Problemy restytucji Zamku Królewskiego w Warszawie

• Authors: Zachwatowicz Jan

Title variants

EN

PROBLEMS OF THE RESTITUTION OF THE ROYAL CASTLE IN WARSAW

• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

Referring to the article published in 1973 in the magazine „The Protection o f Historical Monuments” on the assumptions and programme set by the Architectural Conservation Board o f the National Committee for the reconstruction o f the Royal Castle in Warsaw this paper presents a number o f problems involved in carrying out the plan. For the sake o f clarity the term „restitution” is used throughout the text to describe activities aimed at the reerection of the Warsaw Royal Castle. Other generally applied terms like „restoration” , „reconstruction” , „rebuilding” or „anastyloza” cannot be applied in this context as they do not convey the whole idea. In the case of the Royal Castle in Warsaw the term „restitution” means not only the reproduction of works but also the restoration and reconstruction o f authentical parts and fragments which have been saved (apart from old foundations and cellars rooms which were preserved, parts o f the walls as well as a large amount o f the details o f interior decorations o f the Castle have also been saved). And the dictionary meaning o f this term is „to restore the previous state to the object” and „to repair the damage or annul an injust decision” as in this case o f the destruction o f the Castle, a symbol od Polish history and culture. The first problem discussed herein are general assumptions o f the restitution o f the Castle adopted in 1973 and their execution in respect of foundations, walls and architectural external decor. The initial decision was to keep closely to the old outline o f the building as well as to the old level o f its foundations (the Castle Square is at a raised level, changed so after the building in 1948 o f new East-West Route and tunnel). To carry out this decision the Square had to be rebuilt in a kind of a kneading through depression descending from the surrounding houses and streets to the Castle. The plan was designed by Jan Bogusławski, who was also the author o f other projects connected with the Castle. This necessitated preserving all the remaining walls o f the Castle including foundation walls. That, again, was not an easy task as foundation walls were built at different depths and required reinforcing. There were also great basements and cellars preserved, with or without vaults, most o f which had to be reconstructed. In order to build cellars under the whole building for storing all kinds o f installations (like ventilation, heat exchangers, pumping plant, transforming station), some o f the foundations had to be deepened. To isolate the foundations from the incoming water a corridor was made from precast concrete elements that surrounded them; the other corridor runs along the internal foundation walls. Moreover, above all o f them a horizontal insulation made from leaden plates was placed, while electrically welded polyvinyl chloride sheets made their vertical insulation. A number o f serious technical problems was encountered when either reinforcing preserved walls and vaults or putting new ones up ; this was made possible, i.a., thanks to the assistance given by old artisans and to sophisticated techniques employed. As far as the roof is concerned, then according to original documents it should be covered with tiles. Still, during the present restitution it has been decided to make it o f steel and to cover it with heat insulation and with layers o f antidamp insulation with overflows. On top o f this roof a covering of tiles on laths was placed and thus a double roof was formed. All spires have been constructed of galvanized steel, planked and covered with copper sheets; balls and other metal decorations are made o f electrically gilded copper. Another difficult task was to find a suitable lightening conductor system that would keep with the general character of the Castle. It was finally agreed to put the system under the ridge tiles at the cable earthing all steel roof and spire constructions and the ground. The restitution o f the block and elevations o f the Castle also posed serious problems. The Castle structure and its elevations were a conglomeration o f systems and forms from different ages. The rule was to keep, if possible, unchanged the historic configuration of various parts o f the building and their appropriate elevations. If, however, the situation required it, necessary modifications were made. And thus, corner turrets and dormer windows were added to the west wing. It must however be noted at this point that the turrets were originally there (built in early 17th cent.) but got destroyed and disappeared from the Castle’s facade for 200 years. The same applies to the Town Tower which underwent a rich and stormy history and in the end regained its shape and condition from the 17th century, with only some modifications introduced. The external elevations of Vaza wing o f the Castle were rebuilt as they were before the war, with a number of necessary corrections made. And thus, just to give an example, the portal of the Town Gate ha been put in its right place; a large reconstructed cartouche with th< Vaza’s coat of arms was placed on the Sigismund’s Tower. Th< eastern elevation with its dominating Saxon section has been recon structed in conformity with its pre-war condition, with all the rich ness of the sculpture and decor. Some o f the ideas had to be drop ped : it was not possible, e.g. to build a balcony and columns in the Saxonian elevation to unite its recessed parts, and in turn, to have French windows in the Ballroom. The northern side to the Saxoniar elevation is adjoined by a new elevation, the Palace o f Weddings, built by J. Bogusławski in 1966—1969, on the place where the pre vious so called Baciarellowka was. It was also not so easy to decide how to rebuild the Gothic wing with uncovered 15th century walls : whether to reconstruct it fully in its Gothic form or to rebuild it as a smooth form o f a neutral wall with openings of the 17th and 18th century. After lengthy discussions it was decided to reconstruct the brick wall of the dimensions and surface quality of the old brick with repeating ogive blind windows, framed by profiled bricks. In order to show the remaining parts o f the Gothic walls, a ditch was made with a balustrade, in front o f the elevation. Another step was to restitute there the Ladislaus’ Tower. From the Ladislaus’ Tower up to the northeast corner, the Vaza’s elevation o f the north wing was restituted to its pre-war condition, except for some minor modifications. The real difference in the north elevation is the introduction of a balcony on cantilevers along the first floor. In all the elevations the entire interior sculpture decorations were restored along with the elements previously missing. In this way, the interior of the court presents a combination o f elevations from different centuries, illustrating changes made in the Castle in those periods. There were other problems as well, like restituting the character of window openings, and to match it to the elevation, restituting and restoring Castle’s decorations (cornices, stripes, window framings, portals, balcony cantilevers, etc). These problems were o f both architectural and technical nature. As far as interior restitution is concerned, the interiors of the Castle were divided into three categories according to the sphere of their restitution. The first category comprised the exact restitution o f space of rooms and living quarters with their full architectural furnishings, on the basis of measurements and photographic materials, inventory descriptions and remaining relics. It included the rooms on the first floor, the Stanislaus rooms, beginning with the Great Stairs to the room now called the Music Room as well as rooms on the ground floor in the Gothic wing. The second category referred to the restitution of accommodations to their previous sizes, divisions and forms with allowance for modifications, resulting from functional needs. The last category, i.e. the third one, concerned rooms with allowable alternations of layout, in accordance with functional needs. The Author o f this paper describes in great derail decorations to be made in individual rooms, pointing out also technical difficulties involved in it. Wherever possible original decor is to be preserved, and if not, it is to be reconstructed with great care. Perhaps worth mentioning at this point is the biggest reconstruction undertaking, i.e. to bring back the Senatorial Room (the room in which the vote on the Constitution o f the Third o f May was taken) to the Castle. The Senatorial Room was originally found in the Gothic wing of the Castle (the east part o f it), on the first floor. August II started its thorough rebuilding to a two-storey room with galleries, and August III moved it in 1740 to the west wing to its northern part, demolishing the living quarters existing there on the first and second floor. Further modifications were introduced in the Stanislaus period and then again in the 19th century. The last change was made by Nicolaus I who ordered the Senatorial Room to be demolished. It was parted by a vault in two storeys, and by many small walls as office rooms, to remain in this condition until 1939. In view of its rich history and significance, the reconstruction of the Senatorial Room — called now the Constitution Room — is fully justified. It will be the most decorative and the largest, after the Ballroom, room o f the Royal Castle, just as it used to be in its early days. A lot o f attention during the restitution work was paid to the problem o f staircases and internal communication. For architectural reasons as well as for the purpose of the household management, some additional staircases have been introduced. Still, all the historical staircases (e.g. Large Staircase, stairs in the Ladislaus and Sigismund Towers) retain their old forms and execution.

• Publisher: Narodowy Instytut Dziedzictwa
• Journal: Ochrona Zabytków
• Year: 1979
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 3-18

Dates

published

1979

Contributors

author

Zachwatowicz Jan

• prof. dr, Warszawa

References

• J. Z a c h w a t o w i c z , Odbudowa Zamku Krolewskiego w Warszawie. (Prace Komisji Architektoniczno-Konserwatorskiej Obywatelskiego Komitetu Odbudowy Zamku Krolewskiego w Warszawie), „Ochrona Zabytkow” , XXVI, nr 1; 1973, s. 13—19.
• Por. rozważania na temat: St. L o r e n t z , Wokoł Krolewskiego Zamku, „Problemy” , nr 1, 1972, s. 2—4; J. Z a c h w a t o w i c z , Zamek zniszczony i jego odbudowa, [w:] Zamek Krolewski w Warszawie, Pr. zbiorowa, PWN, Warszawa 1972, s. 194— 196; O. C z er n e r , Rozważania konserwatorskie, [w:] Zamek Krolewski w Warszawie, Pr. zbiorowa, Wroclaw 1973, s. 89—101.
• J. S o c h a , S. S a f a r z y ń s k i , Złocenie elektrolityczne, „Ochrona Zabytkow” , nr 4, 1976, s. 334—338.
• A. J a r z ę b s k i , Gościniec abo krotkie opisanie Warszawy, PWN, Warszawa 1974, s. 96, wiersz 819—822.
• Reprodukowany min. w: A. K r o l , Zamek Krolewski w Warszawie, PIW, Warszawa 1969, s. 41, oraz Zamek Krolewski w Warszawie, op. cit., s. 70.
• A. W i e c z o r k i e w i c z , Widok Warszawy z r. 1662, „Biuletyn Historii Sztuki i Kultury” , VI, 1938 — sztych z książki: S. S t a w i c k i , Łodka Kościoła Chrystusowego..., 1662. Rysunek Altomontego w zbiorach wiedeńskich, obraz „Elekcja Augusta II” w Muzeum Narodowym w Warszawie.
• Zamek Krolewski w Warszawie, Pr. zbiorowa, 1950 (maszynopis w Ośrodku Dokumentacji Zabytkow).
• J. L i l e y k o , Zamek Krolewski, PWN, Warszawa 1976, s. 175.
• Por. widok Zamku na obrazie Canaletta przed 1780 r. m.in.: M. W a l l i s , Canaletto — malarz Warszawy, Warszawa 1961, tabl. 36.
• Widok J. Seydlitza z lat 1855—1860 w: A, Kr o l , op. cit., s. 179; autor przebudowy wymieniany jest w rożny sposob: E. S ęc z y s , Zamek Krolewski w Warszawie w X IX i na początku X X wieku w świetle nowych źrodeł,,.Kwartalnik Historii Kultury Materialnej” , nr 4, 1972, s. 660 podaje — „Gustaw Corii” ; A. K r o l , op. cit. — 5)l . Corio” ; St. Ł o z a , Architekci i budowniczowie w Polsce, Warszawa 1954 — „Ludwik Edward Koriot” .
• W sprawie ukształtowania Wieży Grodzkiej por. St. L o r e n t z , op. cit., s. 7—8 ;J . L i l e y к o, Wieża Grodzka..., „Biuletyn Historii Sztuki” , nr 3, 1971, s. 263 i nast.; J. Z a c h w a t o w i c z , O koncepcjach konserwatorskich przy renowacji Zamku Krolewskiego w Warszawie (1918—1939), [w:] Siedem wiekow Zamku Krolewskiego w Warszawie, Warszawa 1972, s. 315—326.
• W. H e n t s c h e l , Die sachsische Baukunst des 18. Jahrhunderts in Polen, Berlin 1967, rys. 405, 407, 408, 411—414; J. L ile y k o , Zamek Krolewski w Warszawie, Katalog..., Warszawa 1971 (na okładce 1972), s. 119—122, na planach na s. 127—128 pokazane są schodzące z galerii schody; E. H e m p e l , Gaetano Chiaveri, Drezno 1955, s. 182—185.
• J. T a j c h ma n , Stolarka okienna Zamku Krolewskiego w Warszawie, „Kwartalnik Architektury i Urbanistyki” , nr 4, 1973, s. 263—289.
• St. L o r e n t z , Zamek Stanisława Augusta, [w:] Zamek Krolewski w Warszawie, op. cit., s. 130—132.
• W. H e n t s c h e l , op. cit., s. 103—104, ryc. 113—115; A .K ro l op. cit., rys. 40, 42, 44; W. T o m k i e w i c z , Zamek Wazow i Sasow, [w:] Zamek Krolewski w Warszawie, op. cit., s. 110.
• St. H e r b s t , Zamek między trzecim rozbiorem i końcem drugiej Rzeczypospolitej, [w:] Zamek Krolewski H’ Warszawie, op. cit., s. 134, rys. 99.