'I Was Here': Chopin

chopin_fryderyk_pomnik_forum_6757700_1_0.jpg, default, Bust of Chopin, Greater Poland Chopin Centre, photo: Daniel Pach / Forum

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The map of places Fryderyk Chopin visited or lived in and with which he is associated in various ways includes many remarkable buildings.

A fortified church

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Basilica of St John the Baptist & St Roch, Brochów, photo: MARELBU / CC BY 3.0

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Fryderyk Chopin was born on 1 March or 22 February 1810 in Żelazowa Wola. He was baptized a few months later. The ceremony took place in the parish church of St John the Baptist and St Roch in Brochów, the same church in which the future composer’s parents were married a few years earlier.

Located a few kilometres north of Żelazowa Wola, this building is a unique architectural monument. The first place of religious worship on this site was likely built as early as the 12th century; the current church was built between 1551 and 1561. The design likely originated in the workshop of Giovanni Battista of Venice, who developed his own style after settling in Poland. He combined elements of Renaissance art with the local traditions of medieval brick architecture, still present in Poland. He implemented these concepts in churches in Brok, Głogowiec and Brochów. This last church also stands out for its form, most closely resembling a fortified structure: it has massive walls with three cylindrical towers, and it is surrounded by a wall. The three-nave interior has a simple décor, a key element of which are geometric ornaments covering the barrel vaults.

A manor house in a spa

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Chopin’s Manor House, Duszniki-Zdrój, photo: Jacek Halicki / CC BY-SA 4.0

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Chopin was a teenager when he came to the Kłodzko Valley with his mother and sisters for a vacation. In 1826, he spent time in Bad Reinerz, a spa town now known as Duszniki-Zdrój. The visit was not accidental because the sickly Fryderyk was brought to the spa to recuperate. Besides walking and soaking in the healing waters, the young man also devoted himself to music. He even gave an unscheduled concert at the spa; in letters to friends, he complained that he had to play an instrument of very poor quality.

The young musician’s recital took place in the spa theatre, which remains preserved to this day (unlike the guesthouse where the Chopins lived). The manor-style building was renamed Chopin’s Manor House in honour of that 1826 event. It has hosted the International Chopin Festival since 1946. One of the healing springs was also named in the composer’s honour; thus in Duszniki you can drink Pieniawa Chopina (Chopin’s Pieniawa) water.

A vacation spot

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Classicist manor house, seat of Chopin Centre, Szafarnia, photo: Antoni Wójcik / CC BY-SA 4.0

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As a high school (liceum) student, Chopin spent the summer months of 1824 and 1825 at the Szafarnia estate, located in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship. It belonged to Juliusz Dziewanowski, the father of one of Fryderyk’s schoolmates. As the composer himself later recalled, it was in Szafarnia that he had the opportunity to discover folk music, which he considered an important inspiration for his work. Today, the palace houses the Chopin Centre, with an educational, exhibition and concert program aimed primarily at young music lovers. Among the Centre’s many activities is the International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition for Children and Youth (Międzynarodowy Konkurs Pianistyczny im. Fryderyka Chopina dla Dzieci i Młodzieży) held since 1992.

The first concert

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Presidential Palace in Warsaw, main body of palace & monument to Prince Józef Poniatowski, photo: Marcin Białek / CC BY-SA 4.0

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The palace on Krakowskie Przedmieście Street in Warsaw, currently the seat of the president of the Republic of Poland, has changed hands and appearance many times over the years. Its first incarnation was built in 1635, when the plot of land was purchased by Stanisław Koniecpolski, the grand hetman of the crown, who ordered the then wooden building to be converted into a brick palace in the early Baroque style.

Several decades later, the residence already belonged to the Lubomirski family, later passing into the hands of the Radziwiłł family. Each subsequent owner contributed to the expansion and reconstruction of the building, with its décor then changed to the late Baroque style. In 1818, the government of the Kingdom of Poland purchased the palace from the Radziwiłł family and designated it as the seat of the governor, General Józef Zajączek. At that time, the building was rebuilt according to the design of Christian Piotr Aigner, giving it a classicist form. After Poland regained its independence, Marian Lalewicz rebuilt the palace into the seat of the prime minister and the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Poland. The building survived World War II, after which its renovation and modernization were designed by Teodor Bursche, Antoni Jawornicki and Borys Zinserling. It served state officials during the communist era and has belonged to the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland since 1994.

The palace has hosted numerous important events; it was visited by such persons as King Stanisław August and Tsar Alexander II, and it accommodated Napoleon Bonaparte. On 24 February 1818, the then eight-year-old Fryderyk Chopin gave his first concert here – or rather, he participated in a concert organized by Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz and the Warsaw Charitable Society, which Niemcewicz headed.

A hunting palace

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Hunting Palace of the Radziwiłł Princes, Antonin, photo: Travelphoto / Forum

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Fryderyk Chopin likely visited the country residence in Antonin in Greater Poland twice: in the autumn of 1827 and in 1829, at the invitation of the host, Antoni Radziwiłł. Prince Radziwiłł was an admirer of Chopin’s talent and also a musician – the two men gave several recitals together. The composer wrote the Polonaise in C Major, op. 3 for cello and piano for the prince, who himself played the cello. During his stays in Antonin, Chopin also taught the host’s daughter, Wanda, to play the piano. Today, the palace is under the care of the Kalisz Culture and Art Centre (Centrum Kultury i Sztuki w Kaliszu), which organizes the annual Chopin in Autumn Colours (Chopin w barwach jesieni) festival there.

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‘Chopin at Radziwiłł’s in 1829’ by Henryk Hektor Siemiradzki, 1888, photo: Polona National Library

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The hunting palace of the Radziwiłł princes in Antonin is an interesting edifice not only because of Chopin. It was built between 1821 and 1826 according to the design of Karl Friedrich Schinkel, a renowned German architect of the classicist era. The small building was designed according to a Greek cross plan, unusual for a secular building. The entire body of the palace is occupied by a three-story-high salon with a decorative ceiling. One of the wings of the building conceals a staircase, while the others contain rooms. The palace’s facades are clad in pine logs, but the building was constructed using a half-timbered structure where the wooden frame is filled with brick.

Concert with the tsar

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Evangelical Church of the Holy Trinity, Warsaw, photo: Kapitel / CC BY-SA 4.0

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Fryderyk Chopin performed in numerous places, many of which remain to this day. One of these is the Evangelical Church of the Holy Trinity in Warsaw. Chopin played there in April 1825, and Tsar Alexander I, among others, sat in the audience. Although the Church of the Holy Trinity is a sacred building, it was designed with great sensitivity to sound; the interior is often used as a concert hall to this day. Acoustic qualities combine here with exquisite architecture. The building was designed by Szymon Bogumił Zug in the 1770s, immediately after King Stanisław August Poniatowski granted the Evangelical community a royal charter to build a new church. A competition was then held for the church’s design, and Zug’s design was reportedly chosen by the Polish ruler himself.

Where the ideal hit the vulgar street

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Zamoyski Palace, 67/69 Nowy Świat Street, Warsaw, photo: Adrian Grycuk / CC BY 3.0

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In 1839, Andrzej Zamoyski became the owner of a palace on Nowy Świat Street in Warsaw. In the early 1840s, he entrusted the reconstruction and expansion of the residence to Enrico (Henryk) Marconi. The architect transformed it into an ornate and elegant city palace in the classicist style, with the main axis emphasized by a triangular pediment adorned with bas-reliefs. The building – called the Andrzej Zamoyski House of Business – served its owner as, among other things, a representative place to conduct business. This was, however, short-lived, as in 1862 Zamoyski left Warsaw and never returned.

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‘Chopin’s Piano’ by Cyprian Kamil Norwid, 1933, photo: Polona National Library

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Fryderyk Chopin’s younger sister Izabella Barcińska lived on the third floor in one of the apartments in this building. It was there that she kept her brother’s piano, and this fact, of all the events related to the building, has gone down in history and became a part of Polish culture. On 19 September 1863, the palace was the site of an assassination attempt on the tsar’s governor, Fyodor Berg: bombs were dropped from its windows onto his carriage. In retaliation, the Russian army ransacked the palace interior, throwing the residents’ belongings out the windows. One of the items destroyed in this way was Chopin’s piano. This incident, several months later, served as the basis for Cyprian Kamil Norwid’s poem Chopin’s Piano.

Text

[…] He!… who proclaimed Poland from the height
Of Omniperfection’s eternal form
And wrought with a hymn of delight –
A Poland of the Wheelwright’s House transformed –
He – has fallen – into the mud-bespattered night! [...]

Author

[Trans. Teresa Bałuk]

Heart’s tomb

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Church of the Holy Cross, 3 Krakowskie Przedmieście Street, Warsaw, epitaph with Chopin’s heart, photo: Marek Bazak / East News

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In November 1830, Fryderyk Chopin left Poland – never to return. He settled in Paris. However, when the illnesses that had plagued him throughout his life, primarily tuberculosis, worsened and the composer realized he was dying, he requested that his heart be buried in Warsaw after his death. He died on 17 October 1849, and the next day his heart was sealed in a jar filled with alcohol. Two months later, Chopin’s older sister, Ludwika Jędrzejewicz, secretly brought the unusual package to Warsaw.

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Fryderyk Chopin’s tomb, Pere-Lachaise Cemetery, Paris, photo: Tadeusz Koniarz / Reporter / East News

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Ultimately, the jar was placed in the Basilica of the Holy Cross on Krakowskie Przedmieście Street (the parish church of the Chopin family). Initially stored in the so-called lower church, in 1880 it was embedded in the left pillar of the main nave and marked with an epitaph designed by Leonard Marconi. During the Warsaw Uprising, the jar, along with its unusual contents, was recovered from the church, which was threatened by the ongoing fighting, and hidden in… a piano in the rectory of St Hedwig church in Milanówek. On 17 October 1945, on the anniversary of Chopin’s death, his heart was returned to its place in the Church of the Holy Cross.

Museum on an escarpment

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Fryderyk Chopin Museum, 1 Okólnik Street, Warsaw, photo: Piotr Borkowski / Getty Images

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The Fryderyk Chopin National Institute (Narodowy Instytut Fryderyka Chopina: NIFC) was established in 2002. It was founded on the basis of successive institutions operating since the 19th century and dedicated to the legacy of the famous composer: the Fryderyk Chopin Section of the Warsaw Music Society, which became the Fryderyk Chopin Institute, later the Fryderyk Chopin Society. Among the NIFC’s many tasks is the operation of the Fryderyk Chopin Museum, established in 1955. Both institutions are located in Ostrogski Castle, a historic residence on Tamka Street in Warsaw. The origins of this building date back to the 16th century, and the structure in its current form was designed in the 1680s by Tylman van Gameren for Jan Krzysztof Gniński, the town vice-chancellor.

Picturesquely situated on a terraced, steep Vistula escarpment, the building was designed in a classicizing Baroque style. For many years, due to its location high on the escarpment, it dominated the surrounding area and was also clearly visible from the other bank of the Vistula. Like most magnate residences, it changed owners and appearances over the following centuries, undergoing renovations and modernization. Burned down by the Germans during the Warsaw Uprising, it was rebuilt after the war and became the home of the Fryderyk Chopin Institute in 1953. Chopin himself, however, never visited this building, which has been most strongly associated with him for seven decades.

Written in Polish by Anna Cymer, 2 October 2025

Translated by Michał Pelczar

Language English