The Royal Castle in Warsaw: Rooms of the Presidents of the Second Polish Republic and the Authorities in Exile

The reconstruction of the Castle after the destruction of World War II, for political reasons, did not provide for the reconstruction of the presidential suite, which was occupied by Ignacy Mościcki in 1926-1939. It was not until the 1990s that a space dedicated to the Presidents of the Second Polish Republic and the Polish Authorities in Exile began to function temporarily on the 2nd floor of the Castle. Now they come back permanently in a new arrangement

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- The opening of these two presidential rooms is a reference to the tradition of the Castle as a place of office and residence for the head of state of the Second Polish Republic. - reminds prof. Wojciech Fałkowski, director of the Castle. - After Poland regained independence in 1918, the Castle was put at the disposal of the Chief of State, Józef Piłsudski, and then the presidents. Gabriel Narutowicz did not manage to develop it here, but Stanisław Wojciechowski, although he resided in the Belweder Palace, also carried out part of his political and representative activity in the historic seat of the kings. And the president, Ignacy Mościcki, chose the Castle not only as a place of office, but also a place of residence.

The director of the Castle also emphasizes that the current opening of both presidential rooms takes place at a time referring to the transfer of the presidential insignia of the Second Polish Republic by the last president in exile, Ryszard Kaczorowski, to President Lech Wałęsa - in December 1990, which emphasized the continuity between the Second Polish Republic and today.

Symbolically referring to the interwar period, the Cabinet of President Ignacy Mościcki evokes the atmosphere of the office in which the president was in office, received prime ministers, guests and delegations. It was arranged using photos from before 1939 and a set of furniture preserved with dragons.

President Ignacy Mościcki looks at us from the portrait above the desk. The room also contained portraits of his predecessors - presidents Gabriel Narutowicz and Stanisław Wojciechowski, and busts of the head of state, Marshal Józef Piłsudski and Prime Minister Ignacy Jan Paderewski.

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In this interior, we will also see the restored "Roman doors" from around 1810 - from the set that in the 1930s was the decoration of the reception rooms in this part of the Castle (coming from the Roman Tyszkiewicz Palace). Destroyed in 1939 during the bombing of the building by the Germans, they resemble the dramatic war fate of the Castle.

Zamek Królewski w Warszawie: Pokoje Prezydentów II RP i Władz na Uchodźstwie

The history of the interwar castle also tells the story of the new album "The Royal Castle in the Second Polish Republic. Residence of President Mościcki ”edited by Anna Czekaj, curator of the Royal Castle. It contains over 200 archival photographs and essays about the life of the Castle at that time.

The Cabinet of Polish Authorities in Exile, arranged in the next room, refers to the Seat of Polish Authorities in Exile, which from 1940 was located in London at 43 Eaton Place and was commonly known as the "Castle" among the Polish community.

The post ceased to function after the presidential elections in Poland in 1990, when the last president of Poland in exile, Ryszard Kaczorowski, handed over the presidential insignia of the Second Republic to President Lech Wałęsa, thus ending the activities of the London government.

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In the office at the Royal Castle in Warsaw, there are portraits of six presidents in exile: Władysław Raczkiewicz, August Zaleski, Stanisław Ostrowski, Edward Raczyński, Kazimierz Sabbat and Ryszard Kaczorowski. As well as some of the furniture in the London office and souvenirs from it.

You can here, among others see stamps of various state organs from before 1939, glass, porcelain, silver from presidential tableware (glass, porcelain, silver) from the pre-war Castle. And also carpets made in 1943–1944 in Esfahan by Polish women who managed to get out of the USSR, referring to the routes and fate of Polish emigration during the war.

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The rooms of the Presidents of the Second Polish Republic and the Authorities in Exile are available with a ticket to visit the Royal Route.