Tatra Museum in Zakopane
The Dr Tytus Chałubiński Tatra Museum was set up in 1888 by a group of
friends of Dr Tytus Chałubiński (1820-1889) to celebrate him as the discoverer
of the values of Zakopane as a health resort, an outstanding Warsaw physician,
scientist and social activist, a great admirer of the Tatra Mts and the
folklore of the local people. Towards this end the museum founders set up the
Dr T. Chałubiński Society of the Tatra Museum with a view to raising the
necessary means and working out methods of the organization and development of
the museum. The first exhibition was held in a now non-existent building in
Krupówki Street, rented by the Society. The earliest holdings, covering the
fields of botany, geology, zoology and ethnography, plus a library at a
germinal stage, resulted from donations and purchases of entire private
collections.
Some collections were made accessible to the public in the region of
Podhale even before the organization of the Tatra Museum. In the 1860s, the
then few tourists could see a collection of Tatra birds and mammals put on
display by the owner of real estates in Zakopane Edward Homolacs. In 1876 the
Tatra Society made an attempt at setting up a 'Tatra museum'. The earliest
local private collections of folk arts and crafts came into being in the 1880s.
The collectors of ethnographic items included Countess Róża Raczyńska ne
Potocka, Bronisław and Maria Dembowski, and Zygmunt Gnatowski. Their
collections were later incorporated with the Tatra Museum.
In 1892 a museum building, designed by Warsaw architect Józef Pius
Dziekoński, was erected on the Society's initiative, which was possible thanks
to Dr Tytus Chałubińskis' heirs' donation to the Society. The collection was
transferred to the new seat in that same year.
Late in the 19th/early in the 20th century the Society's organizational
efforts connected with the Museum lost impetus, as evidenced by an absence of
writ-ups in the press. In 1900 the press brought critical comments on the
Museum and especially its ethnographic department for the haphazard choice and
unimaginative display of the exhibits.
The period of stagnation ended before World War I, which was when
activities developed in two directions, one aiming at the raising of funds for
the erection of a new building as a result of donations and bequests, the other
the increase of collections. The influx of funds was quite substantial thanks to
the generosity of a number of people including the Society President Zygmunt
Gnatowski and Kazimierz and Bronisław Dłuski. Parallel efforts to prepare a
design for the museum building continued. In 1911 the Society accepted for
implementation the design provided by professional architect Franciszek
M±czyński. It was severely criticized by Stanisław Witkiewicz, the creator of
Zakopane style, whose opinion the Society had sought. Eventually Franciszek
M±czyński was asked to provide a technical design for a building in Zakopane
style based on Stanisław Witkiewicz's concept. The construction of the new
building, started in 1913, was suspended after the outbreak of World War I and
resumed by the Society when the war ended despite the country's difficult
economic condition. In 1920 the building was ready enough to house the
collection.
In 1920 Juliusz Zborowski, linguist, grammar school master in Nowy Targ
and expert in the folk culture of the region of Podhale, became President of
the Tatra Museum Society. In 1921 he was appointed manager of the Museum and
custodian of the ethnolgraphic department. In 1922 Maria Dembowska donated a
large ethnographic collection of about four hundred items to the Museum. The
donors wished the collection to be put on display in a Tatra mountaineer's
typical cottage, which was only partly carried into effect for lack of
resources: a life-sized cottage model, giving the visitor an insight into two
chambers, the 'black' and the 'white' one, separated by a vestibule, was put up
in an exhibition room on the ground floor. The collection was put on display in
this untypical 'showcase'.
The Tatra Museum was inaugurated in summer 1922. Two exhibitions were
made accessible to the public in the new building: an ethnographic exhibition
on the ground floor and a natural science exhibition on the first floor.
Organizational changes were introduced at the time, as a result of which the
Society Board, until then the only body responsible for the Museum, conferred
some of its functions on the management. A board of curators was appointed to
supervise the activities of the Museum from a scholarly point of view. A period
of financial stability followed for, though the Museum was not nationalized
after Poland regained independence, it could rely for support on the Department
of Science and state subsidies. According to prewar plans, a centre of
multidirectional research on the Tatra Mts and the region of Podhale was to be
launched in the Museum, which concept was basically revised after the war:
research of this kind was conducted at other centres while the Museum's
contribution consisted in providing accomodation for the visiting scholars.
Thanks to the operation of the 'Tatra Museum Grand Hotel', as the guest rooms
were jocularly called, the Museum became a peculiar centre of research on the
Tatra Mts and the region of Podhale.
Between the World Wars the Museum operated with much impetus under
Juliusz Zborowski and its holdings were considerably increased despite
financial difficulties. In the late 1920s Juliusz Zborowski planned to open
three new departments: of contemporary art, handicrafts and the history of the
region. The plans were not put into practice before World War II.
In addition to regular activities, Juliusz Zborowski sought to engage
the Tatra Museum in the protection of nature and monuments. The Museum
collaborated with various bodies and organizations, like the State Council for
the Protection of Nature, the Polish Tatra Society and its Section for the
Protection of the Tatra Mts, and the Conservator of Monuments for the region of
Cracow. A new model of the operation of a regional museum emerged as a result
of the collaboration on the protection of monuments with the Conservator of
Monuments, evolving, after World War II, into a 'spatial museum'. Juliusz
Zborowski attached considerable importance to the augmentation of the library
holdings. A dedicated bibliophile, he ran the library himself, gathering a
valuable collection. At his instance, the Museum's publishing activity began as
early as the 1920s. The first publication was the Rocznik Podhalański (Podhale
Yearly), the next issues of which appeared after the war.
Between the World Wars a meteorological station was based in the Museum
with an alpine garden just beside it, the latter in charge of the Museum. Since
after the war both have had different affiliations.
The Museum was fortunate enough to survive World War II unimpaired. It
was nationalized in 1950. Thanks to a larger staff of full-time employees and
some financial stability, systematic field research could be launched and the
holdings elaborated in a scholarly way. A collection-based art department was
also launched as the Museum's third.
After the setting up of the Tatra National Park in 1954, the Museum's
interests shifted somewhat away from the problems of the protection of nature.
On the other hand, the Museum's engagement in the conservation of monuments
continued. Juliusz Zborowski collaborated with the then conservator of
monuments, which led to the opening of two filial branches, one presenting the
ethnographic collection of the Szymański family, the other memorabilia of the
well-known writer Kornel Makuszyński.
Juliusz Zborowski was in charge of the Tatra Museum till 1965. As the
first director, he worked out a coherent programme of the Museum, consistently
carried into effect. In the next years the Museum was systematically broadened
to include new departments. In the 1970s when the Museum was run by Tadeusz
Szczepanek, a department for the protection of monuments was launched to
supervise the renovation of monuments in the area covered by the Museum's
activities. Now in charge of Teresa Jabłońska, the Museum develops the basic
lines of its activity. In 1993 the Stanisław Witkiewicz Museum of Zakopane
Style opened. In the new circumstances a more intense publishing activity
became possible. The Society of the Tatra Museum was reactivated with a view to
supporting the initiatives of the Tatra Museum.
Zbigniew Ładygin ysladyg@cyf-kr.edu.pl