Where Is Poland? | Zakopane

Chapter 8

Zakopane

Zakopane was a small mountain town which became Poland’s spiritual capital and an enclave of freedom . It was beloved by artists , and the local architecture was widely hailed as the national style .

Shepherds in the Tatras, 1871. Photo: Hermann Vogel. Source: Polona.pl

Oasis in the mountains

The artist Stanisław Witkiewicz claimed that 'Poles had plenty to be thankful to tuberculosis for'. The Varsovian doctor Tytus Chałubiński created a trend among his patients – the crème de la crème of Warsaw’s high society – for ‘taking the air’ in the Tatra Mountains. Regardless of their health, visitors became enchanted by the atmosphere of this Polish oasis, seemingly existing outside the partitions.

The town became an artistic salon and an alternative to Polish autonomy; the provincial locale was not of great interest to the Austrian authorities, so Poles were free to develop their own civic institutions. Artists such as Helena Modrzejewska and Henryk Sienkiewicz loved it so much they made it their home.

The artist Wojciech Kossak said:

Zakopane of its day, or perhaps more broadly the Tatra Mountains, provided so much that in spite of inconveniences and shortages every year the Polish cultural elites flocked there. Hot Polish hearts craved this beautiful corner, untouched by any of the epidemics afflicting other regions of Poland. One never saw Muscovites or Prussians, and Austrian rule also stretched only as far as Nowy Targ.

Excursion to Tatra Mountains, 1900. Source: The Tatra Museum in Zakopane

The Tatra craze

The Tatra craze was particularly prominent during the Young Poland period. Poland’s bohemia flocked from all over the country to create art, to engage in debate and subterfuge, to hike, to attempt to communicate with spirits at séances, to practice yoga – or even a bit of all these things. Stanisław Witkiewicz said that everything that happens anywhere in Poland is reflected in Zakopane.

The Tatras became a post-Romantic mythical land which would bring liberation to the whole country. Jan Majda wrote in his book 'Literary Tatras of the Young Poland Period':

'Writers have created their own separate world there, an arcadia, and erected tribunes on mountaintops which they climb as prophets and teachers, interpreters of earthly and cosmic matters (…) From there they call for the reorganisation of Polish life, for it to be given a renewed sense.'

In search of a national style

The relations between the visiting intelligentsia and the mountainous region’s local inhabitants were unconventional for a post-feudal society. The Highlanders were treated with respect and venerated in literature, with the best mountain guides being hailed as local heroes.

The ethnographic interest in local folklore gave rise to the Zakopane style. Its founder, Stanisław Witkiewicz, perceived certain ancient Polish traditions still surviving in the local architecture and ornamentation, forgotten or neglected in other regions. Their propagators and imitators wished to 'cover Poland with a Highlander roof', reviving this supposedly native element. This was a powerful voice in the discourse on a national Polish style, with growing numbers of Zakopane-style artworks and buildings appearing in the Russian partition as a way of expressing political resistance.

The Tatra influence swept through all fields of the arts. The Kilim Association promoted design inspired by local folklore. When Ignacy Paderewski visited Chałubiński in 1883, he discovered the most famous local musician of the era, Bartuś Obrochta. The music inspired him to compose his poetic cycle Album Tatrzański [Tatra Album].

Villa 'Zofiówka' in Zakopane, 1900. Source: The Tatra Museum in Zakopane

Villa 'Konstantynówka' in Zakopane, 1906. Source: Polona.pl

Chapel in Jaszczurówka, 1906. Source: Polona.pl

Villa 'Koliba', 1903. Source: The Tatra Museum in Zakopane Villa 'Pod Jedlami', Zakopane 1900-1904. Source: The Tatra Museum in Zakopane

Villa 'Pod Jedlami', Zakopane 1900-1904. Source: The Tatra Museum in Zakopane