Polish Museum, Rapperswil and San Bernardino Tunnel: Difference between pages

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The '''San Bernardino road tunnel''' is a road [[tunnel]] on the [[A13 (Switzerland)|A13]] motorway/motorroad in [[Switzerland]] completed in [[1967]] and replacing the [[San Bernardino Pass]] road.
{{TOCright}}The '''Polish Museum, Rapperswil''', was founded in [[Rapperswil]], [[Switzerland]], on [[October 23]], [[1870]], by [[Poland|Polish]] Count [[Władysław Plater|Władysław Broel-Plater]], at the urging of [[Agaton Giller]], as "a refuge for [Poland's] historic memorabilia dishonored and plundered in the [occupied Polish] homeland" and for the promotion of Polish interests.<ref>Gabriela Pauszer-Klonowska, "''W Raperswilu śladami Żeromskiego i Prusa''" ("In Rapperswil in the Footsteps of Żeromski and Prus"), pp. 466-67.</ref>


It begins near the town of [[San Bernardino, Graubünden]], and lasts for 6.6 km (4.8 miles).
Except for two hiatuses (1927–36, 1952–75), the Museum has existed to the present day—an outpost of Polish culture in a [[Switzerland]] that, over the past two centuries, has given refuge as well to generations of Poland's sons and daughters bereft of their own country.


A speed limit of 80 km/h (50 mph) is in force, and this is enforced by means of speed-check cameras.
==Founding==
The Polish Museum is housed in the Rappperswil Castle, atop that town's ''Herrenberg''. Erected in the 12th century by Count Rudolf of Rapperswil, the castle passed, together with the town, into the hands of the [[Habsburg]]s. Rapperswil became a [[free city]] (''Freie Reichsstadt'') in 1415, and eventually joined the [[Swiss Confederation]]. Over the course of time, the castle fell into disrepair.


This road tunnel is ''considerably'' less prone to traffic jams than the [[Gotthard Road Tunnel|St. Gotthard Tunnel]].
In the second half of the 19th century, the castle was leased for 99 years from the local authorities by a post-[[November Uprising|November 1830 Uprising]] Polish emigré, Count Władysław Broel-Plater (a relative of [[Emilia Plater]], a heroine of the same 1830 Uprising), who had been in Switzerland since 1844. At his own expense he restored the castle, and on [[October 23]], [[1870]], opened there the Polish National Museum.<ref>Pauszer-Klonowska, pp. 466-67.</ref>


The road tunnel is part of the A13 as a single carriageway freeway and therefore passes through one hole without a central physical structure. As there is only one lane per direction, overtaking is not permitted.
==Żeromski and Prus==
[[Image:Rapperswill castle.jpg|thumb|left|175px|[[Rapperswil]] Castle with its clock tower, viewed from the town]]
[[Image:Stefan Żeromski.PNG|thumb|right|135px|[[Stefan Żeromski]]]]
Beginning in 1892, the Museum employed one or more librarians. The second to be hired, who worked there four years (1892–96), was future Polish novelist [[Stefan Żeromski]], who had obtained the post thanks in part to a letter of recommendation from novelist [[Bolesław Prus]].<ref>Pauszer-Klonowska, p. 466.</ref> Prus had also stood as witness at Żeromski's 1892 wedding to Oktawia Rodkiewicz.


A major [[Mont Blanc Tunnel|tunnel]] [[Mont Blanc Tunnel#The 1999 fire|tragedy]] between France and Italy in 1999 triggered a general safety review of road tunnels in several countries including Switzerland. For the San Bernardino Tunnel September 2007 saw the completion of a major safety upgrade. Lighting has been increased and become more evenly diffused, with a corresponding improvement in visibility. Particular care has been taken with the visibility of access points to the reworked escape tunnel, minimizing the risk of escape routes becoming obscured by smoke in the event of a major conflagration.
The Żeromskis and Oktawia's daughter by a previous marriage, Henryka ("Henia"), lived in Rapperswil, in the garret of a three-story house at Bahnhofstrasse 28, owned by a ''Frau'' Fäh. When Prus visited them for two months in July–August 1895, Oktawia Żeromska rented a room for him on the building's second floor.<ref>Pauszer-Klonowska, p. 469.</ref> Thus, for a time, two of Poland's greatest novelists lived at this one address in Rapperswil, Switzerland.


{{coord missing|Switzerland}}
On [[July 2]], [[1895]], Prus wrote his wife, describing his first impression of the town:
[[Image:Prus 002.jpg|thumb|right|90px|[[Bolesław Prus]]]]
"Rapperswil is a village, but built of brick like our cities, and has at nearly every house a little garden, like our [Warsaw] Botanical [Garden] in terms of the plants. Everything here is bathed in roses..."<ref>Krystyna Tokarzówna and Stanisław Fita, ''Bolesław Prus, 1847–1912'', p. 469.</ref>


[[Category:Tunnels in Switzerland]]
Prus admired the honesty, industry and kindliness of the populace.<ref>Pauszer-Klonowska, pp. 468-69.</ref>

Standing just before the entrance to the castle is the [[Bar Confederation|Bar]] Column, designed by [[Zurich University]] Professor Julian Stadler. It had been erected by Count Plater, largely at his own expense, in 1868 (two years before the museum's opening) on the 100th anniversary of the founding of the [[Bar Confederation]], to commemorate Poland's then-century-long struggle for independence. The column had originally been placed at the shore of [[Lake Zurich]]<ref>Pauszer-Klonowska, p. 468.</ref> but [[Tsarist Russia]]n protests had led to its move up to the castle, where it would not be visible from the town. The column is topped by an eagle, while the base bears, among other things, the [[Latin]] inscription, "''Magna res libertas''" ("A great thing is liberty") and the [[Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth]] [[coat-of-arms]] featuring the [[Polish eagle|Polish Eagle]] and the Lithuanian ''[[Vytis]]'' (in Polish, ''Pogoń'').

Librarian Stefan Żeromski clashed with the Museum's [[curator]] at the time, Rużycki de Rozenwerth, a loner and [[eccentricity (behavior)|eccentric]] whom the novelist would immortalize in his novel ''Homeless People'' as the administrator of ''Cisy'' (The Yews), Krzywosąd.

Month after month, Żeromski had moved printed matter from storage onto the newly-placed bookshelves in the chilly second-floor library in the castle. Zygmunt Wasilewski, the Museum's first-hired librarian (1892), who worked there for a year or two with Żeromski (with whom he had attended school in [[Kielce]]), later recalled:

"We waded through memoirs, emigré brochures, ephemeral periodicals. And there was plenty of it all, sometimes in triplicate, for the collections had arisen from a pooling of libraries left by the more prosperous 1831 emigrés (Władysław Plater, Krystyn Ostrowski, [[Leonard Chodźko|L[eonard] Chodźko]], etc.), neatly bound and collected."<ref>Pauszer-Klonowska, p. 467.</ref>
[[Image:Agaton Giller.JPG|thumb|left|125px|Museum co-founder, [[Agaton Giller]]]]
The library and archives, however, soon acquired an importance greater than the rest of the Museum. The library was built on the collections of [[Leonard Chodźko]], one-time ''[[aide-de-camp]]'' to General [[Gilbert du Motier, marquis de La Fayette|La Fayette]], purchased by the Museum in 1874. After Chodźko's death, the library acquired the archives of emigré organizations and committees, the papers of institutions and associations from the period of the [[Great Emigration]], as well as contemporary printed matter, engravings and maps.

In 1883 the library received Count Plater's archives, valuable sources relating to the [[January Uprising|January 1863 Uprising]] and Polish post-Uprising immigrants to Switzerland. The library also obtained Artur Wołyński's collections on the January 1863 Uprising. Henryk Bukowski augmented the collections of manuscripts pertaining to [[Tadeusz Kościuszko]] (who had died in 1817 at [[Solothurn]], Switzerland).

The library received bequests from individuals in Europe and America, as well as archives of families and organizations residing in various countries. Over the 57 years until 1927, the library also gathered Polish publications that appeared outside Poland, and non-Polish publications pertaining to Poland.

During [[World War I]], the library's collections provided material for Polish propaganda published in French, German and English.

At the turn of the 20th century, the Polish Museum's library was the largest Polish library outside Poland.<ref>''Biblioteka Muzeum Polskiego w Rapperswilu: Historia Biblioteki, 1870–1927'' (The Library of the Polish Museum in Rapperswil: History of the Library, 1870–1927): See External links, "Library of the Polish Museum, Rapperswil."</ref>

==Repatriation==
[[Image:Thaddeus Kosciuszko.jpg|thumb|75px|[[Tadeusz Kościuszko]]]]
The Museum's founder, Count Plater, had bequeathed the collections to the Polish people. In 1927, after Poland had regained independence following [[World War I]], pursuant to Plater's wishes the Museum collections were transported to Poland in fourteen railroad cars: 3,000 works of art, 2,000 historic memorabilia, 20,000 engravings, 9,000 coins and medals, 92,000 books, and 27,000 manuscripts.

The greater part of these collections, especially the library and archives, were deliberately destroyed by the [[Germany|Germans]] in [[Warsaw]] during [[World War II]].<ref>http://www.muzeum-polskie.org/muzeum/historia_eng.htm Polish Museum Rapperswil.</ref>

A notable object that survived was [[Tadeusz Kościuszko]]'s heart, which now reposes in a chapel at [[Warsaw]]'s [[Royal Castle, Warsaw|Royal Castle]], rebuilt in the 1970s from its deliberate destruction in [[World War II]].

==Contemporary Poland==
In 1936 a '''Museum of Contemporary Poland''' was established at the Rapperswil Castle, to popularize the art and achievements of independent Poland.

In 1940, after some 13,000 [[Polish Army]] soldiers who had fought in [[France]] were interned in Switzerland, the Museum supervised educational and cultural work at the [[internment camp]]s.

In 1945, at the conclusion of World War II, the Museum was taken over by the [[Polish People's Republic]]. In 1952 Rapperswil's local government, fearing that the Castle would become a center for [[communist propaganda]], closed the Museum.<ref>http://www.muzeum-polskie.org/muzeum/historia_eng.htm Polish Museum Rapperswil.</ref>

==Museum today==
[[Image:Chopin death mask.JPG|thumb|right|[[Chopin]]'s [[death mask]], in Museum's permanent collections]]
The Museum, reopened in 1975, now features permanent exhibits on:
*The Swiss in Poland, and Poles in Switzerland;
*History of 19th- and 20th-century Polish emigrations to the West;
*History of the Polish struggle for national independence;
*Distinguished Polish scientists, artists and Nobel laureates;
*Paintings by 19th- and 20th-century Polish artists;
*Jewish culture in Poland;
*Polish folk art.

Additionally, the Museum organizes periodic special exhibits on Polish history and art.<ref>Janusz S. Morkowski, ''Polish Museum, Rapperswil: Guide through the Exposition''.</ref>

The Polish Museum also features a [[library]], now housed in the ''Burghof'' house (seat of the Polish cultural foundation "Libertas"), down the hill from the castle and at the top of a flight of broad steps leading up from the town. The library holds some 20,000 volumes on Polish history and culture, including works in western-European languages. The library's book catalog is accessible on the internet.

The library's memorabilia cover several centuries and include items associated with [[Tadeusz Kościuszko]], [[Henryk Sienkiewicz]], [[Władysław Reymont]] and [[Jan Nowak-Jeziorański]].<ref>http://www.muzeum-polskie.org/muzeum/historia_eng.htm Polish Museum Rapperswil.</ref>

In 2008, some Rapperswil residents petitioned local authorities to evict the Polish Museum from its home in the [[Rapperswil]] Castle. The Museum is conducting a petition campaign (here: [http://www.rapperswil-castle.com]) to retain the Museum in the Castle.

==Librarians==
[[Image:Rapperswil Schloss Nacht.jpeg|thumb|225px|[[Rapperswil]] Castle by night]]
The Museum's librarians up to 1927, when the Museum collections were repatriated to Poland—some, historically prominent men—included:<ref>http://muzeum-polskie.org/biblioteka/hist_1pl.htm Library of the Polish Museum, Rapperswil.</ref>
*1892–94 – Zygmunt Wasilewski
*1892–96 – [[Stefan Żeromski]]
*1896–99 – Romuald Mielczarski
*1899–1901 – [[Stanisław Grabski]]
*1901–10 – [[Florian Znaniecki]], Kazimierz Woźnicki, Wacław Karczewski
*1910–15 – Władysław Kłyszewski, Stanisław Zieliński
*1915–27 – Adam Lewak

==See also==
*[[Polish National Museum]]
*[[Polish culture during World War II#Destruction of Polish culture|Polish culture during World War II]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|2}}

==Sources==
*Janusz S. Morkowski, ''Polish Museum, Rapperswil: Guide through the Exposition'' (trilingual English-German-Polish guidebook), Rapperswil, 1994, ISBN 83-900559-9-6.
*Gabriela Pauszer-Klonowska, "''W Raperswilu śladami Żeromskiego i Prusa''" ("In Rapperswil in the Footsteps of Żeromski and Prus"), ''Problemy: organ Towarzystwa Wiedzy Powszechnej'' (Problems: Organ of the Society of Universal Knowledge), ''rok XXV, nr 8 (281)'' [year XXV, no. 8 (281)], 1969, pp. 466-70.
*http://www.muzeum-polskie.org/muzeum/historia_eng.htm Polish Museum, Rapperswil.
*Krystyna Tokarzówna and Stanisław Fita, ''Bolesław Prus, 1847–1912: Kalendarz życia i twórczości'' (Bolesław Prus, 1847–1912: Calendar of Life and Work), Warsaw, Państwowy Insytut Wydawniczy, 1969.

==External links==
[[Image:Rapperswil - Polnisches National-Museum.JPG|thumb|200px]]
*[http://muzeum-polskie.org/biblioteka/hist_1pl.htm] Library of the Polish Museum, Rapperswil.
*[http://www.rapperswil-castle.com] [[Petition]] to retain the Polish Museum at the Rapperswil Castle.

{{coord missing|Switzerland}}


{{Switzerland-struct-stub}}
[[de:Polenmuseum in Rapperswil]]
[[Category:Grisons]]
[[pl:Muzeum Polskie w Rapperswilu]]


[[fr:Col du San Bernardino]]
[[Category:Museums in Switzerland]]
[[it:Galleria del San Bernardino]]
[[pl:Tunel San Bernardino]]
[[rm:Tunnel stradal dal San Bernardin]]

Revision as of 12:26, 13 October 2008

The San Bernardino road tunnel is a road tunnel on the A13 motorway/motorroad in Switzerland completed in 1967 and replacing the San Bernardino Pass road.

It begins near the town of San Bernardino, Graubünden, and lasts for 6.6 km (4.8 miles).

A speed limit of 80 km/h (50 mph) is in force, and this is enforced by means of speed-check cameras.

This road tunnel is considerably less prone to traffic jams than the St. Gotthard Tunnel.

The road tunnel is part of the A13 as a single carriageway freeway and therefore passes through one hole without a central physical structure. As there is only one lane per direction, overtaking is not permitted.

A major tunnel tragedy between France and Italy in 1999 triggered a general safety review of road tunnels in several countries including Switzerland. For the San Bernardino Tunnel September 2007 saw the completion of a major safety upgrade. Lighting has been increased and become more evenly diffused, with a corresponding improvement in visibility. Particular care has been taken with the visibility of access points to the reworked escape tunnel, minimizing the risk of escape routes becoming obscured by smoke in the event of a major conflagration.