The Wilanów Hall

The Wilanów Hall houses over 7,000 volumes from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, displayed on original furniture designed in the early 19th century for the Wilanów Library – one of the most beautiful and impressive collections belonging to the Polish aristocracy.

The Wilanów Library was established in the late 18th, early 19th century in Wilanów Palace thanks to the efforts of Ignacy and Stanisław Kostka Potocki, whose busts are also displayed in this room. At the end of the 19th century, the Palace and its furnishings passed to the Branicki family. In 1932, Adam Branicki donated the Library to the Polish state, and President Ignacy Mościcki entrusted it to the care of the National Library. At that time, the collection consisted of over 50,000 objects, including almost 500 manuscripts, over 2,200 collections of prints, 77 volumes of incunabula and 653 printed volumes from the 16th century.

During the Second World War, the most valuable parts of the Wilanów Library, including the manuscripts, the earliest printed volumes and other unique objects, were relocated to the main building of the Library of the Krasiński Family Entail, along with other priceless collections belonging to the National Library. After the suppression of the Warsaw Uprising, special Wehrmacht units entered the Library of the Krasiński Family Entail with flamethrowers and burned the collections that had been gathered there. In the next hall, you will see an urn with the ashes of these irretrievably lost literary treasures and a memorial room dedicated to the Library of the Krasiński Family Entail.

Today, the Wilanów Collection consists of 40 manuscripts, 20,000 printed volumes, 15,000 prints, 2,100 drawings, 370 albums and 14 atlases. The Library’s original fittings and furnishings survived the war, including globes, a vase and even a ladder. After the Second World War, the Wilanów Library was set up in the temporary home of the National Library at 6 Rakowiecka Street, and later moved to the Palace of the Commonwealth after its reconstruction in 1961.

Originally, the Wilanów Library was located in the White Hall. It featured in Andrzej Wajda’s film adaptation of Stefan Żeromski’s Ashes, serving as the library of Prince Gintułt, where he meets Rafał Olbromski, played by Daniel Olbrychski. You can see the manuscript of the novel in the neighbouring Literature Hall. The Wilanów Hall was arranged in its current location as part of the project “Modernization and interior design of the Krasiński Palace (Palace of the Commonwealth) at 3/5 Krasiński Square in Warsaw”, implemented in 2021–24. The books arranged on the twenty historic sections of bookcase were selected for exhibition purposes by Tadeusz Mikulski in the years 1932–36.