Wawel Royal Castle - the ups and downs over seven centuries

A cover from Krakow - Wawel Post office 🏤 

With this postcard showing the magnificent Wawel castle on the Wawel hill in the centre of Krakow. 

The Wawel Castle is a castle residency located in central Kraków, Poland. Built at the behest of King Casimir III the Great. The Wawel Royal Castle and the Wawel Hill constitute the most historically and culturally significant site in the country. In 1978 it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of the Historic Centre of Kraków.

Casimir III the Great  reigned as the King of Poland from 1333 to 1370. He was the third son of King Władysław I  and Duchess Jadwiga of Kalisz, and the last Polish king from the Piast dynasty, since he did not leave behind a male heir. Kazimierz inherited a kingdom weakened by war and made it prosperous and wealthy. He reformed the Polish army and doubled the size of the kingdom. Kazimierz built extensively and founded the University of Kraków.

....1500s

During the early 16th century King Sigismund I the Old (Zygmunt I in Polish) and his wife brought in the best native and foreign artists including Italian architects, sculptors, and German decorators, to refurbish the castle into a splendid Renaissance palace. It soon became a paragon of stately residence in Central and Eastern Europe and served widely as a model throughout the region.

In the fire of 1595, the northeast part of the castle burned down. King Sigismund III Vasarebuilt it, although of his efforts only the Senator Stairs and the fireplace in the Bird Room remain today.

....1600s...

 In 1609 King Sigismund moved the capital to Warsaw, and tough times for Wawel began. Both the castle and other buildings were neglected despite the concerns of local governors. 

The Swedish invasions of 1655–1657 and 1702 contributed to the further deterioration of the castle.

....1700s..

The Hill was occupied by the Prussian Army in 1794. Royal Insignia were stolen and never retrieved 

After the Third Partition of Poland (1795) Wawel, as an important defensive point, was mostly demolished and the remaining part was modernised by Austrians with defensive walls. 

....1900s...

In the second part of the 19th century the Austrians redesigned the defensive walls making them a part of a stronghold. However, in 1905 the emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria gave an order for Austrian troops to leave Wawel. The renovations of the Wawel Hill were financed by public subscriptions.

After World War I, the authorities of the newly independent Polish Second Republic decided that Wawel Castle was to become a representative building of the Polish state and would be used by the Governor and later by the President himself.

Following the ravages of World War II, by the decree of the State National Council, Wawel Castle became a national museum.

The cover bears the postmark of the Wawel post office and the pictorial postmark of the Royal castle 🏰 Sigismund cathedral inside the royal castle ! - the cathedral was built in 1519-33 , by Italian architect - Bartolomeo Berrecci, financed by King Sigismund I - and is a masterpiece of Polish Architecture and the most beautiful example of Tuscan Renaissance north of the Alps ! 

Confederation of Bar

 Polish Barska Konfederacja (1768–72)

The Poland- Lithuanian Commonwealth state had lost its glory towards the end of the 18th century and was reduced to a weak state. Russia had gained power after its victory over the Ottomans. Russia , Austria and Prussia tried to keep the Commonwealth weak ! 

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In February 1768, Russia had compelled the Polish Sejm (legislature) to abandon projects for internal reform, to grant full political rights to religious dissenters (i.e., members of the Protestant and Orthodox faiths), and to make Poland a Russian protectorate. 

Adam Krasinski 

Caisimer Pulaski

In reaction, Adam Krasiński, the bishop of Kamieniec, Józef Pułaski, and Michał Krasiński organized a confederation at the little fortress of Bar in Podolia (Feb. 29, 1768) to oppose both the Polish king Stanisław II August Poniatowski and Russia.

King Stanislaw August Poniatowski 

The confederation Bar - The league of Polish nobles and gentry that was formed to defend the liberties of the nobility within the Roman Catholic Church and the independence of Poland from Russian encroachment. Its activities precipitated a civil war, foreign intervention, and the First Partition of Poland

Forced by the king’s army to abandon Bar, the confederates were generally checked in Poland’s southeastern provinces (summer 1768) by Russian troops, who had been occupying Warsaw during the Sejm’s session. Nevertheless, uprisings occurred in support of the confederation in all of Poland’s major cities; and under the military leadership of Ignacy Malczewski, Prince Karol Radziwiłł, and Kazimierz Pułaski, the confederates spread their rebellion throughout the country and gained the support of the Turks (who declared war on Russia on Oct. 8, 1768) and of the French (who sent advisers and some troops to the confederates). The confederates proclaimed the dethronement of Stanisław (Oct. 22, 1770) and refused to surrender to the Russians, whose continued military victories culminated in General Aleksandr Vasilyevich Suvorov’s triumph over the confederate army near Lanckorona (May 1771).

Thanks Wojtek for this beautiful cover - which speaks of the greatness of King Casimir III  ( who steered Poland from poverty towards the path of resurgence ) and the ineffectiveness of another king Stanislaw August Poniatowski ( who paved the way for the first partition of Poland ) !