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THE SOCIETY OF THE 'POLISH LIBRARY' IN VIENNA (1887-1916)

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Dobrowolski S.

Studia Historyczne

2006

vol. 49

issue 3-4

275-298

The Society of the Polish Library (TBP) in Vienna functioned in 1887-1916. It was set up by a group of Poles who were anxious to put some obstacle in the way of assimilation processes which threatened to engutf the Polish community in the Austrian capital. In its early years the Society was dominated by its founder members, Count Jerzy Konstanty Czartoryski, Count August Los and Stanislaw Nowinski. TBP's primary concem was the establishment of a Polish public library and organizing Polish courses for the expatriate Vienna community. The library section and the courses were a success, the ballet section had a more erratic existence. Other sections and TBP's more ambitious aims such as the invigoration of Polish intellectual life or publishing all kinds of materials about Poland were dropped as soon as the initial enthusiasm had cooled off. The Society was governed by a Board whose members were elected at generał meetings. The Board was chaired by Count Jerzy Konstanty Czartoryski (1887-1894), Florian Ziemialkowski (1894-1900) and Leon Bilinski (from 1900 onwards). However, most of the work was done by deputy chairmen among whom were Stanislaw Nowinski, Witold Hausner, Wladyslaw Struszkiewicz and Ludwik Celinski. Nowinski was probably the most dedicated and hard-working of them all; he combined his executive function with running the library and later the Polish language schools. TBP reached out primarily to the community of Polish civil sewants who had moved with their families to the capital on the Danube but did not want to relinquish their ties with Poland. The Society was also patronized by Polish parlamentarians, who supported it financially, as well as by Polish men of letters and artists who stayed or lived in Vienna. TBP conducted its operations from a house in Dorotheergasse 5, the seat of the Polish Library and its reading room as well as a number of other Polish organizations which were too poor to afford a place of its own. The Society allowed other organizations to use its premises, but steered clear of closer co-operation with any of them. This may have been motivated by a fear of radicalization of its own members and of compromizing its middle-of-the-road approach. Some people found this policy too cautious and the governing board of the TBP was often accused of distancing themselves from the issues that engaged the hearts and minds of Vienna's Polish residents.It must be said, however, that the Society was hardly able to develop a more proactive policy. The running costs of the library and the language courses was already a major challenge in a situation when members failed to pay their contributions regularly. To keep afloat TBP had to rely on emergency collections, especially among the parliamentarians, organize concerts, performances and parties to raise more money, and look for grants and subsidies. The outbreak of the First World War put an end to the traditional activities of the TBP. Eventually the books from the Polish Library of Vienna were handed over to the Society of Popular Reading Rooms (TCzL) in Poznan and then transferred to Upper Silesia.

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1 Studia Historyczne

1 Dobrowolski S.

1 2006

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THE SOCIETY OF THE 'POLISH LIBRARY' IN VIENNA (1887-1916)