Kórnik Castle restored
The castle in Kórnik near Poznań is one of the Poland’s most valuable historic monuments. It also houses the archives and the Kórnik Library of the Polish Academy of Sciences. After eight years of thorough renovation, the Pearl of Wielkopolska region has just regained its former glory.
Photo by Hubert Borwiński
The Kórnik Castle holds within its renovated walls museum and library collections of priceless value for our country and its cultural heritage. Although its foundations date back to the Middle Ages, it wasn’t until the mid-nineteenth century that the castle took on the design it has today. It owes its current shape to Count Tytus Działyński, the owner at the time.
Renovation
The castle renovation works lasted from 2012 until 2020. Their execution was possible thanks to the financial support from the Polish Academy of Sciences, Zakłady Kórnickie Foundation, the City of Kórnik and the Poznań County. The castle renovation covered a range of works from window and door restoration to refurbishment of brick tower, exterior walls and building facades. The works were carried out not only to restore the castle to its former glory, but also to create proper conditions of moisture and temperature for storing priceless library collections.
Treasures of Kórnik Library
The Kórnik Library of the Polish Academy of Sciences conceals unique museum and library collections, which encompass over 400, 000 volumes, including 30, 000 old prints, 16, 000 manuscripts, 9, 000 historical photographs and thousands of maps, atlases, graphics, ex-librises and musical pieces. Among them, you will find iconic works of the Polish literature of the Romantic period written by Adam Mickiewicz and Juliusz Słowacki. There are also original prints of Mikołaj Rej and Jan Kochanowski, Fryderyk Chopin’s notes and the manuscript of the only novel written by Napoleon Bonaparte.
In addition to the library collections, the castle houses a museum, where visitors can wander through its 19th-century interiors, dotted with unique items collected by Tytus Działyński and his successors.
Source of information: Katarzyna Woźniak, the Kórnik Library of the Polish Academy of Sciences
