Opening hours: Closed Mondays and public holidays; open all other days, 9:30am-5pm.
Situated in the Mazurian Lakeland, on the Nidzkie Lake, the Pranie forester's lodge was the favourite place of work and relaxation of Konstanty Ildefons Galczynski (1905-1953), one of Poland's most celebrated and popular modern poets. Indeed, a number of his poems were turned into songs, with music written by leading composers, and they are still sung nowadays.
The modest brick house with a wooden porch, situated in the Piska Forest, the second largest forest area in Europe (the first being the Bialowieska Forest), was turned into a museum to commerate Galczynski in 1980. The museum exhibits objects related to the poet's life and work, such as books from his library, many of which were presented to Galczynski by the authors; various editions of his works; photocopies of manuscripts; simple furniture made by the forester and used by the poet when in Pranie; a few items of furniture brought from Galczynski's Warsaw flat, including his desk; numerous keepsakes and trinkets; the famous coffee grinder with which the poet never parted; candlestics and paraffin lamps (there was no electricity at Pranie); the poet's cartoons and portraits; photographs of him and of his beloved wife, Natalia, to whom he dedicated some of the most beautiful love lyrics Polish poetry ever produced; photographs of his family and friends, including those of the authors of the Przekroj, the weekly to which Galczynski contributed for many years. Concerts and poetry evenings are held in the lodge's yard in the summer. There is a small platform and some benches for the listeners.
Muzeum Konstantego Ildefonsa Gałczyńskiego
Leśniczówka Pranie
Pranie
Region: woj. warmińsko-mazurskie
Phone/Fax: (+48 87) 423 19 21
WWW: www.lesniczowkapranie.art.pl
Email: muzeumpranie@neostrada.pl