1918–19 Wielkopolska Uprising

The Wielkopolska Uprising Monument Since 1795 - when it was carved between Imperial Russia, Prussia and Habsburg Austria - Poland had been off the map and effectively ceased to be a country. Poznań enjoyed brief freedom when Napoleon’s conquering troops liberated much of Poland during their march east in 1806, however Napoleon’s military disaster on the plains of Russia resulted in the 1815 Congress of Vienna, which saw Poznań delivered back into Prussian hands where it would remain for over a century.

With Europe reeling after World War I, Germany in collapse, and Russia plunged into revolutionary chaos, Polish patriotic fervour once more simmered to the surface. The overwhelmingly Polish people of Poznań could sense independence was near, but there remained one crucial sticking point: German stubbornness to relinquish the Wielkopolska region. Woodrow Wilson’s plans for an independent Poland had failed to set any boundaries, and though Warsaw was back in the hands of a Polish government, Poznań was still answerable to Berlin. Ever since the Kaiser’s abdication on November 9, 1918, Poznań’s Poles had been plotting an uprising. Positions in local government and industry were forcibly seized by Poles and the countdown was on for outright war. Following weeks of tension the fuse was finally lit on December 27th. Historical accounts of how the Uprising started vary; some sources claim it was the shooting of Franciszek Ratajczak and Antoni Andrzejewski on the steps of the police headquarters that started the initial fighting, though most point to a stirring speech given by the pianist and patriot Ignacy Jan Paderewski from the window of what was then the Bazar Hotel. While addressing the Polish crowd assembled below a German counter-demonstration passed by – within moments shots had been fired and the Uprising had begun. Historians disagree on which side started the hostilities, but either way there was no turning back the clock. Within hours Polish forces had captured the Poznań train station and post office, while other towns in the region joined them in rebellion.

Under the temporary charge of Stanisław Taczak, the Polish forces scored swift successes against a German army shattered from four years of world war, liberating neighbouring Kórnik and Mogilno, but counter attacks suggested a stiffening German resolve. Fighting continued and by January the situation was out of hand. To save the region from total anarchy, the government in waiting took charge of all civil and military issues, conscripting all Polish men born between 1897 and 1899 into military service. Taking their oaths of allegiance in what is today Plac Wolności, Freedom Square (p.22), the Polish troops continued to march into increasingly fierce battles with their German counterparts.

Thankfully, peace was just around the corner, due in no small part to French intervention. February 14, 1919 saw the beginning of international peace talks, and within two days the French delegation had persuaded the Germans to sign an extension of the Allied-German armistice, this time including the Wielkopolska front. Sporadic fighting continued for the next few days, but to all intents and purposes, Poznań, and with it Wielkopolska, were liberated.

Bazar Hotel

So what of the hotel at the centre of the Wielkopolska Uprising? Its history goes back to 1838, a time when Poznań was under Prussian occupation, and Polish institutions vied with their Prussian counterparts for the right to exist, especially on the dynamicallydeveloping Wilhelmsplatz (now Plac Wolności). It was in that year that social activist Karol Marcinkowski got a bunch of rich landowners together and started the Bazar Joint-Stock Company with the purpose of supporting pro-Polish social initiatives and businesses. Their main project was building a luxurious hotel and renting out space to Polish enterprises. The grand neoclassicist/neo-Baroque structure was built between 1839 and 1842, becoming the largest non-sacral building in the city. The plan worked marvellously: Bazar became home to the Landowner Bank, the Anthropological Society, a casino, three newspapers, and numerous other societies and businesses. In December of 1918 the Polish composer and politician Ignacy Jan Paderewski gave a rousing speech from one of the hotel windows, helping to spark the Wielkopolska Uprising. Throughout the Uprising the Bazar served as official HQ for the rebels. Nazi occupation marked an end to its glory days and it suffered horrendous damage during the 1945 siege. Renovations began immediately after liberation and the building became the property of the Orbis group in 1950 who operated a hotel from

Wielkopolska Uprising Museum

Primarily chronicling the 1918-1919 Wielkopolska Uprising (though the exhibition starts at the time of partition) this museum occupies a rebuilt structure that once served as home to the Royal Guard. A big renovation in the 2010’s took the exhibition from a series of artefacts to a modern multimedia creation on par with the Silesian Museum in Katowice or the Warsaw Uprising Museum in the nation’s capital (though much smaller, of course). Downstairs is a mish-mash of weapons, uniforms, reconstructed bunkers and trenches, and vintage photographs, which look great but fail to convey much meaningful information; the historical info is all upstairs, where you can also take a picture dressed as a Wielkopolska soldier. QH‑7, Stary Rynek 3, tel. (+48) 61 853 19 93, www. wmn.poznan.pl/odwiedz‑nas/muzeum‑powstania‑ wielkopolskiego‑1918‑1919/. From March to October: Mon closed, Tue‑Sat 10:00‑17:00, Sun 10:00‑ 16:00; from November to February: Mon closed, Tue‑ Sun 10:00‑16:00. Admission 12/6zł. Tue free. U

there until 1990 when it was returned to its pre-war stockholders. Recently the building has enjoyed a remarkable renaissance, with its shopping arcades filled with designer stores and eateries.QH‑7, Al. Marcinkowskiego 10, www.hotelbazar.pl.

Wielkopolska Uprising Monument

Sitting in the northwest end of Drwęskich Park, the Wielkopolska Uprising Monument was designed by Alfred Wiśniewski and unveiled on September 19, 1965. The monument itself is a granite-covered 17 metre tall tower decorated with reliefs that depict the 1918-1919 Wielkopolska struggle, including the student strike in Września, famed Polish revolutionary Marcin Kasprzak, and the death of the first upriser Franciszek Ratajczak.QF‑9, Corner of ul. Królowej Jadwigi and ul. Wierzbięcice.