Wawel

The title of this article is ambiguous. Further meanings are listed under Wawel (disambiguation) .

Wawel
Aerial photo of the Wawel (2012)
Creation time :	around 1000
Conservation status:	preserved and partially reconstructed
Standing position :	royal
Place:	Krakow
Geographical location	50 ° 3 '15 "  N , 19 ° 56' 7"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 3 '15 "  N , 19 ° 56' 7"  E
Height:	228  m npm

The Wawel is a 228  m npm high limestone rock hill, which rises in the center of Krakow over the Vistula on its left bank. The castle complex of the former residence of the Polish kings from 1040 to 1795, the Kraków Cathedral and other historical buildings are located on it. The first construction of the hill in the early Middle Ages was followed by more and more buildings over the centuries. Along with the Krakow's Old Town , the building complex world heritage of UNESCO .

The name Wawel is also used for the buildings on the hill, as an alternative to more precise names such as Wawel Castle or Wawel Castle .

overview

View of the inner courtyard with the Wawel Cathedral (left)

The Wawel Hill is the southernmost branch of the Kraków-Częstochowa Jura , a 161–155 million year old limestone mountain range in southern central Poland. The whole area is heavily karstified and the landscape is criss-crossed with caves. On the side of the Wawel (probably from Polish : wąwóz : gorge) lying on the bank of the Vistula, such a karst cave Smocza Jama leads from the castle walls on top of the hill to its foot. Because of its shape, people gave it the name "Dragon Cave". The legend tells that a dragon once lived here until the knight Krak came and overcame the dragon with cunning. The city of Krakow, named after the knight, was founded in this place.

There is historical evidence that a castle has been located here since the early Middle Ages . The complex development bears witness to a building history of over 1000 years. There are testimonies from all stylistic epochs such as Romanesque , Gothic , Renaissance and Baroque . The most important preserved structures include:

Sandomierska Tower

• Royal Castle on the Wawel ,
• Wawel Cathedral
• Rotunda of the Blessed Virgin Mary ,
• several Gothic-Romanesque towers and bastions,
• four gates from Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque,
• former barracks from the 19th century,
• Castle walls and other fortifications,
• Foundations of several Romanesque and Gothic churches,
• Foundations of several farm buildings from the Renaissance as well
• a cave passage from the defensive walls to the dragon grotto .

history

Prehistory and early history

North facade of the cathedral on pre-Romanesque ...

... and the west facade of the cathedral on Romanesque foundations

People have lived in Wawel Hill and its caves since the Paleolithic Age . Not far from the Wawel, in the area of ​​today's Wieliczka , the first inhabitants boiled salt in the Stone Age . The settlement grew because it was at the crossroads of important trade routes. From late antiquity to the early Middle Ages, the Wawel was a power center of the West Slavic tribe of the Wislanes (as the inhabitants on the banks of the Wisła river were called), who in the 6th century created the first loose state structure in what is now Lesser Poland .

Two barrows southeast of the Wawel, which are attributed to the legendary ruler Krak and his daughter Wanda , date from the 7th century . According to the chronicler Wincenty Kadłubek from the 12th century, Krak is said to have killed the Wawel dragon with the help of a ruse by a shoemaker's apprentice . There are speculations that there was a pagan place of worship on the Wawel at that time.

Early middle ages

In the 9th century the pagan Wislan came under the rule of the Great Moravian Empire . The Slav apostle Methodius urged the prince of the Wislan, who was not known by name, to accept Christianity. Historians suspect that he rejected Methodius' request and was then subjugated by the Great Moravia. These are said to have imposed Christianity on the Wislanes in the Slavic Orthodox rite. Remains of a wooden church from the 9th century have been discovered on the Wawel, supporting this thesis.

With the disintegration of the Great Moravian Empire, the Wislanen regained their independence for a short time and were conquered by the Polans , the most powerful Polish tribe, in the second half of the 10th century . The Polans, who had been Catholics since 966 , incorporated the Wislanes into their empire, which later became Poles .

Pre-Romanesque

In the 10th century the pre-Romanesque Marian rotunda and the church B. (since the patron saint is not known by name) were built on the Wawel . They are probably the oldest stone structures on the Wawel. As Krakow in the year 1000 bishopric was a time typical three-nave Wawel Cathedral was begun with the construction, according to its founder, King I. Boleslaw , King Boleslaw I the cathedral is called. Only its foundations have been preserved. The church was probably already badly damaged in 1038 during the great pagan uprising and the invasion of the Bohemian ruler Břetislav I and finally fell victim to a fire around 1080. A castle complex was soon built next to the cathedral, which Casimir I the Renewer raised to the status of a royal residence around 1040 . Inside the castle, the three-aisled church of St. Gereon was built with two twin towers and a crypt, which probably served as the castle chapel. In addition, two other pre-Romanesque churches have stood on the Wawel since the first half of the 11th century, the Church of St. George and the Church of St. Michael . During the aforementioned invasion of Břetislav in 1038, these buildings were largely destroyed. Only from the pre-Romanesque castle of as are parts of hall of 24 columns designated palace , site of a business house, which probably served as a memory, and the remains of the keep received.

Romanesque

Kasimir III's grave the great from about 1370

Casimir I returned to Poland in 1038/1039 and made the Wawel in Krakow his residence. This date is also considered to be the beginning of Romanesque in Poland. The second Wawel Cathedral was donated by Władysław I Herman after the fire in 1080 . It was built on the site of the first cathedral and is partly named after its founder. It was consecrated in 1142. The tower of the silver bells and the eight-column crypt of St. Leonard are relics of this building. In addition, the oldest preserved tomb of the Wawel Cathedral, the tomb of Bishop Maurus from 1118, is in this church. Since the 20th century, the cathedral's crypt has been used as a burial place for the most important people from Polish history, such as Marshal Józef Piłsudski and Józef Antoni Poniatowski , but also for the national poets Adam Mickiewicz and Juliusz Słowacki .

The rotundas on the bastions of Władysławs IV and Sandomir, the baptistery and the church at the Dragon's Cave also date from the Romanesque period . In addition, the other destroyed churches and the castle were rebuilt in the Romanesque. The Romanesque was the dominant architectural style on the Wawel until the first half of the 13th century. It was characterized by the use of limestone as the main building material. The foundations of the cathedral and the Romanesque buildings that have not been preserved are therefore made of white limestone.

Gothic

In 1250 in the wake of the Polish repressed brick Gothic of brick limestone as a building material. Therefore, red bricks were used for the higher parts of the cathedral and the old castle walls. Sandstone was used for the sculptural work, while marble from the Świętokrzyskie Mountains and Hungary were used.

During the Albert uprising in 1305 , the roof and the upper part of the Romanesque cathedral burned down. But as early as 1320 the damage was repaired to such an extent that Władysław I. Ellenlang could be crowned king there. Nevertheless, in the same year the new king had the old church torn down to the foundations, after which the construction of a third cathedral in Gothic style began. This church building, which was inaugurated in 1364, has not seen any major changes since then. Władysław I was buried in the cathedral after his death, and his tomb is the only royal tomb that has been preserved in the cathedral. His son Casimir III had the early Gothic sarcophagus . Chisel the great one out of sandstone around 1350. The most important Gothic sculptures in the cathedral include the high Gothic sarcophagi of Casimir the Great, Władysław II Jagiełło and Władysław III. One of the most beautiful late Gothic tombs include the world's dumb of kings Casimir IV. - by Veit Stoss - and Alexander I, probably by Jörg Huber was created.

The corpus of the Gothic cathedral corresponds to that of a three-aisled basilica with transept and ambulatory , to which chapels were added. The first chapel was that of St. Margaretha from 1322, which was later named after Stephan Báthory . Towards the end of the 14th century, Queen Zofia Holszańska donated the chapel named after her at the west entrance. Opposite this chapel, her son Casimir III. build the Holy Cross Chapel . More Gothic chapels followed, so that there were 19 chapels here in the 15th century.

Casimir the Great also had the castle expanded in the Gothic style. Władysław II Jagiełło and Queen Jadwiga had the Danish tower and buttercup added . Both have been preserved and give the east facade of the palace its characteristic appearance. The hall named after Zofia Holszańska and Casimir the Great, which houses the weapons museum, has also been preserved from the Gothic castle. During the Gothic period, all the churches on the Wawel were rebuilt and many buildings for princes, officials and craftsmen as well as the seven bastions, the Jordanka, Lubranka, Sandomir, Tęczyńska, aristocratic, thief and virgin bastions were built.

Renaissance

The gothic core lock, red overlayed the four-wing complex planned at the latest in 1519

Arcades in the north and east wings (largely a reconstruction from 1906)

Sigismund Chapel from 1517–1533

During the reign of the last Jagiellonians , the Wawel experienced its golden age .

The tomb of King Jan Olbracht by Franciscus Italus from 1502 to 1503, which was donated by his mother Elisabeth von Habsburg and his brother, who later became King Sigismund , is considered the first work of art of the High Renaissance based on Italian models on the Wawel . Between 1504 and 1507 (roofing), the three-storey west wing north of the gate of the main castle was expanded for the widowed Queen Mother Elisabeth von Habsburg, who did not see completion due to her death in 1505. The building, built by the builder Eberhard, who had been active in Krakow since around 1492, was probably decorated almost simultaneously by the workshop of Franciscus Italus, who came from Italy, based on Italian models with a window and a bay window in front of the Queen's widow's apartment on the second floor. Responsible for this early reception of Italian Renaissance motifs was probably her son Sigismund, who probably met the Italian stonemason and later architect Franciscus in Hungary in the vicinity of the royal court of his brother Wladislaw . Master Franciscus brought more stonemasons from Hungary to Krakow.

It is unclear whether the plan came up as early as 1510 to expand the older buildings of the core castle into a closed four-wing complex. First, from around 1507 to 1510, the western part of the north wing was built with an internal staircase at the connection point to the west wing and the great hall. The component was extended to the east until around 1516, so that the connection to the older buildings, which were built around 1360/80 at the north-east corner of the castle, the “Hühnerfuß”, the king's Gothic residential tower, was established. In 1510, the first work on pillars was mentioned in the sources, so that the construction of the largely reconstructed pillared loggias in front of the west and north wings began at that time. Because of their Italian vocabulary of forms, their designer would probably be the first Italian sculptor and architect Franciscus Italus.

Around 1515, the educated architect Bartolomeo Berrecci from Florence arrived in Cracow . With Bona Sforza , the wife of King Sigismund the Elder , who was married in 1518 , other Florentine and Milanese artists came to the Krakow court.

Between 1517 and 1533 the Sigismund Chapel was built, which is considered to be one of the most beautiful Renaissance chapels outside of Italy and was widely followed by the Polish nobility. Its architect was Berrecci. In it lie the last Jagiellonians Sigismund the Old and Sigismund August . Other High Renaissance tombs in the Wawel Cathedral include those of Cardinal Fryderyk Jagiellończyk and Bishops Piotr Gamrat , Piotr Tomicki , Jan Konarski , Jan Chojeński and Samuel Maciejowski .

From 1519 the older components on the east side of the courtyard were demolished and the foundations of the east wing were laid under the direction of Master Benedikt and Bartolomeo Berrecci until 1521 . Work on the roofing of the east wing was started as early as 1526 and the interior work was completed by around 1530. This wing was also given a pillar loggia, which was based closely on the model of the older construction phase in the west.

At that time, the Wawel was one of the most magnificent castles in Europe, the residence of the largest country on the continent and at the same time the seat of the Jagiellonian dynasty, whose countries stretched from the Baltic to the Black Sea and the Adriatic. The roof tiles and pillars are said to have been gilded. The outer walls were covered with colorful frescoes. In the castle was the world's largest ensemble of over 300  tapestries , which had been knitted from gold thread in Arras . An artistic detail is the decoration of the coffered ceilings in the hall of the ambassadors, which consists of carved and sometimes grotesquely depicted images of human heads. The castle became the model for dozens of magnate residences throughout Central and Eastern Europe.

The Sigismund Bell from 1520 was the largest bell in Poland until the 20th century.

Further Renaissance buildings were to the west of the castle. Bona Sforza also had a Renaissance garden laid out above the east wall, which was reconstructed at the beginning of the 21st century. The damage caused by a fire in the northeast corner of the main castle in 1536 was soon repaired based on the original shape.

With the death of Sigismund August in 1572, the period of the late Renaissance and Mannerism began , which fell during the reign of the first Polish kings , Heinrich von Valois and Stephan Báthory . The outstanding artists of that time on the Wawel River were the Italian Santi Gucci , who created the tombs for Stefan Batory and Bishop Filip Padniewski , and the Pole Jan Michałowicz from Urzędów , who made the tomb of Bishop Andrzej Zebrzydowski .

The Renaissance bloom of the Wawel Castle ended with the great fire at the end of the 16th century. Although extinguishing water was stored in the attic in the event of a fire, the fire occurred in winter when it was frozen. After this event, King Sigismund Wasa moved his residence from Wawel in 1596 to the palace of the Mazovian princes in Warsaw , the later Royal Palace of Warsaw .

Baroque

Wawel, 1649

Coronation of the Polish King Michael I in 1669

After the fire of 1595, Giovanni Trevano rebuilt the Wawel Castle in the early Baroque style. The most important innovations were the sweeping senatorial stairs and the marble fireplace in the hall under the birds . Despite the relocation of the residence, the royal palace developed in the early baroque period under the rule of Sigismund III. and Władysław IV. Wasa good. A new fortification with several bastions was built around the Wawel hill. In 1662 and 1702 the Swedes captured the castle and looted it in both cases.

The castle itself was hardly changed at all during the high and late baroque periods . It was only given a new room in the Rococo style . In 1794 it was finally occupied by the Prussians, who stole the crown treasure , which - apart from the Szczerbiec coronation sword - has not yet been returned. The collection of tapestries and the library fell into the hands of Russian troops and ended up at the court of the tsars. Of over 300 stolen carpets, less than half returned to the Wawel.

In contrast to the castle, the cathedral continued to develop in the baroque era. At the beginning of the 17th century the Vasa Chapel was built for the kings of this dynasty Sigismund III, Władysław IV and John Casimir II . The Sigismund Tower and the bell tower were given baroque domes. In the middle of the 17th century the main altar of the cathedral was erected and the silver mausoleum for St. Stanislaus was built. The kings Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki and Johann III. Sobieski received new tombs on the back of the altar in the 17th century. August the Strong was buried in the crypt of Wawel Cathedral. There are also baroque tombs for the bishops Marcin Szyszkowski , Piotr Gembicki , Jan Małachowski and Kazimierz Łubieński .

classicism

The Potocki Chapel in the cathedral was rebuilt in the classical style. One of the greatest sculptors of classicism, the Dane Bertel Thorvaldsen , who was working in Warsaw at the time , made a tomb for the nobleman Artur Potocki, which depicts him as a Greek hero. Another figure of Thorvaldsen can be found in the Holszańska Chapel.

The Wawel Castle also received a classical hall donated by King Stanislaus August .

19th century

Painting of the Wawel from 1847

With the Third Partition of Poland in 1795 Krakow became part of the Austrian monarchy. The Austrians set up barracks on the Wawel and tore down all the buildings between the castle and the western walls in order to create a parade ground. Several Renaissance houses and Romanesque-Gothic churches fell victim to this. The new rulers also destroyed the arcades by building them up. Inside the castle, the halls were converted into barracks and three hospitals were built on the northern castle wall. In 1809 Krakow became part of the Duchy of Warsaw for five years , and in 1815 the city became a free republic . However, Austrian troops occupied the city again in 1846 after the Kraków uprising . During the republic, the Polish and Polish-American national heroes Józef Antoni Poniatowski and Tadeusz Kościuszko were buried in the cathedral's crypt.

From 1869 the royal tombs were opened and rearranged. The underground crypts were connected to each other. The barracks administration pushed in vain for the royal tombs to be moved to the Peter and Paul Church.

At the end of the 19th century, two of the three greatest Polish romantic poets, Adam Mickiewicz and Juliusz Słowacki , were buried in the cathedral's crypt. The third, Cyprian Kamil Norwid , followed at the end of the 20th century.

20th century

Renaissance style room in the east wing in the design of the 20th century

Baroque style room in the Kernschloss (room of the birds)

Antoni Madeyski created the tombs for the canonized Queen Jadwiga and for King Ladislaus III in 1902 and 1906. The Treasury and the Holszańska Chapel were painted with secession frescoes by Józef Mehoffer and Włodzimierz Tetmajer . The former also designed the stained glass windows, the painting in the transept and in the Holy Cross Chapel.

After several requests from the Polish population and the intelligentsia, Emperor Franz Joseph I, in his capacity as King of Galicia and Lodomeria , elevated Krakow to the official royal residence. This protected the plant from further negative changes. In 1905 the emperor ordered the Austrian soldiers to be withdrawn from the Wawel, whereupon the Wawel building ensemble could be preserved.

Zygmunt Hendel and Adolf Szyszko-Bohusz directed the renovation and restoration work, which included a comprehensive reconstruction and structural adaptation of the core lock for a new use as a museum. At that time, the walled-up court arcades were exposed and almost completely copied in stone. Original parts are mainly preserved in the lapidary. Inside, many rooms were adapted to the use of the newly created museum and comprehensively redesigned in different styles, which were based on the historical building phases around 1530 and around 1600. Unfortunately, only part of this work has been scientifically documented, so that it is often difficult to decide today whether the building details visible today are originals, copies or free reproductions. Sometimes even the room sizes were changed. Poles from all areas, whether they were under Prussian, Austrian or Russian rule, financed the construction with their donations.

The coat of arms gate and a Tadeusz Kościuszko monument were erected at the north entrance.

In the years 1904–1907 Stanisław Wyspiański and Władysław Ekielski drafted a plan to convert the Wawel into a Polish acropolis. The plan envisaged that the Polish Parliament, National Museum, Episcopal Curia and the Polish Academy should have their seat on the hill. In addition, an amphitheater was to be built. The plans did not come to fruition.

After regaining independence, Józef Piłsudski was buried in the Wawel crypt in 1935. Władysław Sikorski was only able to find his final resting place in the honorary crypt after 1989.

The Wawel Castle was the seat of government of the German occupying power in the Generalgouvernement under Hans Frank from 1939 to 1945 . A courtyard of honor in the typical Nazi pomp style has been preserved from this time, but its characteristics were blurred during the most recent renovation.

21st century

The Wawel today in an urban context

Inside the castle there are 71 halls, some of which house the state art collections. Special art treasures are the royal collection of Flemish tapestries and the collection of Turkish-oriental objects.

The following can be visited:

• in the castle:
  • Representation rooms,
  • private royal apartments
  • Treasury,
  • Armory,
  • Exhibition Art of the East .
• in the cathedral:
  • Royal tombs,
  • Sigismund bell (weight: ≈11,000 kg, strike: g °, caster: Hans Beham, Nuremberg). The bell is rung by a cable pull. The bell ringer is hereditary in some Krakow families.
• Cathedral museum,
• lost Wawel in the Rotunda of Mary ,
• Dragon grotto .

300 m² of the Royal Gardens have already been reconstructed and can be visited. Further reconstruction work is ongoing (as of 2014).

and display information about the image

View into the inner courtyard of the Wawel

See also

• Tombs of European monarchs
• Asteroid Wawel was discovered in 1935 by the Belgian astronomer Sylvain Julien Victor Arend and named in honor of the castle.

Web links

Commons : Wawel  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Wawel Museum website
• The Wawel as a 3D model in SketchUp's 3D warehouse

literature

• Tomasz Torbus: The Royal Castle in Krakow and the residential architecture under the Jagiellonians in Poland and Lithuania (1499–1548). Building history, function, reception . Ostfildern 2014.
• Stanisław Mossakowski: Rezydencja królewska na Wawelu w czasach Zygmunta Starego. Program użytkowy i ceremonialny [The royal residence on the Wawel in the time of Sigismund the Elder. Functional Program and Ceremonial] . Warsaw 2013 online version of the Heidelberg University Library .
• Halina Billik: Bibliografia Wawelu. Volume 1: Czasopisma, Zabór austriacki 1795-1918. Sub-Volume 1: A-C. Zamek Królewski na Wawelu, Krakow 2008, ISBN 978-83-88476-61-7 .
• Adam Bujak, Jan K. Ostrowski: Wawel. The cathedral and the castle. Biały Kruk, Krakow 2006, ISBN 83-60292-16-7 (German edition).
• Andrzej Fischinger, Jerzy Szablowski (ed.): The collections of the royal castle on the Wawel. 2nd, expanded edition. Wydawnictwo Arkady, Warsaw 1975.
• Antoni Franaszek: Wawel. Wydawnictwo Arkady, Warsaw 1988, ISBN 83-213-3448-2 .
• Michał Grychowki, Krzysztof J. Czyżewski: Katedra wawelska. Videograf II, Katowice 2001, ISBN 83-7183-172-2 .
• Jan K. Ostrowski, Janusz Podlecki: Wawel. Zamek i katedra. Wydawnictwo Karpaty, Krakow 1996, ISBN 83-85204-25-3 .
• Robert Schediwy : City Pictures. Reflections on the change in architecture and urbanism. 2nd Edition. LIT, Vienna 2005, ISBN 3-8258-7755-8 , especially p. 347 ff.
• Ryszard Skowron: Wawel. Kronika dziejów. Volume 1: Od pradziejów do roku 1918. Zamek Królewski na Wawelu, Cracow 2001, ISBN 83-88476-05-X .
• Jerzy Szablowski (Ed.): Zbiory Zamku Królewkiego na Wawelu . Wydawnictwo Arkady, Warsaw 1990, ISBN 83-213-3533-0 .
  • in German: Art treasures of the Wawel Royal Castle. Wydawnictwo Arkady, Warsaw 1990, ISBN 83-213-3572-1 .

Footnotes

1. ↑ The most detailed recent account of the building history and functional analysis can be found in: Stanisław Mossakowski: Rezydencja królewska na Wawelu w czasach Zygmunta Starego. Program użytkowy i ceremonialny [The royal residence on the Wawel in the time of Sigismund the Elder. Functional Program and Ceremonial]. Warsaw 2013.
2. ↑ Torbus 2014, pp. 119–138, in contrast to the general art-historical view of early dating, pleads for the current form of the arcades to emerge under Bartolomeo Berrecci, i.e. from around 1516. However, there is no relevant evidence for this.
3. ↑ Torbus 2014, pp. 104-108.
4. ↑ Torbus 2014, pp. 139–168.
5. ↑ Representation of the coffered ceiling ( Memento from May 6, 2006 in the Internet Archive )