Saxon Palace

The Saxon Palace (Polish: pałac Saski w Warszawie) was one of the most distinctive buildings in Warsaw, Poland before World War II. It was destroyed by German armed forces after the fall of the Warsaw Uprising in 1944 as part of their planned destruction of Warsaw and not rebuilt since. Ground work commenced in August 2022, after the Polish Government announced a plan regarding reconstruction of the building. It is expected to be completed by 2030.[3]

Saxon Palace
Pałac Saski
Saxon Palace, ca. 1890
General information
Architectural styleNeoclassical (1838)
Town or cityWarsaw
CountryPoland
Coordinates52°14′28″N 21°00′41″E
Construction started1666[1]
Renovated2030 (in progress)[2]
Destroyed1944
Design and construction
Architect(s)Adam Idźkowski (1838)
Saxon Palace in the 18th century, view from the Saxon Garden.
Saxon Palace, seen from Saxon Square. Before the arcade housing the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier stands Thorvaldsen's equestrian statue of Prince Józef Poniatowski (after World War II, relocated to Krakowskie Przedmieście, in front of the Presidential Palace).

History

Up to World War I

The Saxon Palace had been preceded by a manor houses (dwór) belonging to Tobiasz Morsztyn. After 1661 his brother and heir Jan Andrzej Morsztyn had replaced the manor with a baroque palace with four towers, known as the Morsztyn Palace (Polish: Pałac Morsztynów).

In 1713 the Morsztyn Palace was purchased by the first of Poland's two Saxon kings, Augustus II (reigned in Poland 1697–1706 and 1709–33), who had it expanded and remodeled as part of his architectural concept of the Saxon Axis. Work on the palace was completed in 1748 by his son, King Augustus III.

In the early 19th century, the Saxon Palace housed the Warsaw Lyceum in which Frédéric Chopin's father Nicolas Chopin taught French, living with his family on the palace grounds.

The Palace was remodeled in 1842.[4]

Interbellum

After World War I, the Saxon Palace was the seat of the Polish General Staff. In 1925, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was established within the colonnade-topped arcade that joined the Palace's two symmetric wings.

The Palace continued to be sandwiched between the Saxon Garden, to its rear, and the Saxon Square in front (which would be renamed Piłsudski Square after the Marshal's death in 1935).

In this building, the German Enigma machine cipher was first broken in December 1932 and then read for several years before the General Staff Cipher Bureau German section's 1937 move to new, specially designed quarters near Pyry in the Kabaty Woods south of Warsaw.

During World War II, two months after the German suppression of the 1944 Warsaw Uprising, the Saxon Palace was blown up by the Germans as part of their planned destruction of Warsaw.[5][6] Only parts of the central arcade remained, housing the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which escaped destruction.[7]

Since World War II

There are plans to reconstruct the Saxon Palace.[8] The palace cellars were excavated in 2006, uncovering some 20,000 objects. The palace's reconstruction was formerly scheduled for completion by 2010.[9] The reconstructed building was planned to house Warsaw's city hall, but due to Warsaw's budget problems caused by the Great Recession (2000s), and subsequent cuts, the reconstruction has been on hold. On 11 November 2018, in celebration of the 100th anniversary of Poland's post-World War I independence, President Andrzej Duda reaffirmed the intent to rebuild the palace.[10]

  • The Palace (middle) and Alexander Nevsky Cathedral (top) before 1924, when the cathedral's demolition began
    The Palace (middle) and Alexander Nevsky Cathedral (top) before 1924, when the cathedral's demolition began
  • German horse artillery parading before the Palace, autumn 1939
    German horse artillery parading before the Palace, autumn 1939
  • Remains of the Palace, 1945
    Remains of the Palace, 1945
  • Excavated foundations of the Palace
    Excavated foundations of the Palace
  • Excavated foundations of the Palace
    Excavated foundations of the Palace

See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Saxon Palace.

References
  1. State Archive of the Capital City of Warsaw, Oś Saska. Pałac Saski [Saxon Axis. Saxon Palace] (in Polish), retrieved 2013-01-16
  2. "Reconstruction of Warsaw palace destroyed in WWII begins". tvpworld.com. 18 August 2022. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
  3. "Poland begins work to rebuild historic Saxon Palace: officials". PolskieRadio.pl. 19 August 2022. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
  4. Wilczek, Maria (7 July 2021). "Warsaw palace destroyed in WWII to be rebuilt". Notes From Poland. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
  5. A. Franta, O Placu Piłsudskiego, tożsamości i ładzie [Marshall Pilsudski Square in Warsaw - good or wrong? - identity, harmony, catastrophy] (in Polish and English), retrieved 2013-01-16
  6. "Urban revitalization. Breathing New Live into Historic Sites". The official website of the City of Warsaw. Archived from the original on 2008-09-17.
  7. State Archive of the Capital City of Warsaw, Oś Saska. Druga Wojna Światowa [Saxon Axis. Second World War] (in Polish), retrieved 2013-01-16
  8. "The City Voice. As good as new", The official website of the City of Warsaw, 2006-03-01, archived from the original on 2008-05-20
  9. "History Unearthed at Saski Palace". The Warsaw Voice. 6 December 2006. Archived from the original on 18 February 2007. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
  10. "Up, up and away: president announces plans to rebuild historic palace in the heart of Warsaw", The First News, 2018-11-18, retrieved 2019-03-31
  • Władysław Kozaczuk, Enigma: How the German Machine Cipher Was Broken, and How It Was Read by the Allies in World War II, edited and translated by Christopher Kasparek, Frederick, Maryland, University Publications of America, 1984, ISBN 0-89093-547-5.
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