Poland’s Contribution to the European CultureThroughout centuries, especially during the periods of Renaissance and Enlightenment, Poland made a frequent and abundant use of West European cultural and artistic resources. Thanks to vigorous political and economic relations, new trends in the western architecture, painting, literature, decorative art and music were easily finding their way to Poland. The greatest achievements of western culture were promoted by young Poles returning home after studies at Italian, German and French universities. The Polish royal court and magnate residences as well as developing Polish cities were becoming home or temporarily hosted many renown foreign artists. They were authors of the most sumptuous Renaissance, Baroque and Neo-classical buildings, splendid castles and palaces, gardens, churches, and burgher houses; they also created in Poland a great number of paintings and sculptures, which are now showpieces of many museums. At its prime, multi-national and cosmopolitan Poland channelled western and eastern cultural trends. And that was clearly visible in original works that joined remote and dissimilar traditions – many of them became part of European cultural heritage. In the late-18th century and throughout the 19th century, when Poland lost its independence, many artists, authors and scientists emigrated to West European countries, taking with themselves centuries-long traditions of Polish culture and art. The leading figure among those artists was Frédéric Chopin, the worldwide known Polish composer. He was born in 1810 at Sochaczew, where his French-born father worked as tutor on a local estate. The future composer visited the place only as a child, but he remembered those visits throughout his whole life. The memories of Mazovian nostalgic landscapes and the rich folklore environs could later be traced in his music. Fifty kilometres west of Warsaw, a tiny village of Sochaczew owns its fame to the Romantic little manor where the composer was born, and which contains a museum, where music cocerts are held on Sundays. The nearby village of Brochow is noted for its 16th-century Gothic church in which Chopin was baptised: the certificate is still there. Chopin left Poland at the age of 20; prior to his departure, Warsaw was the city, where he spent most of his young years, went to school, studied and gave recitals. Places connected with his life and work are willingly visited by tourists. The Ostrogski Palace is the seat of the Chopin Society and it contains a small Chopin museum. The Holy Cross Church houses an epitaph to Chopin and an urn with his heart; his tomb is in the Parisian cemetery of Pére Lachaise. The Chopin Monument can be admired in the Royal Łazienki Park; open-air concerts are held here on summer Sundays. The International Chopin Competitions are organised in Warsaw every fifth year. The fate of émigrés was also shared by the greatest Polish poets, Adam Mickiewicz and Juliusz Słowacki. Literary talents of Bolesław Prus, Henryk Sienkiewicz and Józef Ignacy Kraszewski appeared towards the end of the 19th century. Henryk Sienkiewicz was the first Polish writer to become a Nobel Prize-winner in 1905 for Quo Vadis – he also wrote other important historical novels, but the only one to make a world career was Quo Vadis, translated into many languages. Władysław Reymont is another Polish writer who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1924 for his great epic novel entitled Peasants. Among his other literary works, the most important is the novel Promised Land. Towards the end of the last century, two Polish poets were granted that prestigious award: Czesław Miłosz (1980) and Wisława Szymborska (1996). The contemporary Polish culture can boast a few other authors renown and valued worldwide. For example, composers Krzysztof Penderecki and Witold Lutosławski, or film director Andrzej Wajda. To the rich European culture contributed all nations; the priceless traditions built up for centuries. They must not be underestimated, especially in the era of cultural globalisation and the promotion of mass culture.
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