Wawel - 20th Century

20th Century

In 1905 the emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria gave an order for Austrian troops to leave Wawel. Restoration works began, managed by Zygmund Hendel Adolf Szyszko-Bohusz, who discovered the Rotunda of Virgin Mary as well as other relics of the past. The renovation of the Wawel Hill was by public subscription. The names of the people who gave money were inscribed on the bricks used to raise the wall near the northern gateway to the castle. Coat of Arms Gate was built there and the statue of Tadeusz Kościuszko was placed there, too. In the years 1904-1907 Stanisław Wyspiański and the architect Władysław Ekielski designed a plan of development for the Wawel Hill called Akropolis. This project, which was never accomplished, aimed at building on the hill: the Polish Houses of Parliament, the National Museum, Skills Academy and Bishop Curia. The overall design was supposed to be based on the ancient architectural style. The authors planned to build a Greek-style theatre and Nike statue. In the 20th century the Wawel Cathedral gained two new tombstones: queen's Jadwiga of Poland (1902) and symbolical one of Władysław Warneńczyk (1906); both were designed by Antoni Madeyski.

In the years 1902-1904 Włodzimierz Tetmajer decorated the walls of Queen Sophia’s Chapel with paintings depicting Polish saints and national heroes. Józef Mehoffer was the author of beautiful murals in the vault of the Wawel Cathedral, stained-glass windows in the St. Cross Chapel, paintings and a stained-glass window in the Szafrańcy Chapel. He also made stained-glass windows in the transept of the Wawel Cathedral which depict the suffering Christ and Virgin Mary. During Poland’s twenty years of independence after World War I, Polish authorities decided that the Wawel Castle was to be a representative building of the Polish Republic and would be used by the State Governor and later by the President himself. In 1921 the Polish Parliament passed a resolution which gave Wawel official status of the residence of the President of Poland (the luxurious suite of the president Ignacy Mościcki can be seen). No legal acts issued by the independent Polish authorities nullified that resolution (apart from the decision of the Stalinist State National Council (KRN) to change the Wawel Castle into a museum). In 1921 a statue of Tadeusz Kościuszko sculpted by Leandro Marconi and Antoni Popiel was placed on the rampart of king Władysław IV Vasa. In 1927 the ashes of Juliusz Słowacki were brought to the Wawel Cathedral. The bodies of Józef Piłsudski and Władysław Sikorski were placed to rest in the crypts. In the times of World War II the Wawel Castle was the residence of governor general Hans Frank. During that time many precious monuments were taken away and to this day have not returned to Poland.