter is also addressed in Stephen Naumann, “Od pamięci spornej do wspólnej na przykładzie Dzielnicy Zamkowej w Poznaniu”, in: J. Pazder, Odkryj Dzielnicę Zamkową (note 4), p. 119-124.
9 Szymon P. Kubiak, Modernizm zapoznany. Architektura Poznania 1919-1939, Warszawa, Centrum Architektury, 2014, p. 16-18; Michalski/Pałat, Collegium Maius (note 7), p. 178-179.
10 As described by architect Kazimierz Ruciński, after Sz. P. Kubiak, Modernizm (note 9), p. 20.
11 Ibid., p. 21.
12 “Wielkie święto pracy polskiej”, Światowid, no. 22 (“Otwarcie Powszechnej Wystawy Krajowej w Poznaniu”) (1929), p. 3; Andrzej Gulczyński, “Rezydencja prezydenta Rzeczypospolitej i siedziba Uniwersytetu Poznańskiego”, in: Janusz Pazder, Evelyn Zimmermann (eds.), Kaiserschloss Posen: Von der “Zwingburg in Osten” zum Kulturzentrum “Zamek” / Zamek cesarski w Poznaniu: od pruskiej “warowni na wschodzie” do Centrum Kultury “Zamek”, Potsdam, Stiftung Preußische Schlösser und Gärten Berlin-Brandenburg / Poznań, Centrum Kultury “Zamek”, 2003, p. 145-152.
13 Aleksandra Paradowska, “Hitler’s Officials at Home in Germany-Occupied Poland”, Uměni Art, no. 1 (2021), p. 47.
14 M. Michalski, Miejsce Uniwersytetu (note 7), p. 27-28.
15 Ibid., p. 93-95.
16 Michalski/Pałat, Collegium Maius (note 7), p. 179. Other plans to make the quarter more Polish were also conceived, e. g. by building a church or a multi-storey building, ibid., p. 179-180. Sz. P. Kubiak, Modernizm (note 9), p. 24.
17 M. Michalski, Miejsce Uniwersytetu (note 7), p. 88-90.
18 Gabriela Klauze, Roger Sławski 1871-1963: architekt, Poznań, Wydawnictwo Miejskie, 1999, p. 180.
19 Heinrich Schwendemann, “Rezydencja Führera”, in: Pazder/Zimmermann, Kaiserschloss Posen (note 12), p. 175-184.
20 Heinrich Schwendemann, Wolfgang Dietsche (in collaboration with Bożena Górczyńska-Przybyłowicz), Hitlers Schloß. Die “Führerresidenz” in Posen, Berlin, Ch. Links Verlag, 2003; Aleksandra Paradowska, “Architektura, historia i ich propagandowe obrazy w Kraju Warty”, in: Karolina Jara, Aleksandra Paradowska (eds.), Urbanistyka i architektura okresu III Rzeszy w Polsce, Poznań, Wydawnictwo Nauka i Innowacje, 2019, p. 46-48; A. Paradowska, “Hitler’s Officials” (note 13).
21 Anna Ziółkowska, “Dzielnica Zamkowa w okresie okupacji hitlerowskiej”, in: J. Pazder, Odkryj Dzielnicę Zamkową (note 4), p. 81-93; A. Paradowska, “Hitler’s Officials” (note 13), p. 49-50.
22 A. Paradowska, “Hitler’s Officials” (note 13), p. 47.
23 Michalski/Pałat, Collegium Maius (note 7), p. 118.
24 M. Michalski, Miejsce Uniwersytetu (note 7), p. 111, 120
25 “Echa poznańskich wydarzeń”, Głos Wielkopolski, 15.08.1946, p. 5; “Maleje wieża poznańskiego zamku”, Głos Wielkopolski, 19.07.1946, p. 3.
26 Leszek Adamczewski, “Tajemnice rezydencji wodza”, Głos Wielkopolski. Głos Poznaniaka, 10-11.08.2002, p. I, VI-VII; Elżbieta Podolska, “Tajemnice naszego jubilata”, Głos Wielkopolski, 02.08.2010, p. 15.
27 Biuletyn Informacyjno-Prasowy Województwa Poznańskiego, no. 9 (1946), p. 19. Also Szczęsny Dettloff, “Polemiki i dyskusje dookoła zamku poznańskiego”, in: Karol Szaładziński (ed.), Szczęsny Dettloff o sztuce i zabytkach Poznania. Wybór studiów z lat 1916-1947, Poznań, Wydawnictwo Miejskie Posnania, 2011, p. 160.
28 S. Naumann, “Od pamięci” (note 8).
29 Janusz Pazder, “Zamek jako ‘Nowy Ratusz’ i ośrodek kultury”, in: J. Pazder, E. Zimmermann, Kaiserschloss Posen (note 12), p. 215-220.
30 Biuletyn (note 27), p. 19.
31 J. Pazder, “Zamek” (note 29), p. 216-217.
32 “Zburzyć zamek – symbol krzyżackiej buty”, Głos Wielkopolski, 02.03.1945, p. 1; Michalski/Pałat, Collegium Maius (note 7), p. 180-181.
33 Michalski/Pałat, ibid.
34 Sz. Dettloff, “Polemiki” (note 27), p. 160-169. Examples of practical and symbolic uses of post-war ruins were recently the subject of the exhibition Zgruzowstanie Warszawy 1945-1949 (Museum of Warsaw, 30.03-30.09.2023), see Adam Przywara (ed.), Zgruzowstanie. Przeszłość i przyszłość ruin w architekturze, Warszawa, Muzeum Warszawy, 2023.
35 Michalski/Pałat, Collegium Maius (note 7), p. 125, 132-133. Today, however, when the practical side of the post-war undertakings is better known, one can no longer maintain that this was the sole rationale; indeed, what we wanted to see for years as a purely ideological motivation was also dictated by material and technological shortages, which prevented thorough reconstruction of the dome on the Collegium Medicum (renamed to Collegium Maius in 1950).
36 H. Grzeszczuk-Brendel, “Historia i przekształcenia” (note 4).
37 Piotr Korduba, Architektura Collegium Martineum i jego otoczenie, 2024 [in print]. Currently, the building also houses the Enigma Cipher Centre.
38 Until 1950, the institutions of the new authority resided in another prestigious part of the city, the elegant residential district of Św. Łazarz, which nevertheless lies outside the city centre; see Marcin Jurek, “Topografia ‘czerwonego’ Poznania w 1945 roku”, Kronika Miasta Poznania, no. 4 (2019), p. 117-138.
39 Grzegorz Piątek, Niezniszczalny: Bohdan Pniewski – architekt salonu i władzy, Warszawa, Wydawnictwo Filtry, 2021.
40 Bartosz Borowski, “W górę wieżę”, Gazeta Wyborcza, 06-07.05.2000, p. 1; Bartosz Borowski, “Odbudujemy sobie wieżę”, Gazeta Wyborcza, 15-16.07.2000, p. 8-9. The idea to rebuild the tower was advanced as early as 1970, with a competition following in 1977.
41 Błażej Kusztelski, “Co cesarskie cesarzowi…”, Gazeta Poznańska, 13.01.1995, p. 7.
42 Sławomir M. Leitgeber, “Bankiet na zamku”, Dziennik Poznański, 16.04.1996, p. 15.
43 J. Pazder, “Zamek” (note 29), p. 218.
44 Sylwia Wilczak, “Tron stanął w Sanssouci”, Gazeta Wyborcza, 04.08.2003, p. 6.
45 Włodzimierz Braniecki, “19 krzeseł”, Głos Wielkopolski, 11.03.1994, p. 4; Anna Zatorska, “Fotel na słoniach”, Gazeta Wielkopolska, 14.11.1995, p. 2; “Fotele wróciły”, Gazeta Wyborcza, 12.11.1997, p. 1; DMK, “Cesarski fotel od konsula”, Gazeta Wyborcza, 16.07.1999, p. 1; DMK, “Coraz więcej mebli”, Gazeta Wyborcza, 23.07.1999, p. 3; DMK, “Cesarskie skrzynie”, Gazeta Wyborcza, 22.11.1999, p. 2; Daina Kolbuszewska, “Fotele na Zamek”, Gazeta Wyborcza, 25.05.2001, p. 1; Łukasz Cynalewski, “Jak kominek Wilusia do Lublina zawędrował”, Gazeta Wyborcza, 20.08.2010, p. 8-9.
46 Aleksander Przybylski, “Tajemnica orła z dzwonkiem. Bajkowe odkrycie na zamku”, Magazyn TVN24, tvn24.pl/magazyn-tvn24/tajemnica-orla-z-dzwonkiem-bajkowe-odkrycie-na-zamku,239,4120 (accessed 30.01.2024).
47 Schwendemann/Dietsche, Hitlers Schloß (note 20); Piotr Bojarski, “Miliony Führera”, Gazeta Wyborcza, 27.02.2002, p. 6; Mateusz Marczewski, “Faszystowski cień na Zamkiem”, Głos Wielkopolski, 01.03.2002, p. 18.
48 Daina Kolbuszewska, “Będzie świetnie”, Gazeta Wyborcza, 26.08.2005, p. 6; Piotr Korduba, “Mieszczanin – szlachcicem, czyli o tym, jak Poznań chce być cesarsko-królewski”, in: Piotr Bernatowicz (ed.), W Trakcie. Poszukiwanie artystycznego i historycznego potencjału w nowoczesnych produktach turystyki kulturowej na podstawie Traktu Królewsko-Cesarskiego w Poznaniu, Poznań, Uniwersytet Artystyczny, 2011, p. 29-52.
49 E.g. Marcin Libicki, “Przeciw wytyczaniu traktu cesarsko-królewskiego”, Gazeta Wyborcza, 20.10.2005, p. 6.
50 Daina Kolbuszewska, “Poznań jak królewna na szklanej górze. Rozmowa z Dorotą Matyaszczyk o trakcie cesarsko-królewskim”, Gazeta Wyborcza, 28.10.2005, p. 8.
51 Elżbieta Podolska, “Tajemnice naszego jubilata”, Głos Wielkopolski, 02.08.2010, p. 15.
52 Elżbieta Podolska, “Ostatni taki zamek w Europie”, Głos Wielkopolski, 05.08.2010, p. 17.
53 Ibid.
54 [MS], “Poznań nie pamięta o Zamku”, Gazeta Wyborcza, 17.10.2011, p. 2.
55 E. Podolska, “Ostatni taki zamek” (note 52).
56 Mieczysław Chojnacki, “Kiedy zamek odzyska wieżę? Wpisany na listę dziedzictwa”, Dziennik Poznański, 26.04.1994.
57 Ibid.
58 B. Borowski, “W górę wieżę” (note 40).
59 Schwendemann/Dietsche, Hitlers Schloß (note 20).
60 P. Bojarski, “Miliony Führera” (note 47).
61 Michalski/Pałat, Collegium Maius (note 7), p. 182.
62 Monika Lamęcka, “Piaskowy zamek w listopadzie”, Gazeta Wyborcza, 01-02.06.2002, p. 3; Elżbieta Podolska, “Zamek odzyska dawny blask”, Express Poznański w Poznańskiej, 07-08.09.2002, p. 11; Leszek Adamczewski, “Sztuka ma godzić Polaków i Niemców [rozmowa z Januszem Pazderem]”, Głos Wielkopolski, 09.01.2008, p. 24.
63 On paint and colour as factors which contribute to humanization of the cityscape, see Marek Krajewski, “Farba”, in: Marek Krajewski (ed.), Niewidzialne miasto, Warszawa, Fundacja Bęc Zmiana, 2012, p. 174.
64 For further information, see the “Zamek Culture Centre” website: ckzamek.pl/podstrony/3-siedziba/ (accessed 30.01.2024).
65 The link between that project and the reception of the German-Polish heritage has also been noted by Michalski/Pałat, Collegium Maius (note 7), p. 183. Concerning the project itself see Komitet Odbudowy Zamku Królewskiego w Poznaniu (ed.), Zamek Królewski w Poznaniu. Historia i restytucja, Poznań, Bogucki Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 2014; on the related controversy see Tomasz Ratajczak, “Nowy zamek w Poznaniu – negatywny przykład adaptacji reliktów średniowiecznej architektury”, in: Bogusław Szmygin, Piotr Molski (eds.), Zamki w ruinie – zasady postępowania konserwatorskiego, Warszawa-Lublin, ICOMOS, Politechnika Lubelska, 2012, p. 237-249; Tomasz Ratajczak, “Das Neue Schloss in Poznań vor dem Hintergrund vergleichbarer Bauten in Polen und Europa”, in: Piotr Korduba, Dietmar Popp (eds.), Re-Konstruktionen. Stadt, Raum, Museum, Warszawa, Instytut Sztuki PAN, 2019, p. 199-216.
66 Komitet Odbudowy Zamku Królewskiego w Poznaniu, Zamek Królewski (note 65).
67 Ibid., p. 241.
68 Based on the public debate organized by the Poznań City Hall in connection with the competition for the monument to Przemysł II, held on 23.06.2021 (online event).
69 After Krzysztof Podemski, “Społeczna funkcja Dzielnicy Zamkowej”, in: J. Pazder, Odkryj Dzielnicę Zamkową (note 4), p. 112. The matter is also interestingly discussed in Michalski/Pałat, Collegium Maius (note 7), p. 175-196.
70 Piotr Korduba, “Poznania rozterki z dziedzictwem kulturowym i tożsamością”, in: Maciej Moszyński, Marcin Słomiński (eds.), Pomnik Historii. Historia w Pomniku, Poznań, Centrum Turystyki Kulturowej Trakt, 2018, p. 145-158.
71 Which has already been noted in press articles, see Krzysztof Smura, “W cesarskiej dzielnicy”, Express Poznański w Poznańskiej, 08.07.2000, p. 10, and Przemysław Matusik, Historia Poznania: 1918-1945, vol. 3, Poznań, Wydawnictwo Miejskie Posnania, 2021, p. 89-92.
72 For obvious historical reasons, the material and narrative testimonies of German history in Poznań are domesticized differently than in cities such as Gdańsk or Wrocław, see Peter Oliver Loew, Gdańsk i jego przeszłość. Kultura historyczna miasta od końca XVIII do 2011 roku, Gdańsk, Fundacja Terytoria Książki, 2021; Gregor Thum, Obce miasto – Wrocław 1945 i potem, Wrocław, Via Nova, 2007.
73 Michalski/Pałat, Collegium Maius (note 7), p. 177.
Haut de pageTable des illustrations
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| Titre | Fig. 1. Imperial Castle (Franz Schwechten, 1905-1910), photograph, before 1940. |
| Crédits | Audiovisual Archives, Faculty of Art Studies, Adam Mickiewicz University Poznań. |
| URL | http://journals.openedition.org/allemagne/docannexe/image/3997/img-1.png |
| Fichier | image/png, 45k |
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| Titre | Fig. 2. Throne Hall of the Imperial Castle, photograph, before 1919. |
| Crédits | Audiovisual Archives, Faculty of Art Studies, Adam Mickiewicz University Poznań. |
| URL | http://journals.openedition.org/allemagne/docannexe/image/3997/img-2.png |
| Fichier | image/png, 1,2M |
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| Titre | Fig. 3. Former Throne Hall transformed into the Reception Room of the Polish Presidency, depicted in Światowid, no. 22 (1929), p. 3. |
| URL | http://journals.openedition.org/allemagne/docannexe/image/3997/img-3.png |
| Fichier | image/png, 526k |
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| Titre | Fig. 4. The Imperial Castle being transformed into Hitler’s Residence (Franz Böhmer, 1939-1944), photograph, 1942 (?). |
| Crédits | Audiovisual Archives, Faculty of Art Studies, Adam Mickiewicz University Poznań. |
| URL | http://journals.openedition.org/allemagne/docannexe/image/3997/img-4.png |
| Fichier | image/png, 134k |
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| Titre | Fig. 5. Hitler’s private rooms (which he never visited), photograph, 2023 |
| Crédits | Photo Marcin Sokalski. |
| URL | http://journals.openedition.org/allemagne/docannexe/image/3997/img-5.png |
| Fichier | image/png, 354k |
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| Titre | Fig. 6. Entrance hall (with the Emperor’s throne), photograph, 2023 |
| Crédits | Photo Marcin Sokalski. |
| URL | http://journals.openedition.org/allemagne/docannexe/image/3997/img-6.png |
| Fichier | image/png, 470k |
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| Titre | Fig. 7. Present-day Zamek Culture Centre, the former Imperial Castle, photograph, 2023 |
| Crédits | Photo Marcin Sokalski. |
| URL | http://journals.openedition.org/allemagne/docannexe/image/3997/img-7.png |
| Fichier | image/png, 408k |
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| Titre | Fig. 8. Present-day first-floor hallway, the former “Gallery of the Cities” (or “Hall of Arms”) of the Imperial Castle, transformed by the Nazis into a foyer, showing Ryszard Skupin’s bas-reliefs installed in 1966 to celebrate the millennium of the founding of the Polish state, photograph, 2023. |
| Crédits | Photo Piotr Korduba. |
| URL | http://journals.openedition.org/allemagne/docannexe/image/3997/img-8.png |
| Fichier | image/png, 397k |
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| Titre | Fig. 9. Exhibition of different types of chairs and other objects used in the Imperial Castle at various moments, photograph, 2023. |
| Crédits | Photo Marcin Sokalski. |
| URL | http://journals.openedition.org/allemagne/docannexe/image/3997/img-9.png |
| Fichier | image/png, 367k |
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| Titre | Fig. 10. “Reconstruction” of the Polish Castle of Przemysł II (Witold Milewski, 2007), photograph, 2023. |
| Crédits | Photo Marcin Sokalski. |
| URL | http://journals.openedition.org/allemagne/docannexe/image/3997/img-10.png |
| Fichier | image/png, 186k |
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| Titre | Fig. 11. Party at the Nowe Lokum Stonewall Club in the castle courtyard, photograph, 2023. |
| Crédits | Photo Alex Aender/Aleksander Unruh. |
| URL | http://journals.openedition.org/allemagne/docannexe/image/3997/img-11.png |
| Fichier | image/png, 433k |
Pour citer cet article
Référence papier
Piotr Korduba, « The Imperial Castle in Poznań: Histories of its Polonization », Revue d’Allemagne et des pays de langue allemande, 56-1 | 2024, 101-119.
Référence électronique
Piotr Korduba, « The Imperial Castle in Poznań: Histories of its Polonization », Revue d’Allemagne et des pays de langue allemande [En ligne], 56-1 | 2024, mis en ligne le 19 juin 2025, consulté le 12 avril 2026. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/allemagne/3997 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/11uxh
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