#bialystok

Orthodox Cathedral of St. Nicholas in Białystok, Poland

Branicki Versailles in Białystok

Between 1728 and 1752, Jan Klemens Branicki (1689-1771), Great Crown Hetman of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and his wife Izabella Poniatowska (1730-1808), sister of the last elected king, transformed their family residence in Białystok into a French-style "entre cour et jardin" palace, inspired by the palace of Louis XV and Marie Leszczyńska at Versailles, as well as the Saxon Palace in Warsaw. The former 16th-century Wiesiołowski Castle, rebuilt between 1691 and 1697 for Hetman's father by the Dutch-born architect Tylman Gamerski, was rebuilt in the late Baroque style and enlarged by the royal architects Johann Sigmund Deybel, Johann Heinrich Klemm, and Jakub Fontana, as well as the French architect Pierre Ricaud de Tirregaille.

The interior decoration was carried out by stucco artists Samuel Contesse and Antoni Vogt, painters such as Szymon Czechowicz, Louis Marteau, Augustyn Mirys and Jean Pillement, as well as fresco painters such as Georg Wilhelm Neunhertz and Antoni Herliczka. Several splendid sculptures adorning the entrance, garden and staircase were created by Johann Chrysostomus Redler.

The complex was completed by other structures, such as the Białystok Town Hall, built between 1745 and 1761, the Branicki Guest Palace and the Convent of the Sisters of Charity.

During the Russian partition, the palace was stripped of its furnishings. Trees and shrubs were transported to the tsarist residences, and more than twenty sculptures from the garden were taken to St. Petersburg. In 1826, the sculptures and ornaments of the facade, as well as the Baroque domes, were removed. In 1841, a tsarist decree established a boarding school for young ladies of Russian high society, and the remaining statues were removed from the palace garden so that the naked sculptures would not corrupt the residents.

During World War I, the palace served as a field hospital. In 1944, 70% of the building was destroyed by the retreating Germans. Much of what remained was destroyed that same year by the Red Army. The palace was rebuilt between 1946 and 1960, and again after 1990, reflecting its 18th-century appearance. The Town Hall tower, also destroyed during the war, was rebuilt between 1954 and 1958.

The original late Baroque furnishings and frescoes can still be admired in the so-called Old Church, founded by Piotr Wiesiołowski and built between 1617 and 1625. The Palace Museum, as well as the Branicki summer residence in Choroszcz, presents original paintings, faithful reconstructions and furniture from the period.

Browse >>> Renaissance Poland-Lithuania - The Realm of Venus - Art in Poland (Artinpl) >>> for more …

© Marcin Latka

Battle of Białystok-Minsk

The Battle of Białystok-Minsk in Jun-Jul 1941, which involved the encirclement of entire Soviet armies positioned near each city in Poland and Belarus, respectively, was one of the first victories by Nazi Germany and its Axis allies against the USSR's Red Army during Operation Barbarossa in the Second World War (1939-45). Over 330,000 Soviet prisoners of war were taken, and the route to Moscow opened.

German Armoured Vehicles, Belarus, 1941

National Digital Archives, Poland (Public Domain)

Operation Barbarossa

Adolf Hitler (1889-1945), the leader of Nazi Germany, was confident after swift victories in the Low Countries and France in 1940, that he could make even greater territorial and resource gains in 1941 by attacking the USSR. The Nazi-Soviet Pact, signed between Germany and the USSR back in August 1939, was shown to be a mere agreement of convenience until Hitler was ready to wage war in the east. The Pact had awarded the USSR control of the eastern half of Poland, Bessarabia, Finland (which successfully resisted), Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Germany took western Poland, gained certain resources delivered by the USSR, and ensured Hitler did not have to fight on two fronts while he attacked Western Europe. Hitler, now determined to find Lebensraum ('living space') for the German people, that is, new lands in the east where they could find resources and prosper, launched Operation Barbarossa on 22 June 1941. The overall objective was to smash the USSR's Red Army and take control of several key cities, which would give Germany and its Axis allies access to natural resources from Leningrad (Saint Petersburg) to Ukraine. The invading force, made up of German, Slovakian, Italian, Romanian, and Finnish forces, amongst others, consisted of 3.6 million men in 153 divisions, 3,600 tanks, and 2,700 aircraft (Dear, 86). The overall commander was Field Marshal Walter von Brauchitsch (1881-1948). With the largest army in history, Hitler assured his generals that victory would come before the winter.

Operation Barbarossa involved three Axis army groups: North, Centre, and South, commanded respectively by Field Marshals Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb (1876-1956), Fedor von Bock (1880-1945), and Gerd von Rundstedt (1875-1953). There were also three air force groups. The front stretched from the Baltic to the Black Sea. The overall objective of the first phase of Operation Barbarossa was to eliminate the Red Army west of the rivers Dvina and Dnieper (Dnepr/Dnipro).

As Hitler had predicted, the Axis forces won several quick victories. Air supremacy was achieved within a few days after some 2,500 Soviet aircraft were destroyed, mostly on the ground. Axis troops moved through the defences according to their Blitzkrieg ('lightning war') plan of combining air support with fast-moving armoured and motorised infantry divisions. The Red Army was surprised not by the attack but the scale and speed of it. As Army Group Centre raced forward at a pace of 37 miles (60 km) a day, the first major victory came at the double battle of Białystok-Minsk. The battle involved the encirclement and defeat of two cities: Białystok, close to the northeastern border of Soviet-occupied Poland, and Minsk in Belarus.

Map of Operation Barbarossa

Simeon Netchev (CC BY-NC-ND)

PL:

Pałac Branickich, Białystok (część 2 z 2)

Jan Klemens Branicki zapisał majątek swojej żonie Izabeli, a po jej śmierci - Potockim. W międzyczasie upadła jednak Rzeczpospolita, a rezydencja trafiła do cara Aleksandra I i rozpoczął się proces dewastacji pałacu oraz grabieży. XIX wiek pod zaborem rosyjskim nie był dla majątku łatwy. Po m.in. ogołoceniu bryły pałacu, wyburzeniu teatru, zasypaniu stawów, wywiezieniu rzeźb, w budynku otworzono Instytut Dobrze Urodzonych Panien. W czasie I Wojny Światowej działał tu szpital polowy, później swoją siedzibę miał tu wojewoda i urzędy.

Jednak to II Wojna Światowa okazała się jednak najtragiczniejszym okresem. W 1941 roku na terenach przylegających do majątku dokonano masakry na ludności żydowskiej. Trzy lata później, w 1944 roku, Niemcy zburzyli 70% pałacu; następnych zniszczeń dokonała Armia Czerwona.

Po wojnie przez 14 lat (1946-1960) odbudowywano Pałac Branickich - prace prowadzili inż. Stanisław Bukowski oraz inż. Władysław Paszkowski. Prace rekonstrukcyjne prowadzone były jeszcze w 2012 roku na podstawie dokumentacji i badań archeologicznych. Dziś mieści się tu rektorat Uniwersytetu Medycznego.

EN:

Branicki Palace, Białystok, Poland (part 2 of 2)

Jan Klemens Branicki bequeathed his estate to his wife Izabela, and after her death, to the Potockis. In the meantime, however, the Republic of Poland fell, and the residence came into the possession of Tsar Alexander I, which initiated a process of devastation and looting of the palace. The 19th century under Russian rule was not easy for the estate. After, among other things, the stripping of the palace's structure, the demolition of the theater, the filling in of ponds, and the removal of sculptures, the building was turned into the Institute of Well-Born Young Ladies. During World War I, a field hospital operated here, and later the governor and various offices were based in the palace.

However, World War II turned out to be the most tragic period. In 1941, a massacre of the Jewish population took place in the areas adjacent to the estate. Three years later, in 1944, the Germans destroyed 70% of the palace; further destruction was caused by the Red Army.