A three-storey building of red brick at ul. Kleczkowska 2 is a part of the history of the Racławice Panorama. On 18th October, in the Primary School no. 74 of the Primate of the Millennium in Wroclaw, a plaque commemorating the storage of the canvas of Jan Styka and Wojciech Kossak in the school will be unveiled. It was there that the Racławice Panorama was unwrapped and renovated for the first time in Wroclaw.
Photo: conservators of the Racławice Panorama in the school at ul. Kleczkowska, source: Primary School no. 74
‘The painting was kept in the gymnasium. Today there is no trace of this hall, because it was demolished. The commemorative plaque that will be unveiled on 18th October should remind us of this story,’ says Katarzyna Kropidło, Principal of the Primary School no. 74.
The Panorama Racławice – a monumental work by Jan Styka and Wojciech Kossak (with dimensions 15 x 114 metres) – was presented for the first time in 1894. The painting was brought to Wroclaw on 21st July 1946. The Communist authorities made every effort to prevent inhabitants from watching the memento of the victory of Poles over Russians.
‘For one day, the Racławice Panorama was kept in stores in Brochów and later transported to military stores at ul. Poznańska. From there, the canvas was carried to the gymnasium of the school at ul. Kleczkowska in July 1949. There, under the direction of Professor Wacław Szymborski, the first renovation works were performed,’ says Romuald Nowak, the manager of the Racławice Panorama.
Racławice Panorama, photo: Tomasz Walków
The panorama was stored in the school at ul. Kleczkowska till March 1953. Afterwards, it was kept for several years in the State Museum, which was renamed to the Silesian Museum and then to the National Museum. The Rotunda was opened only in 1985. Every year the Panorama is visited by around 300,000 tourists from Poland and abroad. Till 10th October 2016, the painting was opened by 9,223,740 spectators.
Jubilees of the school
This year the school celebrates the 70th anniversary of its establishment, the 15th anniversary of assignment of the name of the Primate of the Millennium and the 115th anniversary of the erection of the school building. The history of the school began when Kletschkauer Schule was put into use in the German Breslau. During the war, a hospital for German officers was opened there.
Primary School no. 74 of the Primate of the Millennium in Wroclaw, photo: Tomasz Walków
After the war, the number of the school changed several times – numbers 13 and 33 were in use simultaneously, later they were changed to 43, and since 1972 the school has existed under no. 74. ‘Numbers changed, but it has always been a primary school since 1 September 1946. Today, even though our building is huge, we are a cosy school focusing on children. We have 18 pupils in each class,’ says Katarzyna Kropidło, adding that they were one of the biggest primary schools in Wroclaw in the 1980s, with 1,500 children attending the school. This year it is attended by 300 pupils. The school runs handball classes and offers an individual music curriculum.
The plaque commemorating the storage of the Racławice Panorama in the school will be unveiled on 18th October 2016 at 11:00 a.m. Graduates of the school have also been invited to participate. The ceremony will be organised in co-operation with the Tadeusz Kościuszko Land Forces Military Academy in Wroclaw.
