The History of the Palace




The Przebendowski Palace, front view 1915-1919
(Anna Saratowicz, Pałac Przebendowskich, Warszawa 1990, p. 91)


The History of the Museum's seat - the Przebendowski / RadziwiłłowiePalace.

Although it is not a far history the beginnings of the Palace are not very clear. The Palace was shown on the map of C.F. Wernecka for the first time in 1732. It is known that the founder was Jan Jerzy Przebendowski, a Polish Magnate, a very close worker to King August II. The routes of the Przebendowski Family were not very old, so they did not have the respect among other Polish magnates. One of the ways to show the Family's splendour was to built an original and impressive house. The house was probably finished in 1729 and indeed it is original and impressive.
Four corner bay windows as towers. The building has a fantastic mansard roof (hypothetically it is an after-war reconstruction of the 18th century roof). The fold of the roof line gives a very dynamic character to the roof. But the most interesting element that differs this Palace from other baroque buildings in Warsaw is the semicircular, stick risalit in the front facade. The continuance of the risalit is inside the building where it creates an impressive, oval entrance vestibule and a hall on the first floor. Just before the entrance to the representing rooms. In front of the Palace there were impressive annex houses located and in the back yard there was a garden. Above the door leading to the garden Mr. Przebendowski ordered to place a sign (not existing any more): "Post exanflatos pro Republica labores hic locus qui etis" - after hard work for Poland, here were You are, is the place (of leisure).
Unfortunately, the architect, the creator is not known. Anna Saratowicz, the author of the monograph about the Palace, does not agree with thesis that Jan Zygmunt Deyble is the one to be the architect.

The history of the Palace is very various. The last of the Przebendowski Family, who owned the residence, rented it in 1760-1762 to a Spanish Diplomate, Earl d'Aranda. Thanks to him the Palace gained a new look. It was a famous place where many impressive events and balls were organized all with Spanish spirit. "Guests were dancing in four rooms, in other rooms guests could take advantage of meals. The balls lasted till the very early hours of the next days and all guests were present", wrote Father Łuskina in "the Warsaw News" in 1762.
Since 1766 the Palace belonged to the Kossowski Family, who had to share it at the beginning with the Łętowski Family. The place became famous because of the lady who was living there, and was regarded as the most beautiful lady in Warsaw - it was Barbara Kossowska of Bielińscy descent, wife of Roch Kossowski, Member of the Permanent Council. Szymon Bogumił Zuga made some gentle changes in the architecture of the Palace in those times. Beside changes made in the annex houses Zuga built an impressive stair case in the vestibule.
The beginning of the 19th century is the period of the residence's fall. The Kossowski Family found a new residence and the Palace was adjusted to the features of the Bielańska street of those times and has become a hotel. It was the Hotel de Hamburg with a wax-figure office and other hand workers - a woman without arms, who could operate with her feet; a magician; foreigner, who sold birds, a German, who whistled while playing the guitar. Another attraction was the G±siorowski Restaurant, Literature and Music Cafe and Białostocki Inn. In the annex houses there was a factory located manufacturing buttons and other metal articles. For a short time there was also a Servant Control Office located - police institution and the Trade Court. In the times of Congress Poland the residence was taken by the Warsaw Commander in the Palace. It was a Russian General. In the 40s and 50s of the 19th century there was a print shop and a Bavarian Beer factory located. During those year both changed the functions of the Palace and its owners. In 1931 the Palace was purchased by Jakub Piotrowski, who had to sell it to Jakub Lewiński in 1844 because of his debts. In the same year the Palace was sold to Mateusz Nowakowski. It was used as a tenement house. Frequent changes and no investment degraded the Palace. At last in January 1863 the house was bought for the half of its previous value by Jan Zawisza, a very rich person from Lithuania.

Jan Zawisza was acting for public benefit: he was the co-founder of the Museum of Industry and Agriculture, co-investor in building low-cost houses for workmen and in preservation of the Zygmunt;s Column and was also an archaeologist, who had a major significance in the Palace's history. In the years 1863 - 1868 he rebuilt and renovated the building and constructed a tenement house just next to the Palace. The author of the rebuilding was Wojciech Bobiński. Major changes were made on the ground floor and concerned the semicircular risalit facade that is the main entrance to the Palace. Bobiński ordered to knock out three huge holes instead of having windows and doors, and the new entrance and the exterior wall he ordered to built in the depth. Due to that the Palace gained an impressive opened hall, which protects people from rain or sun while stepping out of the carriage. After entering the vestibule guests were welcomed by an impressive plafon of the illusionist Henryk Semiradzki "¦wiatło i mrok" (light and dusk). The plafon caused a huge polemic because of its content and location. The plafon could be seen on Sundays and holidays. Fee taken for such a visit was given to the paralytic shelter.


The plafon from the vestibule, designed by Siemiradzki, drawn by A. Zajkowski, drawing by J. Buchbinder
(Anna Saratowicz, Pałac Przebendowskich, Warsaw 1990, p. 95)


After Jan Zawisza died the Palace belonged to Zawisza's wife Elżbieta and later to their daughter Maria. Maria sold it 1912 to Prince Janusz Radziwiłł, the owner of Nieborów and Member of Parliament of the Republic of Poland. The Palace was in his possession till 1947. During the Warsaw Uprising in 1944 the building was seriously damaged. The building was situated on the front line, protecting the right flank of the redoubt - Bank Polski (Polish Bank) in Bielańska street. As the Germans couldn't conquer the Bank they attacked the Palace, which 4 times changed the owner. It is said that when the Palace got into the hands of Poles on 23 August Prince Radziwiłł was said to be the one who welcomed them, who hid him and his family in the basements of the building. The delighted Prince invited the commanders for breakfast. On the next day, at 6 o'clock in the morning a 5 kg bomb hit the Palace damaging it. Fortunately the Prince's Family survived but their residence once again became the property of the Germans. This time the Radziwiłł Family got arrested and sent to Berlin in order to be interrogated. Short after the failing the Uprising they were allowed to come back to Poland. They lived in Nieborów, were they stayed till January 1945, when they again got arrested - but this time by NKWD (People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs). Prince Janusz Radziwiłł and his family were held for two years in USSR, firstly in Moscow and later in Krasnogorsk. Anna Radziwiłłowa, the Prince's wife died there. After releasing in 1947 the family came back to Poland. Prince Janusz agreed to withdraw the ruins of the Palace to the State in order to receive a 2-room flat. In the times of nationalization and liquidation of big landowners it wasn't the worst thing that might had happened to the Prince.
In the rebuilt Warsaw a dispute came up between the Rebuilding Office and conservators. The town-planners assumed that the area where the Palace is located was the best place to build the motor-way called trasa W-Z. The monument conservators with professor Jan Zachatowicz as their leader, wanted to save everything that survived the War and supposed to be destroyed by modern socialistic visions. Fortunately a compromise had been found. The motor-way was planned to bypass the Palace. Only the annex houses were pulled down.
The building up of the Palace lasted from 1 October 1948 till 1 July 1949. It was fully designed by Bruno Zborowski. That was the time when the mansard roof was constructed. There is no evidence that the Palace has such an impressive roof in the past, but due to damages done during the War a certain freedom was allowed, which probably today is not accepted anymore. Similar mansard roofs were mounted on some Palaces in Dresden. Such helmets could be also seen on the Bieliński Palace, no more existing, which was located on Królewska street. Bruno Zborowski probably followed those examples when rebuilding the Palace and deciding to launch such strong changes. He also resigned from solutions that were used in the 19th century - connections between bay windows, annexes, driveway and risalit. Unfortunately the works weren't done in the pietism style when talking about relieves, stucco and other elements. Some of them were completely destroyed and made new e.g. on windows and some of them have never been reconstructed (frieze on the resalit).
From 1949 to 1955 the Palace was used by trade union and later became the Museum of Lenin. After its liquidation on 30 January 1990 the Przebendowski / Radziwłłowie Palace was residence of the History Museum of the Polish Independence and Social Movements. It was moved from the corner of Bankowy Square and Elektoralna street. After some changes the Museum received its name Museum of Independence. The name of the Palace refers to its first and last private owners.