A scientific seminar on protection of numismatic monuments organized by the Faculty of Law and Administration of the University of Opole and the Customs Chamber in Opole with the cooperation of the Financial Law Association „Aureus” took place on 8th September 2011 in Opole. There were two papers presented during the seminar, both accompanied with multimedia presentation. Marcin Sabaciński (National Heritage Board of Poland, Archeology Department) focused on the presentation of institutional system of monuments protection in Poland and Polish legal regulations on protection and care of cultural heritage. Michał Zawadzki (Director of Numismatic Collection of the Royal Castle in Warsaw) gave a paper on the numismatics as a scientific discipline and presented the main types of historical coins, banknotes and other collector’s items as well as the characteristics of the numismatic market in Poland. The participants of the discussion held during the seminar paid attention to the need for closer cooperation among different entities dealing with protection of monuments, as well as for appropriate legislative initiatives in this field.
Formally speaking, the National Heritage Board of Poland (NHBP) is simply the National Centre for Research and Documentation of Monuments (NCRDM) with the altered name and the revised statutes adapted to current challenges faced by the monument protection system. Thus, NHBP is not only a continuation of NCRDM, but still the same institution. This means it is also the legal successor of institutions that were incorporated into it during the last 10 years: the Centre for the Protection of Archaeological Heritage (2007), the Centre for the Protection of Historic Landscape (2002) and, primarily, the Centre for Documentation of Monuments (2002). The Centre for Documentation of Monuments was established on 1 January 1962 in order to improve the stock-taking of monuments for the rational planning of their reconstruction and maintenance. The establishment of CDM anticipated the provisions of the 1970 UNESCO Convention, which recommended, among others, the creation of services and agencies collecting the records and documentation of national heritage and their regular updating by member states. The primary foundation of CDM’s activity was the stock-taking and documentation of historic objects. The mission of the National Heritage Board of Poland is to create a basis for the sustainable protection of heritage. The activity of NHBP focuses on three main areas. These are: the collection and dissemination of knowledge about heritage, the determination and dissemination of standards of protection and maintenance of monuments, the formation of social awareness regarding the values and maintenance of Polish cultural heritage for future generations. The similarity of goals and tasks of the National Heritage Board of Poland and the Centre for Documentation of Monuments is striking and unaccidental. As in the peak period of CDM’s activity, the most important priority is the need to record and document the resource of monuments. Another area that is still an important priority is the dissemination of the best standards of protection and maintenance of particular categories of monuments. Finally, there is an area of education regarding heritage, which is understood as training and popularisation activities carried out in many fields and adapted to the needs of various professional and social groups, the aim of which is to convince the public opinion that heritage is not only something that must be protected, but something that is worth protecting. The foundation of all activities of NHBP is the conviction of the need to collect full and reliable information about the resource of cultural heritage of Poland in one place, in the form adapted to the needs of all groups of recipients, with the use of tools adequate to the 21st-century requirements. NHBP is still not a scientific or research institution, nor does it take over the competencies of conservation services. It constitutes a base for all environments and professional groups dealing with the protection of monuments in Poland and builds a social base for the idea of protection of our heritage for future generations – if we combine NHBP’s activities with CDM’s activities, this process has been carried out for 50 years.
In 2007, the National Heritage Board of Poland (at that time the National Centre for Research and Documentation of Monuments) as the Polish nationwide co-ordinator of celebrations of European Heritage Days (EHD) proposed the common guiding topic of EHD for the first time. Making use of European Heritage Days as a tool for reinforcement of joint social responsibility for the condition of monuments and being supported by selfgovernment authorities, dozens of non-governmental organisations, hundreds of organisers of particular events and the Polish nationwide and regional media, we managed to create within a few years our own formula of this oldest cultural program in Europe. European Heritage Days in Poland comprise mainly an educational programme, exhibitions, excursions, lectures, games and competitions aimed at familiarising local communities with the history of their lands. The first common topic of European Heritage Days in Poland was entitled “People of the Road. Travellers, Pilgrims, Wanderers”. We discovered roadside shrines, inns and local monuments of technology, at the same time focusing on traditions and rituals accompanying them. In 2008, the guiding topic was: „The Roots of Tradition. From Patrimony to Homeland”. The joint search for the roots of the Polish culture and references to the multicultural society and the tradition of tolerance dating back to the Commonwealth of the Two Nations helped to emphasise important aspects of life of every human being – its identity and sense of belonging that leads to the formation of the sense of national value. In 2009, the topic of EHD – „To the Rescue of Monuments! On the Route of Gords, Castles and Fortresses” was connected with a campaign for the protection of military monuments. In 2010, the topic „From Idea to Industry” became an opportunity to focus the society’s attention on industrial objects, which very often had not been perceived as monuments until then. The year 2011 ran under the slogan „Milestones”. This time we wanted to draw attention to Poland’s contribution to the development of Europe throughout history. The key to the effective preservation of heritage is to involve local communities in taking care of it. European Heritage Days are an excellent opportunity to do so, as they gather the local community together so that it could discover local monuments and learn the history and intangible values of its own region, thus improving the knowledge of our common history.
The Conservation Analyses Department was established by the order of the Director of the National Centre for Research and Documentation of Monuments dated 6 June 2010. The Department comprised the Team of Experts and the Conservation Policy Formation Workshop. The Department co-ordinates and supervises work connected with the preparation of opinions and expertises regarding the protection of non-movable and movable monuments for public administration authorities – the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, Voivodeship Offices for Monument Protection and their branches and local government conservators. It carries out its tasks with the help of local divisions representing the National Heritage Board of Poland. The definite majority of issued opinions concerns the evaluation of the level of preservation of the value of historic objects or areas during administrative procedures being conducted by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage with regard to deletions from the register of monuments. The Conservation Analyses Department co-ordinates the implementation of the procedure for acknowledgement of a historic object as a history monument and participates in work regarding the creation and dissemination of standards of documentation, research and conservation of historic objects. The activity of the Department in the field of protection of historic parks and gardens is particularly worth mentioning. It includes, among others, study and design works carried out in Branicki’s Garden in Białystok from 2006 till 2009 and the preparation of conservation requests and the resulting projects of regeneration of the palace park in Białowieża and the park in Trzebiny. The palace & park layout in Trzebiny is currently administered by the National Heritage Board of Poland – the Local Workshop in Trzebiny. An important task ordered by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage is the management of the regeneration of Muskau Park. Over 20 years’ period of regeneration works is a significant yet still fragmentary process of restoration of the full historical value of the park. The Institute is also responsible for the creation and putting into common use of standards of documentation, elaborations and manuals regarding the protection of cultural heritage that are addressed to a wide group of recipients, an example of which is the Methodological guide to the elaboration of communal monument care programmes. The international co-operation with Eastern states has been carried out by NHBP and its predecessors for many years, including the „Nieśwież Academy” Postgraduate Summer School and cooperation with the Trakai Historical National Park in Lithuania. All activities being handled by the Conservation Analyses Department of the National Heritage Board of Poland are subject and may become subject to modifications, depending on the orders of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, the needs of voivodeship monument conservators and other institutions and the emerging topics that must be solved urgently. Currently the Conservation Analyses Department employs 14 persons. They build an interdisciplinary team consisting of a group of historians of art, monument experts – conservators, landscape architects, an architect and a lawyer – persons with a large professional experience and significant achievements.
At the end of 2006, the Centre for the Protection of Archaeological Heritage and the National Centre for Research and Documentation of Monuments were merged, a new statute of the institution was prepared and the name “National Centre for Research and Documentation of Monuments” was retained. The statute reflected the new priority of the Centre’s activity – education in its broad sense. The Law of 26 July 2003 on the protection and care of monuments extended the role of owners of monuments in the protection of monuments and their responsibility. The problem of the new legal system was the enforcement of legal provisions – a consequence of low social awareness of the role of cultural heritage for the nation and local communities. Paulina Florjanowicz, Deputy Director of NCRDM decided to prepare the educational strategy of the Centre for years 2007-2011. The analysis of the situation helped to find out the reasons of the present situation – years of neglect in the protection of monuments, the decentralisation of conservation services, the low awareness of rights and obligations of owners of monuments and the low level of social engagement in the preservation of the cultural heritage. The analysis distinguished between three target groups and aims of educational and popularisation activities. On 23 December 2010, the Minister of Culture and National Heritage signed an order regarding the change of the name and scope of activity of NCRDM, which was transformed into the National Heritage Board of Poland. Changes created a strong basis for activities determined by the educational strategy and its adoption resulted in the performance of annually planned educational activities addressed to three groups. Activities were regular and cyclical or carried out as projects. Among important activities there were those involving the implementation or the use of the website of NHBP and social networking services. Activities addressed to specialists included training courses for uniformed services, co-operation with Voivodeship Offices for the Protection of Monuments and the propagation of standards of protection, the issuing of the Kurier Konserwatorski magazine, speeches delivered by employees of the Board at courses and conferences regarding the protection and care of monuments that were organised independently or jointly by the Board or any other entity. Activities addressed to owners and administrators of monuments concerned co-operation with custodians of World Heritage sites and history monuments. NCRDM/NHBP organised conferences and workshop meetings that created opportunities to exchange knowledge and experiences. NCRDM started to build a brand of history monuments. The form of support of owners and administrators of monuments is the competition „Well Cared- For Monument” that has been organised by NHBP since 2011. The most important tasks of the educational strategy of NHBP include the co-ordination of European Heritage Days promoting regional cultural heritage (since 1993) and the conducting of the “Voluntary work for the benefit of heritage” programme (since 2009). According to public surveys regarding cultural heritage that were ordered at the end of 2011, 89% of respondents think that heritage plays an important social role, but the level of Poles’ knowledge of the rules of its protection is low. This confirms the rightness of choice of priorities in NHBP’s activities.
The National Heritage Board of Poland continues directly the activity of the first institution dealing with the collection, elaboration and popularisation of knowledge on historical monuments in Poland – the Centre for Documentation of Monuments, which was established in 1962. The organisational structure of the institution evolved, but among its priority tasks there were still documentation-related works: collection, elaboration and making available of the record of monuments in the form of record documentation and legal documentation of all registered monuments. The department which has carried out these tasks in a virtually unaltered manner is the current Monument Record and Register Department. The current tasks of the Department include also the elaboration of documentation standards, preparation of the record, keeping of the register of monuments and training of conservation services in this respect. Currently we are also supervising the performance of the monument register verification project – the description of the resource of monuments in Poland. These activities make it possible to provide successive generations with knowledge on the material culture of our ancestors, on authentic, transformed or defunct objects, complexes of objects and the cultural landscape. Our documentations are used in scientific studies and research works and constitute a basis for conservation projects. They are used for restoring the destroyed and defunct objects that constitute a significant element of national heritage. The Monument Record and Register Department collects, elaborates and provides access to knowledge on monuments in Poland in a continuous manner (under various names). MRRD collects duplicates of the documentation of monuments forming a part of the collection of the national record of monuments, which is elaborated for the needs of voivodeship conservators and by voivodeship conservators of monuments, that are sent to NHBP. The record as a form of documentation dates back to the middle of the 18th century and its legal grounds were established in 1928. The following record documentations are kept in the Monument Record and Register Department (amount as at 31.12.2011): • record cards of monuments of architecture and historic buildings (138,304 items, including 104,420 white cards and 33,884 green cards), • address cards of monuments (650,000), • records of historic greens (9,249), • record cards of cemeteries (25,367), • town planning files (1,274), • cards of movable monuments (371,876), • record cards of movable monuments of technology (9,710). Other forms of record documentation being used currently are the communal record of monuments and record lists of monuments. The regular updating of the list of shortages is one of the elements of the keeping of the central record of monuments in the activity of MRRD. Many activities concerning the documentation of monuments are performed in accordance with the well-established tradition. The challenging process that is necessary to carry out is the digitalisation of collections of the record. The central register of monuments has been kept as a primary form of monument protection since 1962. The Department maintains a uniform database system, which is understood as a specially developed kind of software (Multiarch). The database of objects entered into the register of monuments that is kept in NHBP is the only database in Poland that encompasses all legally protected non-movable and movable monuments. The verification of the register of nonmovable movements is an important task co-ordinated by the Monument Record and Register Department, which has been carried out by Local Divisions of NHBP since the end of 2008. Long-term plans of verification of the register of monuments apply to movable monuments, too. In practice, the performance of the main aforementioned tasks is often connected with additional activities, part of which is a consequence of the employees’ own initiative, knowledge and commitment as well as identification with the 50-year tradition and achievements of NHBP’s predecessors.
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