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Did you know that Olga Boznańska. Search for independence The creative position of women in the 19th century was subject to numerous conditions and threats. Conditions primarily originated in the professionalization and institutionalization of artistic life, which — at least for women of this generation — were a hindrance to an artistic career. Difficulties arose from the limited access to institutions, from customary conventions, but also from a life full of personal tragedies and financial dependency. The women of Olga Boznańska’s generation constituted the first distinct group practicing art professionally, unlike their predecessors, who, with few exceptions, were amateurish, often talented and artistically educated. |
Band of the Defenders of Lviv Association This was the armband of lieutenant pilot Rudolf Weyde, one of the participants in the battles for Lviv in 1918 and a member of the air defence section of Lviv. The unique armband of the Defenders of Lviv Association of November 1918, introduced in 1934–1938, was awarded as a symbol of membership, on the basis of mandatory registration and verification... |
Kazimierz Piotrowski’s dog tag from the Warsaw Uprising A dog tag is an inextricable part of a contemporary soldier's equipment. The dog tag allows one to identify the corpse of a soldier. This dog tag epitomises the improvisation in the combat conditions of the Warsaw Uprising... |
Painting “Portrait of General Henryk Dembiński” The painting shows Henryk Dembiński (1791–1864), a veteran of the Napoleonic Wars, an outstanding commander and strategist in the November Uprising, and one of the leaders of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848–1849, sitting thoughtfully, in a staff tent. Under a veiled curtain, a battle scene is visible in the distance. The painting symbolically refers to the work of the master Rodakowski, Léon Cogniet (1794–1880), who — after the failure of the November Uprising — painted the picture Prague 1831, showing a fresh battlefield and an officer standing in front of it, whose attitude and facial expression were marked by determination and a desire for revenge. |
Commission of Officer Roman Florer After the outbreak of World War I, Roman Florer received an assignment as an observer on the Serbian and Italian front in the 4th Aviation Squadron. At the turn of 1914 and 1915, he was sent to the Wiener Neustadt pilots' course. After completing the course, he returned to the front as a pilot in the 27th Aviation Squadron. |
Virtuti Militari Cross of General Benedykt Kołyszko One of a few preserved specimens from 1792. An even-armed cross with slightly arched arm edges. On the obverse the arms are covered with black enamel with a golden rim left on the edges. The arms feature the order’s motto of VIR/ TUTI/ MILI/ TARI. At the intersection of the cross’s arms there is a round central shield covered with green-enamelled laurel leaves on the rim. In the central field there is an enamelled image of a white eagle with a golden crown, with a sceptre in its beak and an orb in its claws. |
“Austrian Soldier” by Feliks Szynalewski Feliks Szynalewski was born in Kraków on 11 May 1825. During the period 1835–1837 he completed two classes of primary school for boys. Between 1837–1841 he attended three classes at St. Anna Middle School, and then he began to study at the Kraków School of Drawing and Painting. He was taught to draw by Jan Nepomucen Głowacki and Jan Nepomucen Bizański, to paint by Wojciech Korneli Stattler, and sculpture by Karol Ceptowski. During his studies, Szynalewski earned his wages by making lithographies. |
Table clock with shape of Hungarian hussar The characteristic feature of the presented clock is the unusual carved wooden and polychrome casing in the shape of a Hungarian hussar. The clockwork mechanism with a round clock face, made in Bochnia... |
The Polish Air Force flag Pursuant to the Act of 22 August 1940 and the Agreement of 11 June 1940 entered into between the British and Polish governments, the British government permitted the establishment of two bomb squadrons, including a training centre, and introduced a command dualism and a right to use Polish national symbols. Polish pilots wore British uniforms featuring the Polish eagle on the cap and the inscription “Poland” on the upper part of the sleeves. |
Russian POW's shirt A shirt with a mandarin collar and long sleeves, sewn from red satinet. The rectangular front part is decorated with a black embroidered border featuring a recurring star motif. A fastening on the side, along the front part. The exhibit shown is a shirt of a Russian POW from 1916, given to the Museum by Adam Wrzosek (a physician, anthropologist, medicine historian and professor of the Jagiellonian University). |
Patches from the spacesuit which belonged to Mirosław Hermaszewski, general and pilot-cosmonaut Mirosław Hermaszewski — a brigadier general of the Polish Army and a cosmonaut, was the first and the only Pole to fly into space. In 1976, together with Colonel Zenon Jankowski, he was chosen from several hundred Polish pilots as the candidate for a space flight organised within the international Intercosmos space programme. |
Register of the flights of a lieutenant pilot Stefania Wojtulanis-Karpińska (“Barbara”) Stefania Wojtulanis-Karpińska “Barbara” was actively involved in all types of aviation sports, starting with her participation — as a navigator — in the National Balloon Competition in 1936. In 1938, she participated — also as a navigator — in the 8th National Air Competition; in May 1939, Stefania competed in the Ninth National Balloon Championships as a balloon pilot. |
Rocket engine “Walter HWK” — 109-507 model This is a rocket engine, designed for propelling a German guided flying bomb, the Henschel Hs 293. It was constructed in the small experimental plant “H. Walter KG” in Kiel, headed by prof. Hellmuth Walter, who, since 1935, had been dealing with the practical use of hydrogen peroxide... |
Naval poignard This air dagger (Polish, m. 24) was made by the Side Arms Company of Gabriel Borowski. The metal elements (except for the blade) have been oxidised in the colour of old silver; the metal sheath is covered with black leather. It is a dagger with a nickel-plated, polished blade; the company's signature is engraved along the edge; the head at the top has the shape of a truncated pyramid. There are decorative rings on the handle and sheath with ornamentation with laurel to the right. |
“For Huszt” commemorative badge Commemorative badge for former soldiers of the Polish Legions, and later the Polish Auxiliary Corps, interned in 1918. Made of silver plated tombac, in the shape of an eagle with the badge of II Brigade of the Polish Legions on the chest. Oval with... |
Cap Eagle of the Polish Armed Forces in the West, pattern 40 An eagle produced for soldiers of the Polish Armed Forces in the West in 1942 or later. Its shape refers to the pre-war military eagles, especially the so-called forage cap from the 1930s. It featured a full crown, like the state eagle of 1919. Just like the pre-war... |
Major Wyrwa's sheepskin coat The sheepskin coat was a guerrilla’s personal uniform at the end of activities — in the winter of 1944/1945. Legend has it that the sheepskin coat protected Major Wyrwa against the cold while in a Public Security Office prison. The owner was Józef Wyrwa a.k.a. Furgalski or Stary (b. 1898), a teacher by profession... |
Signal trumpet banner The flame for the signal trumpet was a decorative element used during solemn speeches. A trumpeter was present in the full-time squadron of the cavalry regiment, as well as on the regular posts of infantry riflemen as well as medium machine gun and artillery units. In the field... |
Uniform of the Division General Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski, Commander-in-Chief This uniform is a gift from the General's son — Adam Komorowski. The man who wore this uniform is a perfect illustration of Poland's fate in the1st half of the 20th century. Tadeusz Komorowski a.k.a. Bór was born in 1895. During World War I, he served in the Austro-Hungarian army and then, from 1918, in the Polish army... |
Golden mace of Hetman Stanisław Jabłonowski The head is made of gold with six feathers fully covered with an engraved and chiselled floral ornament with niello petals, leaves and palmettes. At the end of the head there is a screwed-in pear-shaped pinnacle with embedded rubies and diamonds. When screwed out, it enables the feathers to protrude. |