We don’t call it a “palace” – it is our home.
Marek Mikos
Kraków Culture
There are two Potocki palaces at the Main Market Square in Kraków. The one at the corner of Św. Anny Street, better known as Pałac Pod Baranami [Under the Rams Palace – transl.], is owned by Jan from the Krzeszowice line of the family. Jan from the Tulczyn line and his wife Danuta née Stadnicka have been living on the second floor of the Potocki Palace at the corner of the Main Market Square and Bracka Street for the last thirty years. It’s their home. But it’s also the home of three lodgers living on the third floor, residents of literary programmes and anyone who enters within. The elegant first floor serves as a space for meetings and cultural events.
Noblesse oblige
It is the source of all new thinking about Kraków’s culture. It’s a place for cooperation rather than competition. Before we opened it, we looked at good practices of institutions such as Federation Square in Melbourne as well as festival centres in Adelaide and Edinburgh”, says Katarzyna Olesiak, director of the Department of Culture and National Heritage at the Kraków Municipal Office – a frequent visitor and co-host at the Potocki Palace. The venue is managed by the Krakow Festival Office, well-established event organisers who open doors for projects by other cultural institutions, non-governmental organisations, schools, artists and all Cracovians who want to bring their energy to this special, historic space.
“I am responsible for coordinating projects by municipal cultural institutions, and I am delighted that the Potocki Palace is now one of the most important and prestigious spots on Kraków’s Cultural map”, adds Katarzyna Olesiak. It hosts the most important literary events such as the Conrad and Miłosz festivals and other events held under the laudable banner of Kraków UNESCO City of Literature, as well as music festivals such as Unsound and the Summer Jazz Festival, exhibitions and workshops. The Potocki Palace has something for everyone, from preschoolers to seniors.
When I want to show the place to a friend who’s been living abroad for eons, we come across a meeting with Prof. Andrzej Leder, author of the book Economy Is a State of Mind.
We end up staying for two hours, and the author signs his book in the bookshop on the ground floor. As it happens, not many people know that the Potocki Palace was home to one of Kraków’s first three bookshops.
Here, even having a coffee feels like being a part of Kraków’s history – not just because the Potocki family hosted a regular salon here before the war, but also because since around 1771 the exotic drink was served here by Mistress Ballowa before Kraków’s first coffee shop was founded on the corner of the Main Market Square and Szewska Street. Before the palace became the residence of
the Wodzicki family, its lower floors were occupied by all manners of professions: coopers, carpenters, wigmakers, brewers, tailors, merchants… And there was also a pub.
Guardian of history
“We wouldn’t be here were it not for Aunt Pelagia. She survived the most difficult times, and she never allowed the spirit of this home to disappear”, explains Danuta Potocka. “She never boasted about it; she simply did what she believed was right.” Pelagia Potocka (1909–1994) also lived on the second floor, but during the communist period she was only permitted one room. “That’s where she kept everything she could hold onto: paintings, furniture, rugs, family memorabilia… The room was so full, there were only a few narrow paths”, Danuta Potocka recalls the period before the building was reclaimed by the family in the early 1990s. The site on the corner of the Main Market Square and Bracka Street has been owned by the Potocki family since 1895. During the Second World War, the building was largely taken over by the occupying German forces; afterwards, the communist authorities assigned tenants to rooms on the second and third floors. The Polish-Soviet Friendship Association made itself at home on the first floor and ran the Kalinka bookshop on the ground floor. The Association had its eye on taking over the entire building, fortunately without luck.
Aunt Pelagia even managed to avoid eviction after a fairly major incident. During Pope John Paul II’s first ever visit to Poland in June 1979, the authorities strictly forbade any decorations being displayed – yet one building at the empty, grey Main Market Square was an exception. “Aunt Pela adorned the entire façade from the second floor. She raised the papal flag from the window, and it hung over the seat of the Polish-Soviet Friendship Association. It made it look as though they were delighted by the visit of the Holy Father”, laughs Danuta Potocka. Aunt Pelagia never lacked courage and fortitude. During the war, as a custodian at the Czartoryski Museum she protected many priceless treasures of Polish culture from being plundered by the Nazis. She was also one of the people who saved the Sigismund Bell from being melted down.
When the Association left the building in 1989, they stole everything they could, all the way to door handles. Luckily one survived, and the Potocki family used it to recreate all the others. The Goethe Institute had its residence at the Potocki Palace for the following 30 years, warmly welcomed by the owners.
“The home will prevail”
The turbulent history of the building – or rather a complex of buildings – dates all the way back to Kraków being granted city rights in 1257 when building plots were marked around the Main Market Square. The site of today’s Potocki Palace retains its original shape. It has always been particularly valued since the earliest days, since the location means it boasts two imposing façades.
“Hi!” Danuta Potocka smiles at a workman renovating the façade on the Bracka Street side. She knows everyone, since she oversees all the work herself. There is another, less imposing entrance from Bracka Street, a little way off the Main Market Square. You can see the family’s Pilawa crest at the top of the narrow gate. Its modest placing is no accident.
“Aunt Pelagia was incredibly modest and hardworking. It fascinated people, while for her it was completely normal, as was helping others. She is a peerless model for me”, says Danuta Potocka. She doesn’t like to talk about herself. “I’m so glad that children can visit and touch history here. I’m delighted that Marta lives upstairs with her husband; she made borscht especially for me because it’s good for my health. People tried to convince us to get rid of the other tenants. But how, why? It was hardly their idea – they were given lodgings here and it’s been their home, too, for decades now.”
The Potockis certainly never refer to their flat as a palace. Jan, Danuta and their 19-year-old son Konstanty, who greets me as he is on his way out to the gym, simply call it their home. “When we decided to move here in 1990, Aunt Pelagia was absolutely thrilled. She knew then that the home will prevail. Renovation works were funded by Jan’s father Konstanty from his earnings in Africa.” The family love to host their friends and family in their home, to share their roof and the warmth. They trust that Konstanty will live here with his future family, and they believe that every true home has a spirit which must be protected. Grandfather Franciszek was anxious that it will be lost with all the plundered furniture, but this didn’t happen, because the spirit is in the people.
In search of treasure
Duke Jerzy Zbaraski restructured the building in the 17th century, and the palace owes its current form to Eliasz Wodzicki, its owner during the second half of the 18th century. The various renovation works over the centuries meant the complex became a grand residence, forming a functional, single whole with the side wing and annex. It’s unusual, classicist form is an architectural marvel and the best preserved building of its kind in Kraków.
In 1910, the Potockis undertook another major reconstruction. Its most notable result is the beautiful stairwell with tall, slender windows. As we look around, Danuta points out the slim drainpipes running alongside the lower inner edges of the windows, emptying into bowls. They are an ingenious, early system of clearing condensation from the insides of windows.
My excellent guide also points out two beautiful, preserved paintings in the corner room on the first floor. An original, semicircular niche shows a relief, and the wall decorations are also original. The small room next door still holds three tall corner cupboards. I’m interested to hear Danuta
Potocka mention hiding places behind the window shutters, but she adds, “They are empty now.”
Many people have rummaged through the palace in search of treasure. Swedish in- vaders completely plundered the property, with local guards describing the state of the building afterwards as shocking. Workers who were renovating the vast cellars of the palace not so long ago also searched for treasure. When they found a black slab bearing an inscription, they got their hopes up. They smashed the slab, and inside they found… bones of the dog Gypsia – a pet of the former owners – and a document describing the history of the building up until 1889. “We repaired the slab and Gypsia is enjoying peace again”, adds Danuta Potocka.
The cellars have high mediaeval walls and ceilings. We enter a large chamber, and my guide explains, “We are under the pavement in front of the main entrance”. It was once a single-storey porch erected in front of the building on the Main Market Square side. As the levels of the square kept rising, the porch became a part of the cellars.
“Here is the original flooring,” Danuta Potocka points out some cobbles. “It’s a shame the joints are made of cement. We should replace them with limestone mortar, so they’re as they were in the past.”
A lesson about beauty
The Potocki family takes great pride in ensuring stylistic consistency throughout the building. In the current era of mediocrity, substitutes and imitations, theirs is a priceless position to take. It’s especially valuable since it emanates to the palace’s surroundings, supporting event organisers and guests. There is no better defence against barbarism than good taste. The 20th-century Polish poet Zbigniew Herbert knew this well. His Power of Taste supplies an ironic explanation of the resistance to accept the aesthetics imposed on post-war Poland, and it is just as relevant today. Back then it did not require great character at all, we read; we needed good taste and “a shred of necessary courage”.
This is why we “should not neglect the study of beauty”. Aunt Pelagia knew this, and now Danuta Potocka knows this. Yet as we are sipping coffee and wine on this Saturday afternoon, she dismisses me gently with a wave of her hand. “I’m not important. I’m glad we are here, and I have no regrets that I haven’t had a holiday for six years. I can gaze out of the window over the Main Market Square, I can look at what’s happening on the first floor, I can see young people, children… Go for a walk. I’m happy.”
***
On the same day, I meet participants in Slow Saturday meetings organised by Aga Kozak at the Potocki Palace, focusing on wellbeing and relaxation. I join the ladies for a coffee in the foyer. A little later, I attend a talk about the benefits of calligraphy at the former dining hall. We head to the corner room, where we all diligently copy patterns and carefully start writing our first letters at workshops ran by Dorota, Marianna and Danuta. “Look, I can do a J..! My A is coming along… But it’s difficult to join them together!” Laughter resounds all over the room.
We’re as happy as kids.
