Zelazowa Wola is a small village located on the Mazovian plain, just off the historic route leading from Poznan to Warsaw (about 50 km west of the capital city, about 7 km from Sochaczew). The history of the village, named after its first owners, dates back to the 16th century. There were many administrators of the estate, but posterity remembers mainly the family of Counts Skarbek, settled in Żelazowa Wola at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. This is because in 1802 Mikołaj Chopin, employed by Ludwika Skarbek as a tutor, settled here; and soon after, on February 22 or March 1, 1810, his brilliant son Fryderyk was born. The left-hand outbuilding of the Skarbek mansion, where Mr. and Mrs. Chopin moved in after their wedding in 1806, was ? "a small brick building, with a high, steep roof, with large windows with small panes, with two facades in the roof, without porches; inside, seven small chambers whitewashed with lime. Although it did not become the Chopins' family home for long - as they had already moved to Warsaw by the end of 1810 - nevertheless, as the birthplace of Fryderyk Chopin, it was given the status of an almost national shrine. The first harbinger of the birth of the cult of Fryderyk Chopin in Żelazowa Wola, was the construction and unveiling in 1894 of an obelisk with a bas-relief-image of the composer(before that, in the 1860s, the outbuilding was renovated, changing its original appearance). The next few lean years brought no major changes, but Chopin art lovers were increasingly flocking to Żelazowa Wola. In 1926, two organizations were formed with the goal of buying Żelazowa Wola out of private hands: the Warsaw Society of Friends of Chopin's House and the Sochaczew Chopin Committee; the purchase was finalized in November 1928. Another social body, the Committee for the Construction of Chopin's Home in Żelazowa Wola, set about rebuilding the manor; the design of the park and garden was entrusted to Prof. Franciszek Krzywda-Polkowski. The building was opened to the public in June 1939. After the war (1948) the manor's interiors were rebuilt according to the design of Mieczyslaw Kuzma, further renovations took place in 1958 and 1968. Currently, the Fryderyk Chopin National Institute is developing a new plan for the manor's surroundings. Among other things, it is planned to build a concert hall, as well as a café and a modern tourist service complex. The interior arrangement of the mansion is not an attempt to reconstruct the state of the early 19th century, it only reflects the style and character of the era. The reason for this approach is the lack of sources for the reconstruction of the original layout of the living quarters, also the ? "assignment" of rooms to individual members of the Chopin family is now symbolic. Almost no furnishings from the Chopins' house have survived to our times, but we can assume that the outbuilding where the French teacher and his family lived was furnished rather modestly. In most of the rooms, attention is drawn to the beautifully painted ceilings, decorated with floral motifs. Such wooden, beamed ceilings were a characteristic feature of interiors in Polish manor houses. The mood of the manor is emphasized by chandeliers and chandeliers in the style of the Duchy of Warsaw, and a nice detail that gives the rooms a homely feel are the 19th-century tiled stoves. Visitors are greeted by a historical representation of Frederic Chopin's Birthplace House - an engraving made according to a drawing by Napoleon Orda (from the lithographic workshop of Maksymilian Fajans), depicting the right outbuilding of the Skarbek mansion in the 1880s. A ROOM WITH A FIREPLACE. At one time - perhaps - there was a kitchen here. Old kitchen utensils - tin and copper - approximate the atmosphere of a 19th-century household. MUSIC LOUNGE. The lounge is decorated with a set of 19th-century directorate-style furniture. On the main wall there is a copy of an oil painting by Antoni Kolberg from 1848, made by Kazimierz Mordasewicz, by the door to the terrace - a watercolor by Teofil Kwiatkowski Chopin in domestic attire and a joint portrait of the composer's parents (a photograph of a sketch for paintings by Ambroży Mieroszewski). The lounge's interior furnishings are complemented by a contemporary concert grand piano. A vase of Carrara marble filled with a bouquet of flowers symbolically indicates the birthplace of Fryderyk Chopin. This is the result of architectural analyses carried out during the renovation of the mansion, which is part of a large-scale reconstruction study underway. TABLE ROOM. It contains 19th-century Biedermeier-style furniture (table and chairs) and an 18th-century secreter with an interesting eagle-shaped finial. The character of the room, designed as a dining room, is emphasized by the use of porcelain tableware in the decor. On the walls are engravings with views of 18th-century Warsaw by Bernardo Belotto, known as Canalett. These include, in turn, the cityscape of Powiśle, the panorama of Warsaw as seen from Praga, and Castle Square. A memory of Fryderyk Chopin's presence in Żelazowa Wola is a letter to Jan Bialobłocki, written here in 1825, on Christmas Eve. MOTHER'S ROOM. It is furnished with a set of Biedermeier-style mahogany furniture (a table and a sofa), a standing mirror, an 18th-century walnut desk with an inlaid top and a clock from the former apartment of Count Skarbek. A valuable exhibit is a winged piano from 1819-1820, probably from the Warsaw instrument factory of Antoni Leszczynski. According to family legend handed down by the donors, it was played by Frederic Chopin while visiting the Polish painter January Suchodolski in Paris. Portraits and family documents were also collected in the mother's room. On the main wall, portraits of Fryderyk's parents Tekla Justyna née Krzyżanowska (1782-1861) and Mikołaj Chopin (1771-1844) hang against a background of Buczacz fabric, while on either side of the door are the composer's sisters: the elder Ludwika (1807-1855) and the younger Izabella (1811-1881). They were painted by contemporary Jan Zamoyski, based on reproductions of oil paintings by Ambroży Mieroszewski from 1829, lost during the war. Between the windows is a photograph of a miniature by an unspecified author depicting Frederick's third and youngest sister, Emilia (1812-1827), who died of tuberculosis at the age of less than 15. The mother's room also contains three youthful images of Frederick - copies of portraits of Eliza Radziwillowna, Maria Wodzinska and Ambrose Mieroszewski. At the passage to the next room, in a glass case, a copy of the marriage certificate of Mr. and Mrs. Chopin is placed, as well as reproductions of pages from the birth and baptism book of the Brochow church, with entries concerning Fryderyk. CHILDREN'S ROOM. The central place here is occupied by a piano with a vertical resonance box, called ? "giraffe" (constructed in the early years of the 19th century by the German company F. Kuhlbörs of Breslau). Frederick may have composed his first works on a similar instrument, reproductions of which we can see on facsimile prints. These are: the title page of the first printing of the Polonaise in G minor from 1817 and the autograph of the Polonaise in A-flat Major from 1821 And not far away are two nametag laurels that a few years old Frycek made for his father and mother. The atmosphere of the children's room is emphasized by the oil painting Child Jesus among Angels, painted by the hand of Eliza Radziwill around 1830. THE FATHER'S ROOM is furnished with a set of stylish furniture, representing the classic English Adam style; the furnishings include a sofa and secretary, as well as a 19th-century bookcase with a modest book collection. The walls are decorated with 19th-century graphics, the selection of which was made in reference to the biography of Nicolas Chopin. The woodcut by Władysław Gościmski depicts the church in Brochów - the place of Mikołaj's wedding and his son's baptism. We are taken to Warsaw, where Mr. and Mrs. Chopin had already settled in the autumn of 1810, by a copperplate by Nicolas Chalmandrier made according to a plan by Italian cartographer Rizzi Zannoni (dated 1772) and a copperplate by Frederick Christopher Dietrich with a view of Krakowskie Przedmieście and Holy Cross Church. Nicolas Chopin, having left France, spent most of his life in the capital of the Kingdom of Poland, and it was this city that he considered his ? "little homeland". He became a Polish patriot, as emphasized by Dietrich's aquatints depicting scenes from the November Uprising. On the other hand, Nicholas' deep paternal feelings towards his son are evidenced by a drawing of his beloved only son, placed in his study: a landscape with a bridge. The surroundings of the Fryderyk Chopin Birthplace House also leave an indelible impression on visitors. Although, compared to Professor Krzywda-Polkowski's original arrangements, today's park is not as rich (planned thinning carried out in the early 1960s somewhat reduced the number and assortment of plants, damage was also done to the park by harsh winters), it still remains a unique phenomenon. Situated on a seven-hectare site zoned and fenced around the Chopin mansion, it delights with its unique beauty ? "a park attired and rich", gathering ? "a numerous international audience [...] rich in form as Chopin's music and varied as its character". Here you can admire plant varieties from all over the world - in addition to native willows, maples, oaks and poplars, American pines, California firs, Japanese barberries, thorny quince trees from China. The variety of species means that each season retains its different charm. Walking through the park we come across - this time spatial - images of Frederic Chopin - an old obelisk moved before the war to the vicinity of one of the further alleys, and - in the surroundings of the manor house - two contemporary monuments: a bronze statue made by Jozef Goslawski and a bust by Stanislaw Sikora. A wide alley leading from the entrance gate leads to a courtyard shaded by chestnut trees. This is where the young Fryderyk used to play the grand piano on display from the salon when he came to visit Żelazowa Wola. He forever remembered the charm of the Mazovian land - we can hear it in his beautiful mazurkas. Chopin's birthplace is starting a new life. With a refreshed manor house, restored park and modern pavilions to serve tourists, it is becoming a museum on a European level. The manor house where Frederic Chopin was born has undergone a major renovation.
25.01.2014
