Saxon Palace
| Saxon Palace | |
|---|---|
 Saxon Palace, ca. 1890 |
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| General information | |
| Architectural style | Neoclassical (1838) |
| Town or city | Warsaw |
| Country | Poland |
| Construction started | 1666[1] |
| Demolished | 1944 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Adam Idźkowski (1838) |
The Saxon Palace (Polish: pałac Saski w Warszawie) was one of the most distinctive buildings in prewar Warsaw, Poland.
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] To World War I
The Saxon Palace had originally been a private palace of the Morsztyn family (Pałac Morsztynów), then had been purchased and enlarged by the first of Poland's two Saxon kings, August II (reigned in Poland 1697–1706 and 1709–33).
In the early 19th century, the Saxon Palace housed the Warsaw Lyceum in which Frederick Chopin's father taught French, living with his family on the palace grounds.
The Palace was remodeled in 1842.
[edit] Interbellum
After World War I, the Saxon Palace served as 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).
It was in this building that the German Enigma machine cipher was first broken in December 1932 and then read for several years prior to 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, the Saxon Palace was destroyed (it was blown up by the Germans after the collapse of the Warsaw Uprising in 1944[2][3]) except for the central part of the arcade, housing the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which somehow managed to survive.[4]
[edit] Since World War II
There are plans to reconstruct the Saxon Palace.[5] The palace cellars were excavated in 2006, uncovering some 20,000 objects. Reconstruction of the palace was formerly scheduled for completion by 2009.[6]
[edit] Gallery
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The Palace (middle) and Alexander Nevsky Cathedrall (top) before 1924, when the Cathedral's demolition began
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German horse artillery parading before the Palace, Autumn 1939
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Remains of the Palace, 1945
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Excavated foundations of the Palace
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Excavated foundations of the Palace
[edit] See also
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Saxon Palace |
- Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Warsaw
- Cipher Bureau (Polish: Biuro Szyfrów).
- Saxon Garden
- Saxon Axis
- Brühl Palace
- Planned destruction of Warsaw
[edit] Notes
- ^ Oś Saska. Pałac Saski (Saxon Axis. Saxon Palace), State Archive of the Capital City of Warsaw [1]
- ^ A. Franta, O Placu Piłsudskiego, tożsamości i ładzie
- ^ Urban revitalization. Breathing New Live into Historic Sites, www.e-warsaw.pl
- ^ Oś Saska. Druga Wojna Światowa (Saxon Axis. Second World War), State Archive of the Capital City of Warsaw [2]
- ^ The City Voice, As good as new. The official website of the City of Warsaw [3].
- ^ http://www.warsawvoice.pl/view/13251/
[edit] References
- 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.
[edit] External links
- (Polish) Warsaw before 1939
- (Polish) Picture gallery of Saxon Square
- (Polish) History of the Saxon Palace and the Saxon Axis
Coordinates: 52°14′28″N 21°00′41″E / 52.24111°N 21.01139°E
- Houses completed in the 17th century
- Houses completed in the 18th century
- Houses completed in the 19th century
- Neoclassical architecture in Warsaw
- Palaces in Warsaw
- Royal residences in Poland
- Buildings and structures in Poland destroyed during World War II
- Demolished buildings and structures
- Destroyed landmarks
- Former palaces
- Former buildings and structures of Poland
