Poland’s Youngest National Monuments
Poland’s youngest nation monument is only a little over 20 years old, and among monuments subject to historic preservation, those erected in the second half of the 20th century are becoming increasingly numerous. After all, it’s not just the date of construction that determines which edifice is considered a part of our valued cultural heritage.
This building is one of the most complete realisations of Professor Jerzy Nowosielski’s sacral projects of architecture and painting, while at the same time remaining an outstanding example of contemporary sacral architecture on a European scale.
Thus wrote the Western Pomeranian Provincial Conservator of National Monuments on 25 July 2019 in justifying the decision to enter the Eastern Orthodox Church of the Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Biały Bór near Szczecinek into the registry of national monuments. It is important that the entry encompasses both the outside structure of the church and the interior because, in the case of this building, they are integrated in an extraordinary way.
Eastern Catholic Church of the Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Biały Bór, interior, photo: Forum
Opened in 1997, the building was designed in the early 1990s by Jerzy Nowosielski in collaboration with architect Bogdan Kotarba. This small-scale church has an unusual, simplified shape evoking associations with illustration or drawing and a no less ascetic interior. Of major importance here are the prominent colours (dark green, white and red), which serve as a background for the icons and polychromes, all of which are, of course, Nowosielski’s own creations. The painter, who reportedly wanted to be an architect his entire life, in a way fulfilled his dream through this church, while simultaneously expressing his profound spirituality and religiosity by creating an extraordinarily coherent building in which the architectural structure, painting and religious symbols constitute a unified whole.
When the Biały Bór church was entered into the registry of national monument in July 2019, it dethroned objects that had until then been considered Poland’s youngest national monuments. Interestingly, those, too, were Eastern Orthodox churches. And so the second position on the list currently belongs to the Eastern Orthodox Church of the Transfiguration of Jesus, built within the Eastern Orthodox sanctuary complex on Grabarka Mountain.
Eastern Orthodox Church of the Transfiguration of Jesus, Grabarka, photo: Adam Jankowski / Reporter / East News
This Eastern Orthodox church was constructed in 1991–94 as a faithful copy of a wooden church destroyed by fire in 1990. Poland’s third youngest monument is the bell tower serving as the Chapel of Saints Equal-to-Apostles Constantine and Helena raised in 1990 in the Podlasie village of Jałówka next to the Eastern Orthodox Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (which was erected in the 1960s and is also a national monument).
Although the building is very recent, extending conservational care to such an exceptional creation as the church in Biały Bór, which is architecture bordering on painting, does not spark controversy. The concept of a national monument, which previously only applied to cultural achievements from hundreds of years ago, has undergone a radical transformation. Even the idea, which was binding until recently, that entry into the registry of national monuments could only be considered for objects that were more than 30 years old does not apply as strictly anymore. From the legal point of view, the definition of a national monument is determined in legislation from 2003, according to which the term can be used to describe objects ‘that are human creations or are otherwise linked to human activity or that bear witness to a past epoch or event and whose preservation lies in the interest of society by virtue of possessing historical, artistic or scientific value’.
Clearly, there’s no mention of how old the monument ought to be.
And it is probably a good thing that both legislation and common practice allow entering relatively recently erected monuments and buildings into the registry. Very often such an entry is the only way of protecting the building from damage or demolition. That’s what happened in June 2019, when a church in Wesoła, an outskirt of Warsaw, that was filled with paintings by Jerzy Nowosielski was classified as a national monument. (The building of an expressway in the immediate vicinity threatened the structure of the church.) It was for similar reasons that the Mazovian Provincial Conservator of National Monuments extended its protection to the building of the former Relax movie theatre, which was built in 1965–70 according to a design by Zbigniew Wacławek and constituted part of the urban plan of the Eastern Wall. Incidentally, the Eastern Wall itself was deserving of a conservator’s protection as a whole, but it’s too late now, because the Eastern Wall has since been radically redeveloped and thus has lost its original character.
Hotel Cracovia, Kraków, 2019, photo: Jakub Porzycki / AG
In 2016, entry into the registry of national monuments was also the result of an intense struggle for Kraków’s Hotel Cracovia (designed by Witold Cęckiewicz, 1960–65). A new, private owner wanted to demolish the modernist edifice in order to erect a shopping mall or an office building in its place. In the wake of enormous protests in favour of preserving the building, the State Treasury purchased the edifice from the developer and transferred ownership to the National Museum in Kraków (the entry into the registry also encompassed the Kijów movie theatre, whose structure is integrated with that of the hotel). Cracovia’s status as a national monument protects it from being remodelled but does not, for instance, prevent changes to be made in the function of the building (which might someday be turned into an exhibition space for the museum).
Mosaic in main lobby of Kijów movie theatre & theatre building, photo: Jan Graczynski / East News, wikimedia.org; rear wall of Kijów movie theatre, designed by Witold Cęckiewicz, 1965–66, 34 Krasińskiego Avenue, photograph from book ‘Colour & Glow’, 2015, photo: Bożena Kostuch / National Museum in Kraków
Warsaw’s Central Railway Station also travelled a stormy path towards the status of a national monument. Before it underwent renovations for the Euro 2012 football championships, it had been one of the city’s least liked buildings: dirty, gloomy, marred by kiosks and extensions, its charm lay concealed. Cleaned up for the arrival of foreign football fans, it became an object of admiration because it turned out that the structure made of concrete, glass and steel designed by Arseniusz Romanowicz and erected in the mid-1970s creates a bright, clear, convenient and above all extraordinarily modern space for the transportation hub.
Central Railway Station, Warsaw, photo: Tomasz Gzell / PAP
Sadly, in 2016 the striking, expansive, light-filled main hall of the station opening onto city views was enclosed with tacky mezzanines, which marred the space and did not at all fit the character of the building. Despite that, the Mazovian Provincial Conservator of Historical Monuments extended its protection to the station in July 2019 ‘due to its historical, artistic and academic value’.
Former headquarters of Central Committee of Polish United Workers’ Party, Warsaw, photo: Adam Burakowski / Reporter / East News
Classifying post–World War Two buildings as national monuments can easily become a contentious matter. At the end of 2019, many heated debates were taking place on the occasion of extending a conservator’s protection to the former headquarters of the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers’ Party (the so-called Dom Partii, ‘House of the Party’). Located in Warsaw, it is a modernist structure designed by Wacław Kłyszewski, Jerzy Mokrzycki and Eugeniusz Wierzbicki, a team also known as Tygrysy (Tigers), that was built in 1948–51. A decade ago, a plan for the demolition of this simple and at the same time monumental structure seemed highly probable.
Surely no one currently has any doubt that the preservation of the building was the right choice, and it is difficult to image the centre of Warsaw without it. Although the capital’s Palace of Culture and Science has been listed as a national monument since 2007, there are voices calling for the demolition of this socialist realist skyscraper. Clearly, some have difficulty accepting that sometimes the political context is less important in the assessment of architectural heritage than its historical, artistic and cultural merits.
Building of former WSK House of Culture, Rzeszów, photo: Franciszek Mazur / AG
It is interesting that architectural projects from the times of the state-mandated doctrine of socialist realism increasingly often, and without similar controversies, end up under the conservator’s protection. Such national monuments include, for instance, the Palace of Youth in Katowice (designed by Zygmunt Majerski and Julian Duchowicz, 1949–51); the Palace of the Culture of the Zagłębie Region in Dąbrowa Górnicza (designed by Zbigniew Rzepecki, 1951–58); several buildings in Rzeszów, which include the University of Rzeszów’s Institute of Music (originally the WSK Factory House of Culture in Rzeszów, designed by Zbigniew Polak, 1953–56) and the Rzeszów Voivodeship Office (designed by Ludwik Pisarek, 1951–58); the edifice of the Ministry of Finance in Warsaw (designed by Stanisław Bieńkuński and Stanisław Rychłowski, 1953–56); numerous buildings in the Kraków district of Nowa Huta; and others. Although no one has any positive historical or political associations with the socialist realist period, the architectural achievements of those times are more and more commonly understood and accepted.
The decision to classify a fairly ‘new’ building as a national monument and thus to extend over it the highest possible form of control and protection is never easy, not even for those officials who hold firm views on the matter. This is not just because of potential voices of protest but also because the status of a national monument usually raises the costs of the building’s maintenance and might make it difficult for the owner to adjust it to their own needs. In the spring of 2019, the building of the former Hungarian Trade Agency in Warsaw, erected in 1972 according to a design by Jan Zdanowicz, was entered into the registry of national monuments. The entry saved from demolition the modernist pavilion-like edifice with its tasteful details, unique because preserved in its original form, including the interiors and street furniture (which is a very rare occurrence). However, the building has been abandoned for a long time now, and its future is uncertain.
Kosmos movie theatre, Szczecin, 2003, photo: Cezary Aszkiełowicz / AG
As early as 2007, the Kosmos movie theatre in Szczecin was included in the registry, a uniquely curious structure designed for its particular purpose by Andrzej Korzeniowski in the late 1950s. However, while the structure itself is now under the conservator’s protection, the public plaza in front of it (which was part of the architectural concept) could be zoned for development. That’s how the historic movie theatre was completely obscured by the gigantic new building raised right next to it. This is all the more depressing because the convex facade of Kosmos boasts a colourful mosaic that is now practically invisible due to the proximity of its new ‘neighbour’.
Racławice Panorama building complex, Wrocław, photo: Albin Marciniak / East News
For many, the term ‘national monument’ immediately evokes associations with picturesque historic town quarters, mediaeval churches and Baroque palaces. However, a valuable object worthy of protection can also be made of concrete. As early as 1991 (and hence only six years after its opening!), the status of a national monument was conferred on the Racławice Panorama building complex in Wrocław. The brutalist, sculptural work by Ewa and Marek Dziekoński was erected over a long period of time: the museum meant to contain the Racławice Panorama painting was designed in the late 1950s to the early 1960s; however, owing to various perturbations, the building was not finished until 1985. Clearly, in the case of genuinely remarkable buildings, the criterion of ‘old age’ does not apply – contemporary buildings, too, can be deserving of conservation.
Grand Theatre – Polish National Opera, photo: Radosław Nawrocki / Forum
An anecdotal example is supplied by the Grand Theatre (Teatr Wielki) in Warsaw, which was classified as a national monument even before its official opening. The entry into the registry of national monuments is dated 1 July 1965, whereas the building was pompously opened only in November of that year. This surprising order of events was, of course, related to the reconstruction of the monumental structure – although it had just been raised from the ashes (as well as expanded and slightly remodelled relative to the original), it was treated as a national monument and therefore immediately came under the conservator’s care.
It is sometimes difficult to assess which buildings constitute part of our most valued cultural heritage and are thus deserving of protection. What’s more, the understanding of the value of historic structures changes continuously. Experts and researchers are constantly trying to reform the concept of a national monument and to adapt it to contemporary times. Nevertheless, it’s always worth remembering the appeal of the Polish Ministry of Culture from the year 1920:
National monuments of art and culture connect the past to the future, testify to the history of humanity, tell us about our ancestor’s deeds, their lives, aspirations and tastes. […] National monuments are highly valuable property belonging to the entire nation. No one generation has the right to consider itself their unconditional owner. It is only their temporary depositary.
Translated from Polish by Anna Potoczny
