Jama Michalika: Kraków’s Celebrated Artists’ Cafe
For over a hundred years, the amazing Jama Michalika in Kraków has been serving as both a café and a place of culture. Its legend is linked to Poland’s first literary cabaret, the Green Balloon, which used to operate on its premises. Nowadays, the café attracts with its historical interiors filled with curious artworks, cultural events, and of course… food and drinks.
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The interior of Jama Michalika in contemporary times, photo: Grzegorz Kozakiewicz / Forum
Kraków is an ancient city, one that has many famous monuments like the Wawel Royal Castle dating back to the 11th century or the Gothic Saint Mary’s Basilica. Another celebrated historical site in the city, perhaps a less obvious one than the aforementioned two, is the venerable coffee house and restaurant Jama Michalika founded in 1895. Located in an old tenement house on 45 Floriańska Street, nearby Kraków’s iconic Main Square, it’s possibly Poland’s most famous artists’ café.
Jama Michalika’s legend stems from its early beginnings when it was a haven for the bohemian circles of Kraków, linked to the modernist Young Poland movement. The artists frequenting this establishment started in it Poland’s first literary cabaret – Zielony Balonik (Green Balloon). Despite the passage of time, plenty elements of the café’s original interior have been preserved. Thanks to this, Jama Michalika is on par with the most atmospheric historical coffee houses that can nowadays be found across Europe:
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This dusky sanctuary of the Young Poland movement resembles at its core one of the perfect literary-artistic coffee houses, which there used to be plenty of in Europe; strange furniture, stained-glass windows, satirical paintings and hanging caricatures made by patrons flocking from the nearby Academy of Fine Arts.
Author
From Tomasz Gryglewicz’s book ‘Groteska w Sztuce Polskiej XX Wieku’ (Grotesque in 20th Century Polish Art), trans. MK
Below you can read about the long history, lasting legend and present-day shape of the fascinating Jama Michalika café.
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Jan Apolinary Michalik, ca. 1898, photo: National Digital Library Polona
Jama Michalika was founded by Jan Apolinary Michalik, a pâtissier born in 1871 who came to Kraków from Lviv. Michalik learned his trade in the latter city, which is probably why he originally named his Kraków business Cukiernia Lwowska (Lviv Patisserie). It was only after some time that the establishment began to be called Jama Michalika, which means Michalik’s Den. Some say Michalik’s place was dubbed a ‘den’ because one of its two rooms; the one where the artists congregated didn’t have any windows.
In the front room sweets, cakes, ice cream and doughnuts were sold. Interestingly, some of Michalik’s products referenced Polish culture, like the Mickiewicz and Manru pastries, named respectively after one of Poland’s most important Romantic poets and an opera by the celebrated composer Ignacy Paderewski.
The room in the back quickly began to attract painters from the nearby School of Fine Arts (later rebranded as the Academy of Fine Arts) who came to Michalik’s place to order coffee, alcohol and meals. Eventually, the painters drew to the establishment writers and people involved with theatre. The back room became a focal point for Kraków’s bohemian types and it was this clientele, rather than the sweets and cakes, that made Michalik’s café famous. Among the luminaries that frequented Jama Michalika were, for example, the painters Leon Wyczółkowski and Karol Frycz, writers Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński and Stanisław Sierosławski, actress Stanisława Wysocka and the playwright and painter Stanisław Wyspiański.
Interestingly, the artists would spontaneously create artworks at the café, such as caricatures and drawings, and these would be hanged on the walls of the back room. This creative spirit further manifested itself when the idea to start a cabaret at Jama Michalika appeared. Apparently, Michalik wasn’t immediately impressed by this concept:
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According to Boy-Żeleński the artists turned Michalik into a celebrity somewhat against his own will. Boy claims that when in 1905 the idea arose to create a cabaret at the café, the biggest problem was to get Michalik’s consent. He saw it as a profanation of his establishment. Nevertheless, he quickly understood that he could make money off of it.
Author
From Bolesław Faron’s book ‘Jama Michalika, Przewodnik Literacki’ (Michalik’s Den: A Literary Guide), trans. MK
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‘The Green Balloon Cabaret’ by Kazimierz Sichulski, 1908, photo: Adam Mickiewicz Museum of Literature in Warsaw
The cabaret was a group idea and among its founding fathers were the aforementioned Karol Frycz, the playwright and critic Jan August Kisielewski, the painter Kazimierz Sichulski and the journalist Witold Noskowski. The latter would provide accompaniment on the piano for the cabaret’s songs. Also, at an early-stage Boy-Żeleński joined in on the fun as an author of lyrics, which were later published in his book Słówka (A Word or Two). This was Poland’s first literary cabaret.
According to an anecdote, the cabaret was named Green Balloon after its creators encountered a small boy on the street nearby Jama Michalika. The child had a green balloon with him that flew out of his hands into the sky. At that point, the artists started chanting ‘green balloon’ and the question of the name was settled.
Green Balloon’s first show took place on 7th October 1905 in the back room of Jama Michalika (which would become its regular venue). Here’s how that evening was described by Boy-Żeleński in his 1930s feuilleton Legenda Zielonego Balonika z Perspektywy Ćwierćwiecza (The Green Balloon’s Legend from the Perspective of a Quarter Century):
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The program was almost entirely improvised and was filled with painting and theatre jokes that were skilfully delivered by the then young actor Osterwa, the painters Żelechowski, Frycz and others. The literary content was limited to occasional and merry songs composed by Noskowski. The congregation had a very social character linked to high-temperature, concentrated liquor.
Green Balloon became a success and began attracting plenty of spectators to its subsequent shows. But curiously, for most of its existence, this cabaret was a ticket-free affair. You needed to be invited to one of its performances to be able to attend. Because of this, the audience had a sort of elite character and was composed mainly of artists and their friends. Such spectators could easily grasp the issues addressed in the frivolous performances, which mainly alluded to the artistic and intellectual circles of Kraków.
In 1906 the cabaret began to stage puppet shows referencing nativity scenes, and these performances would go on to become Green Balloon’s main focus. Artists such as the painter Stanisław Kamocki and sculptor Jan Szczepkowski designed a special stage and puppets of familiar characters, like King Herod or the Three Wise Men. These figures, animated by the designer Józef Czajkowski and painter Alfons Karpiński, were used to satirically portray well-known persons such as the painter Julian Fałat or the president of Kraków, Juliusz Leo. Less traditional puppets, for example, of Death also appeared and the performances, which referenced the artistic, academic and political life of Kraków, were accompanied by music and singing. The puppet shows were a sensation and eventually, in 1911, they became a ticketed event. This brought much success for Green Balloon as described by Boy-Żeleński:
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Anybody who was alive came to the nativity scene. The most honourable mammoths of Kraków, high clerks, their excellences, all of them paraded through Jama Michalika, much to the joy of its owner and our amusement.
Author
From ‘Jama Michalika, Przewodnik Literacki’ (Michalik’s Den: A Literary Guide), trans. MK
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The interior of Jama Michalika shortly after its remodelling in the year 1911, photo: Sztuka Stosowana / Wikimedia.org
The success of Green Balloon prompted Michalik to expand his café in the year 1910. The establishment was expanded by two additional rooms: a large one and a smaller one, as well as a kitchen. The remodelling was overseen by architect Franciszek Mączyński and the interiors meant for clients were designed by Karol Frycz. The latter created the furniture, stained-glass windows, doors and lamps. Also, the painter Kazimierz Sichulski designed the friezes in the larger room.
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The artists created an original, maybe somewhat peculiar interior. It consisted of door frames with thick, barrel-like jambs and winding lintels; heavy, leather sofas with somewhat Art Nouveau ornaments of wood, referencing also highlander cut-outs. […] Small, colourful stained-glass windows shone inside, perfectly harmonizing with the entire interior. […] This new interior was – according to the art historian Tadeusz Dobrowolski – ‘a mix of Art Nouveau, modern style, a church and sort of a Russian terem.’
Author
From the 1985 paper ‘Historia Jamy Michalikowej’ (The History of Michalik’s Den) by Elżbieta Cencora, trans. MK
However, Michalik’s plan to expand his business didn’t entirely work out. Despite the appearance of new, intriguing rooms, the café slowly started to lose its unique charm. The 1911 puppet show proved to be Green Balloon’s last triumph. When another such event was organised the following year, it wasn’t successful. Apparently, the humour which had revolved around similar topics for years had simply dried out. This was the last of Green Balloon’s puppet shows and although artists continued to congregate at Jama Michalika afterwards, the café’s heyday was over.
World War I further negatively impacted Michalik’s business, and in 1918 he decided to sell it to Roman Madejski and Franciszek Trzaska. Later, the founder of Jama Michalika moved to Poznań where he opened an elegant boarding-house. He passed away in 1928.
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A concert at Jama Michalika, photo: Malte Jaeger / Laif / Forum
In the Interwar, despite having various owners, Jama Michalika’s status kept dwindling. At one point, the café even gained the reputation of being a dodgy place that oughtn’t be visited by cultured individuals. The café survived World War II and in the 1950s its operator became the co-op PSS ‘Społem’. The establishment was renovated and in 1960 a new cabaret began to perform on its premises. It was commenced by the satirist Tadeusz Kwiatkowski, journalist Bruno Miecugow and writer Jacek Stwora, who named it simply – Jama Michalika.
The Jama Michalika cabaret gained substantial popularity and existed – with an interim caused by the martial law introduced in Poland in the early 1980s – until 1991. Among its shows were, for example, 1963’s A To Ci Wesele (What a Wedding) referencing the acclaimed playwright Stanisław Wyspiański, or 1974’s De Revolutionibus which revolved around Nicolas Copernicus and… two devils. Among the many talented actors involved with the Jama Michalika cabaret were Halina Kwiatkowska, Anna Seniuk and Marian Dziędziel. Thanks to this cabaret, the legend of the Jama Michalika café as a place of culture was continued.
In 1986 the poet and writer Stanisław Jerzy Kuliś became the owner of the tenement house on 45 Floriańska Street. Five years later he began running the Jama Michalika café, which as mentioned before, is located in that building. Under his (still continuing) management, the establishment has been keeping up its involvement with the world of culture. For example, Poland’s Nobel Prize in Literature winners Wisława Szymborska and Czesław Miłosz recited their poems there. The acclaimed Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki, who used to frequent Jama Michalika and even compose music there, gave TV interviews at the café. Also, cultural events such as exhibitions and cabaret performances referencing the Green Balloon were organised at the coffee house.
More recently, Jama Michalika hosted, amongst others, a concert featuring the popular singer Andrzej Rosiewicz and a discussion panel on the influences of Kraków’s literary heritage.
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Wall paintings in Jama Michalika’s old room, showing Jan Stanisławski and fighting roosters, photo: Wikimedia.org
As already mentioned, Jama Michalika’s great appeal stems from its historical interiors adorned with artworks by artists that used to frequent the café. The establishment has two main rooms, one of which opens into a small, slightly elevated chamber.
The first of the main rooms, the so-called old one, was the original venue of Green Balloon. Here you can find curious wall paintings dating back to Jama Michalika’s golden era. Among them is a depiction of two fighting roosters by Tadeusz Rychter and Stanisław Czajkowski, a caricature of the actress Irena Solska by Karol Frycz and a depiction of the painter Jan Stanisławski by Henryk Szczyglińśki and Stanisław Czajkowski. In this room you can also find numerous graphic artworks hung on the walls, a pendulum clock designed by Szczygliński as well as two display cases with puppets from Green Balloon’s shows.
The second main room is often called the Frycz room, in honour of its designer. Here you can find sofas, chairs, mirrors as well as a hanging clock created by Karol Frycz. The painter also designed some of the stained-glass windows which substantially add to the amazing ambience of this chamber. The ones by Frycz include depictions of birds, a wildcat and Jan Michalik as he’s exiting his café, carrying a tray with various drinks and snacks. Also, the skylight in this room is made of stained-glass windows which are a very pleasant touch.
Among the many graphic artworks hanging in the Frycz room you can find, for example, the 1908 painting Kabaret Zielonego Balonika (The Green Balloon Cabaret) by Kazimierz Sichulski. In this dynamic, caricatural piece you can see members of the titular cabaret, such as Boy Żeleński and Witold Noskowski, as they form a wild procession heading from Kraków’s Old Town toward… the full moon. Another painting by Sichulski in this chamber is Sąd Ostateczny (The Last Judgment) which is a lighthearted take on Michelangelo’s famous fresco of the same title. In Sichulski’s version, figures from Michelangelo’s work are substituted by people somehow linked to the Green Balloon. Additionally, in the Frycz room you can see more of Green Balloon’s puppets as well as the miniature stage they appeared on.
The small, elevated chamber openly connected to the Frycz room, known as the ‘top’ serves as a stage. It’s adorned by plenty of artworks such as Stanisław Rzecki-Szreniawa’s lithograph portraying Helena Łazarewicz, an actress involved with Green Balloon, or Sichulski’s 1914 caricature of the president of Kraków Jan Kanty Federowicz. Naturally, the amazing interiors in Jama Michalika co-create the café’s unique atmosphere and testify to its outstanding cultural continuity.
Today, Jama Michalika is a renowned restaurant and coffee house where one can not only get in touch with history and culture, but also enjoy splendid foods and drinks. Here’s how Stanisław Jerzy Kuliś describes the establishment’s menu in his 2014 book Akademia Akropolis (Acropolis Academy):
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Apart from organising […] artistic projects, the café and restaurant Jama Michalika also continues the ambitious pâtisserie traditions from the times of Jan Apolinary Michalik, producing famous cakes, ice creams, crèmes, drinks and serving delicious coffee and dishes, especially ones of Polish and Old Polish cuisine, as well as cakes typical of Lviv cuisine.
The legend started by Jan Michalik well over a century ago lives on.
Written by Marek Kępa, Feb 22
Source: Bolesław Faron’s 2021 book ‘Jama Michalika, Przewodnik Literacki’ (Michalik’s Den: A Literary Guide).
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