Biking through Krakow

Tuesday, we walked around, and found the art museum...the closed for renovation art museum. Leonardo da Vinci's second most well known painting, Portrait of a Lady with an Ermine, is here, and we wanted to see it. No dice.

We walked into this nice church.

Then, at 11, we went to the Collegium Maius at the Jagellorian University to see the clock do it's song and dance. We took the tour, which was interesting, and I loved learning about the history of one of Europe’s oldest universities. I love the history of colleges and universities. It’s sort of strange. Once, when I had to write a paper in college about women’s history, I chose to write about the oldest women’s colleges in the US. My independent study paper in college, master’s thesis and dissertation all deal with the history of higher ed, and my first book is a history of Furman. I just love this stuff. Universities are such special places and I feel so privileged to be part of a university community.
Jagellorian University (pronounced Yagellorian) was established in 1360. At the Collegium Maius, the oldest surviving university building in Poland, faculty worked and lived in this building. King Kasmir the Great founded the university.

We went into the university library. Only the most important mtgs of the university are held here today.

The statue is of King Kasmir the Great.

Then we went into the treasury to see the Jagellorian Globe, the first globe made that includes North America. It was made in France in 1510. Evidently the location of North America was lost in translation, bc North America appears just south of a very large Madagascar and next to an even larger India. The Caribbean islands of Cuba and Haiti are on this globe, denoted by the words Isabella and Hispaniola.

The university’s 2 original charters were destroyed during WWII but we saw copies made from photos of the originals. The chain connected to the university mace is from the 6th century. The coat of arms features 2 scepters, symbols of the rector’s (chancellor or president) power. The Noble Prize medal for literature 1996 was on display; it was won by a Polish poet. There were also awards from Cannes, Venice and one German film festival won by Andrea Wadja.

Nicholas Copernicus studied here in the 1490s. He studied liberal arts, as all students did, before each student chose to specialize in medicine, law or theology.

I was thrilled to see where Copernicus studied. I used to teach Copernicus’ On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres (1543). For years, Furman students and I read and discussed the foreword from the book. This book proposes the heliocentric, as opposed to the geocentric model for the universe. Copernicus dedicated the foreword to the Pope at the time and had it published in 1543 while on his deathbed. He was worried the Catholic Church would condemn him for publishing information that conflicted with the church’s understanding of the universe. I admire Copernicus, and felt bad that he had to hold back his research findings bc of fear from reprisal. In the 17th century, the Catholic Church added On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres to its list of forbidden books and meanwhile, proceeded to try to hush Galileo, whose research confirmed Copernican theory. On the wall in what is now known as the Copernicus Room, there is a signed photo of the Earth taken from the moon. It has Neil Armstrong’s signature on it; he gave it to the university on the 500th anniversary of Copernicus’ birthday.

Another famous graduate of Jagellorian University is Karol Wojtyla, the future Pope John Paul II! He studied under some trying conditions. In 1939, the Germans closed down the unviersity. There was a meeting of university faculty on November 6, 1939, just over two months after the Germans had marched into Poland. The meeting was a trap. They were arrested by the Gestapo. Over one thousand university faculty were sent to concentration camps, including Dachau, as part of Germany’s effort to kill the intelligentsia. There was widespread outcry across Europe, and the oldest faculty were released. Some of them began holding classes in their homes, continuing to educat underground at great risk to themselves and their students. Now, the motto of the university is translated from Latin: “Let Reason Rule, Not Force.”

Karol Wojtyla was one of those students who studied in this underground Jagellorian University.

Wojtyla had come to Krakow in 1939 to study. He stayed here for the next 40 years, becoming bishop and then a cardinal. We saw where he lived, in the Bishop’s Palace.

Can you see the painting they put in the window? Sweet man...he is so loved here.

Evidently when he died in 2005, this entire street was closed because candles lined the entire street. Pope John Paul II was more than Pope to the people of Poland and especially Krakow, our bike guide explained to us. The Poles take an immense amount of pride in him. 95% of this country is Roman Catholic.

We learne that women were admitted into the university officially in the 1800s, although our guide told us a story of one woman, Navoka, who dressed as a man and attended classes in the 1500s. Her sex was discovered, however, and she was sent to a convent.

I enjoyed the tour. I also enjoyed taking photos in the courtyard afterwards.

Afterwards, we bought tickets for a Chopin Concert at Restauarant Wierzynek. This the "Year of Chopin" here, bc it is the anniversary of his birthday. I am really looking forward to this concert tomorrow evening.


Then we had one of those pretzel things from a street vendor for lunch.

We began our bike tour at 1 and it lasted about 4 hours. We covered about 14 km and I learned some interesting details about local history. The tour started at Rynok Glowny. We learned that Krakow served as the capital for the German government during WWII, and that Rynok Glowny was renamed Adolf Hitler Platz during the German occupation. We procedded to circle Krakow by riding through the park. The city walls were removed in the 1800s and replaced by a 3km park. It is nice to have this part of town completely surrounded by a park.

We passed the Barbicon and the Florian Gate. I learned that St. Florin is the patron saint not only of firemen but also of Karkow, and that today is St. Florin’s Day. Lots of holidays here…May Day was the 1st, the 2nd was Flag Day, the 3rd was Constitution Day, and now the 4th is the city’s patron saint’s day. Perhaps I should tell them that tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo in the US (and Happy Birthday Lisa P!), in case they are going through holiday withdrawl.

Our guide conveyed some interesting info. He said Poland has not suffered any recession in the recent econ crisis. He informed us that Krakow is very much a university town. It’s population of 800,000 includes 150,000 students. He mentioned that the recent president’s burial in the National Cathedral was highly controversial, bc the President was buried alongside Polish Kings. He mentioned that the president wasn’t that popular and had no chance to be re-elected later this year. He mentioned that the funeral had a strong Catholic and military focus, and used this to make the point that Poland is a very traditional country.

We pedalled past Jagellorian University, founded in 1360 during a time when Poland was one of the largest countries in Europe, stretching from the Baltic almost to the Black Sea. Cracow was its capital.

There is absolutely no shortage of people who have committed themslves to the Catholic Church here.

Then we pedalled to the home of Oscar Schindler. Evidently Liam Neeson lived in this apartment during filming, which was done almost entirely in Krakow.

Our guide told us that the release of Schindler’s List is a major milestone in the development of Krakow. Twenty years ago, Krakow was much smaller, with air connections only to Warsaw. Since the release of the film, interest in Krakow has resulted in greater wealth for the city, as tourism increased, turning Krakow into a truly metropolitan, world-class city that now has air connections to over 60 places worldwide, including Chicago (which has a big Polish contingent…Chicago recently had their own May 3rd parade, and also has some of the US’ largest May Day celebrations). So it seems that the film significantly changed this city…I’m sure the fall of the USSR helped as well.

 

The dragon is an important symbol for Krakow, and so we heard the tale of the little boy who slayed the dragon and kept the dragon from killing the King’s daughter. The dragon breathes fire every few minutes.
 

The dragon is near Wawel Castle, on the banks of the Vistula River.

We spent some time in the courtyard of St. Stanislav Church. I believe this is the seat of the Bishop. When Stanislav was a Bishop, he was killed by the Polish King and his bones were thrown into the water. The bones of the Bishop are believed to have been put back together and thus the Bishop “rises” out of the water here. Evidently at some point, Polish Kings were expected to come to the site where St. Stanislav was killed to beg for forgiveness before being coronated. There is a mineral spring with sulfur water in it that has health properties, so we drank some. It tasted like rotten egg flavored water. It better be healthy.

There was a nice statue of Pope John Paul II outside St. Stanislav’s. I saw a button yesterday that read, ”JP II loves you.” I was reminded of how John Paul II once responded to someone in a crowd during a visit to the US. When someone in the crowd yelled something along the lines of “We love you JP II,” he evidently replied, “JP II loves you.” Ha!

Yesterday, I saw a Polish doll. It reminded me of a woman with whom I did an oral history in 2008. She lives outside of Spartanburg and served as a nurse in the Polish Nurses’ Corps during WWII. She was at Monte Cassino during the battle there. Her daughter had to translate for both of us. She was a dear woman, and before I left her home, she gave me a doll from Poland wearing traditional country clothes. I met some of the kindest people doing those oral histories with the WWII generation.

Then we rode alongside the river, crossed the river, and headed to Kazimierz, the Jewish quarter. Our first stop was the Rynok, the Jewish market square. We took a break here and so Jeff and I split a quite plate of kielbasa and sauerkraut. I had sauerkraut, and he had the kielbasa. The brick structure in the middle of the rynok used to be a kosher butchery that sold meat from the circular structure’s many windows. Now, they sell inexpensive meat and food.

This courtyard was used in the filming of Schindler's List:

Poland has a very interesting and sad history in relation to Jews. During the 15th and 16th centuries, it was considered a Jewish “paradise” because the royal laws protected Jews in ways that other places throughout Europe didn’t. Before WWII, Warsaw had the second largest Jewish population in the world, behind NYC. The Jewish population of Poland was 3.5 million. The Jewish population of Krakow before WWII was 70,000. Today, the Jewish population of Krakow numbers only 200. Unbelievable.
The 7 synagogues that existed before the War remain. We saw 3 of them; 2 were museums. There is only one functioning synagogue in Krakow today.

This is the one active synagogue:

Here is a monument to the Jews killed during WWII. The monument has small rocks on it; it is a Jewish custom to place rocks on graves. Flowers wilt, but rocks stay forever.

Here, getting in his car, is evidently 1 of the 200 Jews living in Krakow today:

This section of the city is becoming known as a hot spot for nightlife and cafes. It is definitely turning over, having been almost completely abandoned for so long, but it still has a way to go. There is a lot of construction in this area, which bodes well.

We rode through the Jewish quarter to the area of the Jewish ghetto from WWII. From 1941- 1943, all Jews were forced to live in this ghetto. Since Krakow was the capital of the German government, they wanted Krakow to be free of Jews. All the locals living in this are who were not Jews were forced to leave, and all the Jews were forced to move in. Our guide told us that during the War it was crucial for the Jews of the ghetto to get a job. If one could obtain a job, the chances of staying in the ghetto and not being sent to a camp were higher. Oscar Schindler, who was a Nazi party member credited with saving 1100 Jewish lives by employing them in his factory, is one of the more famous employers. We learned about a pharmacist who worked in the only pharmacy in the ghetto. He wrote a book, describing how the only items left in the ghetto after all the Jews were forcibly removed were suitcases and chairs. From this, a monument was created. The monument includes a replica of the German guardhouse, and features 65 chairs, one for every thousand Krakow Jews killed during WWII. 65,000 of the 70,000 Jews of Krakow were killed during the war. The most famous survivor of the Krakow ghetto is Polish filmmaker Roman Polanski, whose mother was killed at Auschwitz.

Here is the pharmacy:

Here is our group. They put us on their website: http://blog.cooltourcompany.com/our-groups/4-may-on-foot-wheels-around-krakow.html No need to check it out; it doesn't really say anything.

The guide also told us about a woman who died in the past several years who saved 2500 Jewish children during the war.

The guide and I talked about the Jewish history of Bukovina, the area where Chernivtsi is. He told me about the history of this one Jewish man, Bruno Schultz, who lived in western Ukraine and was highly respected as a writer and painter. He was put into a camp, and one day, was shot in the head by a German officer who happened to just pass by. He mentioned that so many of Israel’s citizens have roots in the former Soviet Union. Former Prime Minister of Israel Golda Meir was born in Kyiv. Interesting.

We rode through an industrialized area to see Oscar Schindler’s office building. His factory was behind it. It is now being converted into a museum that is expected to open next month (June 2010).

We saw one of two preserved parts of the ghetto wall. This was the outside of the ghetto wall. The semi-circle design of the top of the wall was designed to purposefully mimic Jewish gravemarkers.

Afterwards, we rode along the river, back to the Old Town. It felt good and freeing to ride alongside the river, and I couldn’t help but think of those Jews in that ghetto, whose freedoms, mobility, and lives were anything but good and free.

The last site on our bike tour was a monument to dogs, man's best friend.

Tonight, we are going to Moid Malena Restaurant for dinner. It has been Michelin rated for the past three years and was selected by CNN to be featured on a program they are doing on healthy Polish cuisine. It turned out to be excellent.