Rogalin Palace Museum

Wielkopolska, Poland

The Rogalin Palace Museum is located in the former seat of the Raczynski family. It consists of an 18th-century palace and garden complex and a later landscape park, which is naturally connected to the picturesque floodplains of the Warta River. Apart from its charming location, the beauty of the place is also determined by...

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Adam Mickiewicz Museum in Śmiełów

Wielkopolska, Poland

The Adam Mickiewicz Museum in Śmiełów - the only one in Poland dedicated to a national bard - is located in a classicist palace from the end of the 18th century, which is one of the pearls of Polish architecture. The palace, with its landscaped park, is unusually picturesque in the heart of the Żerków-Czeszewo Landscape Park....

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Gołuchów Castle Museum

Wielkopolska, Poland

The Gołuchów Castle Museum is a building with over 400 years of history. Built in the 16th century as a defensive manor house by the Leszczyńskis and extended over time, it became the property of Jan Działyński in 1853. It owes its present appearance to his wife, Izabella née Czartoryska, daughter of Prince Adam Jerzy, leader...

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National Museum in Poznań

Wielkopolska, Poland

The National Museum in Poznań is one of the oldest, largest and most important museums in Poland. In addition to 6 city branches, it has 3 important historical residences located in Greater Poland, including the castle in Gołuchów, palaces in Rogalin and Śmiełów. The National Museum is the originator and the entity responsible...

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Boris Voznytskyi Lviv Art Gallery

Ukraine

One of the largest museums in the city, with about 50,000 exhibits in a dozen branches in Lviv and beyond. It was founded on the basis of the pre-war city picture gallery and other galleries and church and private collections incorporated during the Soviet occupation of Lviv, which were under the jurisdiction of the Polish...

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Rydzyna Royal Castle

Wielkopolska, Poland

The castle in Rydzyna was the residence of Stanisław Leszczyński, the Polish King, and later belonged to Polish princely family Sułkowski. It was built on the walls of a fortified castle from the 15th century, erected by the town's founder, Jan from Czernina. The Baroque Leszczyński’s residence is a work of outstanding Italian...

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City of Leszno

Wielkopolska, Poland

The town belonged to the Leszczyński family from the 14th to the 18th century. In the 16th and 17th centuries the town was an important centre of the Reformation with the famous grammar school of Amos Komeński and a thriving printing centre. It owed its development to the openness of the town's owners, who settled here the...

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Zweibrücken

Germany

In the almost 700-year history of Zweibrücken, one of the most famous figures was King Stanislaw Leszczynski. In anticipation of regaining the Polish throne, he lived here with his family between 1714 and 1719, thanks to the patronage of King Charles XII of Sweden, then owner of the Duchy, who was also instrumental in...

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Tschifflick

Germany

The summer suburban residence of Stanisław Leszczyński in the Duchy of Two Bridges (Zweibrücken). He proceeded to build it according to his own idea and the plans of the Swedish architect Jonas Erikson Sundahl between 1715 and 1716. Its Turkish name meaning landed estate was undoubtedly inspired by his earlier two-year stay in...

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Nancy

France

The present shape of the Lorraine capital is the quintessence of the visionary and patronage activities of the dethroned King of Poland, Stanisław Leszczyński. He made it a model city of the Enlightenment, which became a centre of thought and culture radiating across Europe. The ideas he proclaimed found expression in the...

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Lunéville Palace

France

When Stanisław Leszczyński took up residence here in 1737 as the last Duke of Lorraine and Bar, he had a magnificent Baroque palace rebuilt thirty years earlier by his predecessor Prince Leopold. Without disturbing this architectural masterpiece, a testament to the ambitions of the Lorraine court, he supplemented it with a...

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Polish Library in Paris

France

Founded in 1838 and run by the Polish Historical and Literary Society, the Polish Library in Paris is one of the largest in exile institutions devoted to Polish culture in the world. Occupying a 17th-century palace on the island of St Louis, it houses a rich archive and library collection, temporary exhibition halls and three...

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Montrésor Castle

France

Situated on the Indrois River and towering over the medieval town of the same name, this is one of the extraordinary châteaux in the Loire Valley and its tributaries. It impresses with its picturesque location, its 1000-year history, the beauty of its architecture, its magnificent collections and, above all, its "living house...

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The Polish Institute and Gen. Sikorski Museum in London

United Kingdom

Operating in London since 1945, the Institute and Museum is a charitable research and museum institution dedicated to the history of Poland, with a particular focus on the Polish Armed Forces in the West and the government in exile. Until 1989, as an institution independent of the communist authorities in the country, it...

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Greater Poland - an emigrant Europe

An informal tourist and cultural trail linking European institutions and places that recall prominent Polish emigrants originating from or connected to Wielkopolska.

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News

Announcements, events, exhibitions, lectures, meetings and visits. Information on project developments and new initiatives.

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Edward Wittig's sculpture "Destiny" (1903)

Temporary exhibition at the Rogalin Palace Museum

Temporary exhibition "Island of Freedom. The Historical and Literary Society and the Polish Library in Paris", which could be viewed at the turn of 2023 and 2024 at the Adam Mickiewicz Museum in Śmiełów, from February 13 this year is presented in the Rogalin Palace Museum - in the educational room in the coach house (free...

Symposium in Paris

Symposium: "Le comte Edward Aleksander Raczyński et Paul Helleu. Le goût de la Belle Époque dans la collection de peintres français à la Galerie de Peintures du Château de Rogalin" (Hrabia Edward Aleksander Raczyński i Paul Helleu. Smak Belle Epoque w kolekcji francuskiego malarstwa z Galerii Malarstwa w Pałacu w...

Objectives

Following in the footsteps of the "Great Polish" emigrants in Europe we want:

to discover places connected with them - from Lvov in Ukraine, via Poznań, Rogalin, Śmiełów, Gołuchów, Kórnik, Rydzyna and Leszno in Greater Poland, then the Duchy of Two Bridges in Germany and Nancy and Luneville in Lorraine, to Paris, Montrésor and London
to recall and promote their contribution to the peaceful shaping of modern Europe, while preserving their individuality and national identity
promote knowledge of the institutions that research and preserve their memory
to cooperate with partners in the exchange of promotional, tourist and educational experiences, as well as in museum and preservationist research
encourage the cooperation of other partners who are close to the dissemination of tangible and intangible heritage of common Europe covered by our route

Cooperation

Educational inspiration

Knowledge trails

Our Trails is a fascinating journey in time and space. It reveals unknown or forgotten places connected with Polish emigrants who came from or were connected with Wielkopolska.

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overview articles

Essays

Longer content, deepening the theme of the fate of Greater Poland's emigrants. A careful look at places, events and ideas. Portraits of great figures and issue-based analyses.

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Rogalin Palace Museum

Adam Mickiewicz Museum in Śmiełów

Gołuchów Castle Museum

National Museum in Poznań

Boris Voznytskyi Lviv Art Gallery

Rydzyna Royal Castle

City of Leszno

Zweibrücken

Tschifflick

Nancy

Lunéville Palace

Polish Library in Paris

Montrésor Castle

The Polish Institute and Gen. Sikorski Museum in London