Poland • Wszystko co najważniejsze

Karol POLEJOWSKI

For Bread and Freedom

Seventy years ago, workers from the region’s largest factories, joined by the people of Poznań, courageously demanded a dignified life and independence. The authorities decided to deploy military force despite the initially peaceful nature of the demonstration. On 28 June 1956, a crowd of 100,000 demonstrators took to the streets to call for justice, improved working conditions, bread, freedom and the withdrawal of Soviet troops from the country.

Jolanta PAWNIK

How Wrocław brought to life the most radical opposition movement in the Polish People’s Republic

‘The first issue of Fighting Solidarity: A Journal of the Underground Solidarity Movement was published in Wrocław in June 1982.

Jolanta PAWNIK

How Mediaeval Wrocław Survived One of Poland’s Most Devastating Earthquakes

At the beginning of June 1443, the inhabitants of Wrocław experienced an event that neither contemporary chroniclers nor scholars were able to explain...

Jolanta PAWNIK

Biuletyn Dolnośląski. Wrocław’s Voice of Free Speech

‘During the communist era, Wrocław was not only one of Poland’s most important centres of opposition but also one of the country’s strongest bastions ...

Magdalena OKULOWSKA

Radosław MICHALSKI

European Space Agency in Wrocław. Not merely an investment, but a development choice for Poland

‘As Europe grows ever more aware of the importance of technological sovereignty, the question of where to locate Poland’s office of the European Space...

Jolanta PAWNIK

For Poland and for Wrocław – Celebrating Kornel Morawiecki on the 85th anniversary of his birth

Most of Kornel Morawiecki’s adult years have been spent in Wrocław, even though he was born in Warsaw, specifically in Kamionek in the Praga neighbour...

Jolanta PAWNIK

Helena Krzemieniewska – a pioneer of microbiology in Wrocław

At the age when most people think about retiring, she was embarking on a fresh start.

Jan ROKITA

The Katyn Lie

The Katyn lie was a primal falsehood, a kind of mother of all the lies Europe proved willing to accept under Russian pressure – and at times even with...

Karol POLEJOWSKI

The Katyń Wound

Eighty-six years have passed since the Soviets executed thousands of Polish detainees and prisoners of war without trial.

Prof. John RINK

Notes from the Jury – Reflections on the 19th Chopin Competition

The International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition – held every five years in Warsaw – is one of the most prestigious events of its kind.

Marcin WĄSOWSKI

‘I do not know who is first, but second, beyond any doubt, is Lipiński.’

That is what Niccolò Paganini replied when asked who the greatest living violin virtuoso might be.

Stanisław LESZCZYŃSKI

Chopin and the Rest of the World

In August and September 2024, the Fryderyk Chopin Institute invites audiences to the jubilee twentieth edition of the International Music Festival ‘Ch...

Artur SZKLENER

The History of Fryderyk Chopin’s Heart

In 1879, on the 30th anniversary of Chopin’s death, the Warsaw Music Society arranged for the urn holding his heart to be entombed in the first pillar...

Michał PIEKARSKI.

Lwow – Centre of Polish Musical Culture in the Long Nineteenth Century

Lwow came to be known as ‘the most musical of Polish cities’ not only because of its official concert life but also owing to its vibrant salon culture...

Artur SZKLENER

The Polish Dimension and Universality

What makes the Chopin Competition so remarkable is the unprecedented level of audience interest, this year exceeding even the boldest expectations.

Ewa BOGULA-GNIAZDOWSKA

Ignacy Feliks Dobrzyński - A Remarkable Talent

The only tangible trace of a link between the two composers is Dobrzyński’s Funeral March on the Death of Fryderyk Chopin, Op.

Silvia BRUNI

Italians’ Love for Chopin

The Polish composer has always held a special place in the hearts of the Italian people, cherished as an intimate secret whose veil of mystery is occa...

Magdalena OLIFERKO-STORCK

Chopin without white gloves. The hidden dimensions of Chopin’s relationship with Fontana

Fontana’s relationship with Chopin held layers of factual, psychological and artistic depth, only recently brought to light.

Prof. David FANNING

Was Chopin an Important Influence on Weinberg?

On the day of his 75th birthday (8 December 1994) with only 15 months to live, the already bedridden Mieczsyław Weinberg received numerous telephone c...

Prof. Magdalena DZIADEK

Chopin’s Music and the Upper Classes

After 1918, public reverence for Fryderyk Chopin flourished in Poland, rooted in particularly firm ground.

Marek MUTOR

The truth about the victims of totalitarian regimes as a value for contemporary European civilisation

‘Commemorating the victims of totalitarian systems is not only an act of justice but also a way to fight for the soul of Europe.

Michał KŁOSOWSKI

The City that Inherited Logic

‘What does it mean to think in Polish? Is such a thing even possible?

Nadia FEDECZKO

On One Side of the Barricade

Polish-Ukrainian partnership during wartime is the key to Europe’s security.

Jolanta PAWNIK

From the Leopoldina to the University of Wrocław – Three Centuries of Academic History

‘On 15 November 1702, an institution opened in Wrocław that would permanently alter the intellectual landscape of Silesia.

Michał KŁOSOWSKI

Wrocław’s Road to Independence

When Poland regained independence in November 1918, Wrocław, then known as Breslau, remained under German control, far removed from the borders of the...

Karol NAWROCKI

The Celebration of Free Poles

Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, Poland was truly independent for barely more than thirty years.

Michał KŁOSOWSKI

Wrocław – A City Rebuilt Yet Still Unfinished

I still vividly remember my first impression of Wroclaw.

Jolanta PAWNIK

The Town Hall That Holds Wrocław’s History

With its lace-like façade and soaring tower, the Old Town Hall has for centuries been Wrocław’s most distinguished landmark and one of Europe’s finest...

Prof. Arkady RZEGOCKI

A Thousand Years of the Polish Crown. United in Freedom, Poland and Britain

The millennium of the Polish Crown is not only the anniversary of a state, but the celebration of a thousand years of striving to build a community fo...

Lauri HUSSAR

Our Will Is Stronger Than Any Fear

In Estonian capital, Tallinn, Lauri HUSSA, the Speaker of the Estonian Parliament, seat with Michał KŁOSOWSKI and talked about the deepening bond betw...

Tommaso della LONGA

Humanitarian Law Is No Longer Taken for Granted

At the 80th UN General Assembly in New York, Tommaso della Longa, delivers a stark warning: humanitarian workers are being killed at unprecedented lev...

Artur SZKLENER

The Ballad

The F minor Ballade, held up as the supreme achievement in the genre, through its references to tradition and its signposts for future generations of ...

Jolanta PAWNIK

A professor from Wrocław who paved the way for the creation of insulin

Among the exceptional physicians associated with Wrocław, particular recognition should be given to Oskar Minkowski, whose findings laid the foundatio...

Karol NAWROCKI

Neo–imperial and neo–colonial Russia is attempting to destroy the architecture of international security

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is not only the most serious conflict in Europe since World War II, but also a turning point.

Michał KŁOSOWSKI

The City of Crime and Stories

Wrocław’s crime novels, steeped in darkness and unease, both entice and unsettle, stirring us to see the city not only as a place of beauty but as an ...