Page 10 - WILANÓW Palace and Park

Introduction

cabinet-maker and polisher Martin Schnell worked for the Vettin ruler. Not much is known

about the patronage of the subsequent owners of the palace, the Czartoryskis. A bath pavil-
ion was designed by Szymon Bogumił Zug, who also designed the Kitchen Outhouse and the
Guardhouse nearby, commissioned by Elżbieta Lubomirska, née Czartoryska (1736–1816)

and built at the southern wing. Ca. 1900, an upper floor was added to the pavilion. In the
mid-19th c. Franciszek Maria Lanci built a Neo-Renaissance section to house new exhibition
rooms and residential apartments on the upper floor.
After the death of Aleksandra Potocka (1818–1892), the museum and the landed estate

were passed to Ksawery Branicki (1864–1926), who was a wealthy man, which was sup-
posed to guarantee the proper care of historic buildings of Wilanów, its art collections,
library and archives and the public function of the complex. Based on Adam Branicki’s
decision (1892–1947) in 1932 the library was given to the President of the Republic of

Poland in perpetual deposit. Most of the books in the collection survived the war as a part of
the National Library in Warsaw. In the period of WWII, the residence was several times
plundered by authorities of the 3rd Reich, occupying armies, German and Hungarian, and
suffered damage. Most of the works of art were returned to Poland as early as 1945. Some

artefacts which had been stolen by the Nazis were seized by the Red Army, so some of them
returned no earlier than the 1950s. In 1945 the palace and the park complex was taken over by
the state as part of the National Museum in Warsaw. After an extensive renovation project,
completed in 1962, the palace was re-opened to the public.

The rich Baroque decor and furnishings, as well as the original form of the Potocki museum
is not fully known to us. Fascinating research work continues in the hope that new facts and
findings will be revealed to enrich the egalitarian programme of a modern museum.
The Wilanów Palace is one of the most precious jewels of the country’s historic architec-

ture, being the least damaged royal residence, and still retains its authentic spatial layout
and the richness of its original decor. It is a unique phenomenon in Poland, considering the
geopolitical situation of the country and numerous war cataclysms. In the years 2003–2009
the palace façade was thoroughly renovated to restore its original, mainly baroque colour

scheme. In total, over a thousand historic sculptures, paintings as well as other detail of the
facade decorations were saved in this way.
A complex of 32 historic buildings and two parks, in Wilanów and Morysin, separated by
the old Vistula river bed, cover an area of nearly 90 ha, though this is only a part of the land-

scaping and economic complex of the former residence which once included the palaces and
parks in Natolin, Gucin and Ursynów (formerly Roskosz). In 1994 the President of the Repub-
lic of Poland declared the area of the Wilanów and Morysin parks, together with elements of
original park avenues running into the inner city of Warsaw, a Historic Memorial.

Wilanów Lake (opposite)

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