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National Agora of an independent Poland

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In front of the palace, not only military parades and ceremonies with the participation of Polish and foreign officials took place. Before the war, the Saxon Palace had been the backdrop for concerts and the starting point for sports events and patriotic demonstrations.

More than just a location for military parades

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In 1936, Jan Kiepura - one of the most popular singers of the interwar period – performed in front of Saski Palace duing the celebration of the Sea Festival.

Loved by audiences the world over, Kiepura performed in places such as Paris, Vienna, New York. He also headlined at La Scala in Milan. Kiepura also tried his hand at movies, starring in a Hollywood production of Songs of Love (1936).

Photo: NAC

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The Legionowo Balloon takes off from Piłsudski Square. 1936.

Before World War II, Poland was a ballooning power. It was among the elite of three countries, in the same company as Belgium and the US, that would lift the Gordon Bennett Cup, the most prestigious balloon sports award, winning the trophy in three successive years.

Photo: NAC

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 Cars set off from in front of Saski Palace to the starting point of the International Rally of the Polish Automobile Club. June 22, 1930.

The Poland Rally was a great event for car enthusiasts, with the route running from Vilnius to Lviv and from Kraków to Grudziądz. The rally started and ended in Warsaw. The drivers competed with each other in three categories: popular cars, touring cars and luxury cars.

After this event, for the next six years, due to the Great Depression, which also affected the Polish economy, no such rallies were organized.

Photo: NAC

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Motorsport was also a women’s event.

The Światowid magazine captioned this photo as follows: “Last Sunday, six cars set off from Piłsudski Square in Warsaw, driven by Mesdames Bukowska, Zielińska, Buczkowska, Ostrowska, Regulska and Skąpska for the Warsaw-Augustów-Warsaw rally. In the powerful car category, the winner was Regulska, whereas triumphing in the lighter car category was Buczkowska, who can be seen in the photo (on the right), accompanied by Zielińska (on the left)”. (Światowid 39/1936)

Photo: NAC

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Start of the cycling race "To the Polish Sea" on the route Warsaw - Gdynia - Warsaw, October 1, 1930.

The route of the race was 937 km long, which  participants were to complete in 5 days. Feliks Więcek was the winner of the rally. The cycling event was intended by the organisers to promote Poland's relationship with the sea, which is why the day after the end of the competition, a meeting of the best participants with the President of the Republic of Poland, Ignacy Mościcki, was held at the Royal Castle in Warsaw. During the meeting, Mościcki was handed an urn with sea water and… the wheel of a bike that had been cycled into the Baltic Sea.

Photo: NAC

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1930. A great anti-German demonstration against the words of Gottfried Treviranus

The German minister for the occupied lands demanded a redrawing of the German eastern border, i.e. the border with Poland. The banner shows the slogan "Hands off our Polish lands". The protest was not the only response to the words of the politician. An action called “A Response to Treviranus” was organized, the purpose of which was to raise funds for the purchase of a submarine. Thanks to these funds, the navy gained the ORP unit "Orzeł" (Eagle), which later became shrouded in legend.

Photo: NAC

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As the Commander-in-Chief, Piłsudski repeatedly visited the headquarters of the General Staff, especially during the turning points of the Polish-Bolshevik war in 1920. However, he moved to Saski Palace permanently on assuming the position of Chief of the General Staff and Chairman of the Closed War Council &#8211; on December 17, 1922.
Piłsudski left the Palace on May 28, 1923, two days before his resignation from the function. The reason for his resignation was the appointment of the government of Wincenty Witos, which included people representing circles that the Marshal considered to be politically responsible for the murder of President Gabriel Narutowicz on December 16, 1922.

Piłsudski in Saski Palace

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The seat of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was to be a showcase of the Republic of Poland and intended to express the ambitions of the reborn state. Therefore, on regaining independence, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was located in Brühl Palace &#8211; one of the most beautiful buildings in the capital, sharing a premises with the Main Telegraph Office for several more years.
The response to this ambition saw Brühl Palace being reconstructed in the years 1933-1937, under the supervision of Bohdan Pniewski.

A worthy seat for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

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After the war, Pniewski oversaw numerous building works in Warsaw, including the parliament complex, the seat of the Ministry of Communication and the Ministry of National Defence, the Military Courts at Plac Zwycięstwa (‘Victory Square’, today Plac Piłsudskiego ‘Piłsudski Square’), and the Polish Radio buildings.
Pniewski’s last project was the reconstruction of the Grand Theatre, which he oversaw from his hospital bed. He did not live to see its completion. He died on September 5, 1965. The building opened shortly after his death.

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Bohdan Pniewski 

A modernist pavilion added to the body of the palace

Reconstruction of the roof in the central part of the building and the alcoves

Building the entrance from the side of Wierzbowa Street

Second floor &#8211; the seat of the ministerial offices

Third floor &#8211; the seat of the legal department, the originals of international agreements were kept here

South-west tower – a conference room

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&#8220;Not a single palace in Warsaw (apart from Wilanów) is so richly adorned with sculptures as Brühl Palace.&#8221;
prof. Alfred Lauterbach, director of the State Art Collection in 1928–1937
The seat of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was to be a showcase of the Republic of Poland and intended to express the ambitions of the reborn state. Therefore, on regaining independence, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was located in Brühl Palace &#8211; one of the most majestic buildings in the capital, and which is celebrated as being one the most beautiful buildings in the country.

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The most majestic palace in the capital

The representative character of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs meant that the highest standards were to be maintained. That is why unconventional measures were taken so as to give the interior of the palace a stylish chic. Ignacy Matuszewski, head of the Administrative Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the years 1926-1928, created the office of artistic advisor. This function was assumed by the art critic, Jerzy Warchałowski.
&#8220;His task was to advise the administrations of government buildings and foreign embassies and consuls when it came to the purchase of furniture, works of art, tableware, carpets. His advice extended to office materials, and the covers for diplomatic passports, which had been very beautifully made by a graphic artist recommended by Warchałowski&#8221; .
Wacław Jędrzejewicz, diplomat, politician, first chairman of Brühl Palace Construction Committee

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The arbiter elegantiarum

At the turn of the 1920s  and 1930s it was decided that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs needed additional space. The answer to this  imperative involved the reconstruction of Brühl Palace, with works carried out in 1933-1937 in accordance with a design by Bohdan Pniewski.
The most visible element of the project was the addition of a modernist pavilion from the side of Saski Garden. The apartment of Minister Józef Beck was located in this new wing, above which, on the first floor, a ballroom could be found.

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 A pearl of modernism

Pniewski rebuilt the entire interior of the building, giving it a modern and functional form. Those entering the palace could admire the spacious hall, which extended the width of the entire floor and reached the third floor in the centre. The floors and walls were tiled with stone, the main decorative elements were simple colonnades &#8211; in this way the architect achieved the effect of monumentality combined with an austere dignity.
The walls of the rooms and offices were covered with fabrics supplied by the &#8220;Ład&#8221; factory, which also provided furniture of the highest quality, such as the tables and chairs to be found in the dining room, which were made of black oak wood sourced from Pripyat in today’s Ukraine.
The employees of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs could make use of the numerous amenities in the palace, such as the canteen and the bathhouse, not to mention being able to avail of the services of a hairdresser, gymnastics instructor, and even massage therapists.

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Luxurious interiors

The inauguration of the rebuilt interior of Brühl Palace took place in 1937, during the visit of the Romanian King Charles II. The Polish-Romanian alliance was a pillar of the foreign policy of the Second Polish Republic. A banquet for 60 people was organized in honour of the king, attended also by President of the Republic of Poland Ignacy Mościcki and Marshal Edward Śmigły-Rydz.
Work in the palace had continued almost up to the last moment. On the eve of the ceremony, the final modifications were being made. A diplomatic crisis that could have been caused by the red-staining leather on the upholstery of the chairs was averted.
“The king was to arrive in a white gala uniform; with it having been so hot for several days, he would surely be perspiring &#8211; the effects of sitting for an hour on dyed red leather were all too predictable. I had ordered an ever-dependable engineer called Buszek to be dragged out of his bed, and brought to the palace at midnight. At a price that could hardly be called modest, he promised to save us. The next day around noon, he walked half-conscious from the room where he had locked himself in with his assistant and assured us that all would be well. The tests undertaken showed that the morocco red would not leave an imprint. Despite his assurances, we remained sceptical. However, in the evening, after the dinner had taken place, with all eyes fixed on the royal derriere, we were delighted to note that there no traces of red staining had been left whatsoever.”
Stanisław Schimitzek, diplomat and journalist, director of the Administrative Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

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Hosting the Romanian king

Chapter I

Chapter II

Chapter III

Chapter IV

Chapter V

Chapter II

Chapter IV