Museum of the Earth (Warsaw)
The Museum of the Earth (Polish: Muzeum Ziemi PAN ) in Warsaw is a geological - paleontological museum that was founded in 1948 and is now affiliated with the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN) . The beginnings of the museum go back to 1932. In addition to extensive mineral, meteorite and fossil collections, the amber collection , which is one of the largest in the world, is particularly important.
building
The museum is housed in two historical buildings facing each other at the northern end of Aleja na Skarpie in the city center. The area belongs to the former "Park na Górze" (German: "Park on the mountain" or "Park above the embankment"), which was created in 1779 according to a plan by Simon Gottlieb Zug for Kazimierz Poniatowski . It was located on the Warsaw Vistula embankment (on the edge of which the two museum buildings stand) and partly still exists today as Rydz-Śmigły-Park .
White Frascati Palace
The “white Frascati Palace” (Polish: Biały Pałacyk na Frascati ) is based on a summer palace made of wood, which was built in 1779 based on a design by Simon Gottlieb Zug. A separate kitchen building belonged to the building. At the beginning of the 19th century, the existing structure was connected to one another and converted into a restaurant under the then owner, the French restaurateur Simon Chovot. He called the garden of the plant "Frascati". As a result, the property changed hands several times: the deputy governor Nikolai Novossilzew and the Polish general in Russian service Józef Rautenstrauch lived here.
In the second half of the 19th century, the property was acquired by Countess Róża Potocki-Branicka (1780–1862). Her grandson Władysław Branicki later inherited the classicist palace. In 1948 the partial redesign and restoration took place as part of the Museum der Erde under the direction of the architects Zbigniew Karpiński and Tadeusz Zieliński. Today the palace has the address Aleja na Skarpie 20/26 . Previous addresses were Aleja Legionów 20/26 and Ulica Wiejska 10 .
Pniewski villa
The "Pniewski-Villa" (Polish: Willa Pniewskiego ) is based on a building erected in 1781 - also under Simon Gottlieb Zug. After Kazimierz Poniatowski's death in 1800 it was the seat of the Masonic Lodge . The Branickis Zoological Museum was later housed in the building. In the years 1935 to 1938, according to a project by the architect Bohdan Pniewski, it was fundamentally rebuilt in an eclectic style to be used as his home.
During the Second World War , the Pniewski family was evicted from the villa. As part of the Warsaw Uprising , the villa was an important defensive position for the insurgents during the fighting over Ulica Książęca and the nearby Square of Three Crosses . Traces of blood from wounded fighters on the stairs to the basement, which are now protected by a glass plate, date from this time. A memorial plaque mounted here commemorates the fighting.
After the war, the architect moved back in and lived in the house until his death in 1965. The Polish Academy of Sciences then acquired the villa from his heirs and made it the seat of the museum.
An encrypted inscription on the front facade of the villa, which was redesigned in the 1930s, refers to the architect / builder who redesigned it as well as the Freemasons who used to live here.
" SCANDIUS / DD AR / FZ / TAM: RC + CO "
" Pnący się przebudował świątynię masonów i zamieszkał w niej "
" The upward climber (also: upward striving) has rebuilt the temple of the Freemasons and settled in it "
The address of the villa is Aleja na Skarpie 27 .
museum
The museum was founded in 1948 on the initiative of the Society of the Museum of the Earth (Polish: Towarzystwo Muzeum Ziemi ), which was established in 1932 . It includes the following departments: Mineralogy and Petrography , Geology and Geological Monuments, Paleobotany , Paleozoology , Amber, History of Geological Sciences and Promotion of Earth Sciences. The first collections, acquired in 1932, include meteorites from the vicinity of the cities of Pułtusk and Łowicz , tertiary invertebrates from the Volyn and Podolia regions , invertebrates and breccias from Węże, as well as Henryk Arctowski's collection of stones and minerals from around the world.
Paleozoological collections added later are noteworthy, including an important collection of Cretaceous and Tertiary invertebrates and a collection of Devonian fish from the Swietokrzyskie Mountains. There are Jura - Ammonites from Łuków and invertebrates from the Quaternary shown. The paleobotanical collection includes fossil plants from Turoszów (Tertiary), the Lublin Plateau (Chalk) and Upper and Lower Silesia ( Carbon Age).
The extensive collection of amber, animal inclusions in them and other natural resins is noteworthy . This collection is one of the largest of its kind in the world. Finally, the museum collects and presents documents on the history of geology in Poland. Originals ( iconography and manuscripts ) from the 19th century document the work of important researchers. The museum's holdings include around 170,000 artifacts and exhibits.
The initiator and first director of the museum from 1948 to 1950 was Stanisław Małkowski . He was followed by Antonina Halicka (1908–1973), who headed the museum until 1973. From 1974 to 2008 Krzysztof Jakubowski was the museum director; on January 1, 2009, Ryszard Szczęsny took over the management.
Detail on the facade of the Pniewski Villa
Memorial to those who fell here in the Warsaw Uprising
Showroom in the Pniewski Villa
Exhibition room in the Frascati Palace
Information board on Polish boulders in the outdoor area
References and comments
- ↑ Kazimierz Poniatowski (1721–1800) was court treasurer of the Polish crown, Polish general and prince
- ↑ After Edward Rydz-Śmigły named
- ↑ Bohdan Wiktor Kazimierz Pniewski (1897–1965) was a Polish architect, representative of modernism and professor at the Warsaw University of Technology
- ↑ according to Article Willa Pniewskiego, ob. Museum Ziemi PAN ( Memento of the original from June 2, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at Klimatwarszawy.pl (in Polish)
- ↑ Pun of the name Pniewski: "Pnący" (climber) and "pnie się" (German: climber)
- ^ Stanisław Małkowski (1889–1962) was a Polish geologist and professor at the Stefan Batory University in Wilno
See also
literature
- Julius A. Chroscicki and Andrzej Rottermund, Architectural Atlas of Warsaw , 1st edition, Arkady, Warsaw 1978, p. 174
Web links
- Museum website (in Polish)
- Museum of the Earth of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw at Culture.pl (English)
Coordinates: 52 ° 13 '44.3 " N , 21 ° 1' 43.1" E