The historic building at 9 Okólnik Street, formerly the Krasiński Ordynacja Library building in Warsaw, is about to undergo major changes, which it has been waiting for for many years. A Mediatheque of Polish Music will be created there as part of the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music. The idea is for there to be a music centre that will provide access to sheet music, audio recordings, but also to be a venue for chamber concerts
The Ordynacja opinogórska of the Krasiński Counts was created on 30 July 1844. The Ordynacja statute also established the Krasiński Ordynacja Library. The building for the library and museum collections of the Opinogórska Ordynacja Krasińskich at 9 Okólnik Street, founded by Edward Krasiński, the last opinogórska Ordynat, was built in the years 1912-1914 according to a design by Juliusz Nagórski
Krasiński Library building in 1930. A Mediatheque will soon be built there. Source: Polona Digital National Library
The entire façade received a historicising, neo-classical design, with numerous symbols referring to the military traditions of the ancient Roman Empire. This treatment was used to emphasise the rank of the edifice, and to present the centuries-old tradition, the legacy of the Krasiński family and its contribution to the history of the homeland. The building’s façade features the motto Amor Patriae Nostra Lex (Love of the Homeland is our Right), the Krasiński family motto, as well as the Ślepowron (Slepowron) coat of arms (in its noble and count versions) and stuccowork depicting white eagles soaring into the air. During World War II, the building suffered severe damage. After the fall of the Warsaw Uprising, Brandkommando troops, on special orders from the German authorities, set fire to the remaining collections in the library building. A total of almost 80,000 old prints, mostly valuable polonica from the 16th to 18th centuries, including 26,000 manuscripts, 2,500 incunabula, 100,000 drawings and prints, 50,000 sheet music and theatrical items, were burned in the building in 1944. The urn with the ashes of the old prints and manuscripts, burnt by the Germans, is kept in the Wilanowska Room of the Barque Krasiński Palace in Warsaw. After the war, in 1945-50, there was a simplified reconstruction of the building, designed by Barbara and Stanisław Brukalski. The building was handed over to the National Library in June 1948
The building was the subject of many years of reprivatisation proceedings, which ended this year. It had not been in use for several decades. There was finally an opportunity to resurrect such a unique building again for public use. Funding for the renovation was initially announced by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage
Source: Społeczni Opiekunowie Zabytków – Warsaw
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Subject: The building at 9 Okólnik Street in Warsaw will finally get a new life. A Polish Music Library will be created there
