Cieszyn - Little Vienna
INTRODUCTION: Viennese Traditions in Cieszyn.
Cieszyn is separated from Vienna by only 283 kms as the crow flies, so it is not surprising that contacts were lively for a long time, although in the beginning they concerned mainly the upper classes. A frequent guest in Vienna was the Cieszyn Piast Prince Przemyslaw I Noszak, who, in the second half of the 14th cent., acted as adviser and ‘right hand’ of Emperor Karol IV. Fryderyk (+1507), the son of Prince Kazimierz II, studied at Vienna University and was even its Rector in 1505.
Links between the Cieszyn Princely Court and Vienna got closer after 1526 when the Austrian Habsburgs became Rulers of the Kingdom of Czech, to which the Duchy of Cieszyn belonged. The last Piast Princes were in constant touch with the Habsburg Court in Vienna. Prince Adam Wacław fought in their service against the Turks in Hungary. In 1653, after the death of Elzbieta Lukrecja, the Habsburgs became the direct rulers of the Duchy of Cieszyn, but for the next 100 years no Habsburg bothered to visit, to their minds provincial, Cieszyn.
Cieszyn also had trade relations with Vienna for a long time. Merchants from the Austrian capital often brought goods from e.g. Krakow through Cieszyn. And the Jewish family the Singers, who settled in the town on the Olza in 1631 brought goods to Cieszyn directly from Vienna. But it was only after the centralization brought about by the Empress Maria-Teresa and Józef II that almost all serious matters concerning the residents of Cieszyn were directed to the capital. In 1775 the local authorities started international Fairs in Cieszyn, which were to help with the integration of recently annexed Galicia with the rest of the Empire. In the same year a so-called Imperial Road connecting Vienna to Lvov was begun, running through Cieszyn and Bielsko. Permanent postal connections were also introduced.
In 1779 the Peace Congress ending the so-called Bavarian War of Succession took place in Cieszyn. At its end a solemn banquet was held in the garden of a local citizen, Mr Bilowicki (today a public space named The Peace Park). As Cieszyn mayor and chronicler Alois Kaufmann writes, “Cieszyn ladies for the first time brought for themselves fashionable dresses from the capital itself.” Connections between Cieszyn and Vienna strengthened even more during the times of the Napoleonic Wars, in which many Cieszyn citizens took part, treating it as a patriotic duty. Yet again Cieszyn became the centre of European interest when, in 1805, after the total failure of the Austrian Army in the war with Napoleon, it was for some weeks the temporary capital of the Empire because the Court, escaping from Vienna, moved there.
Still stronger bonds, concerning not only politics and trade but also social and cultural contacts and fashions, linked both towns in the second half of the 19th cent. The “Springtide of Nations”, particularly the March Revolution in Vienna, made a great impression in Cieszyn. Copying the capital Cieszyn’s citizens created a ‘National Guard’ to defend the peace and the rights of the citizens. After the introduction of Constitutional Rule by Emperor Franz-Joseph 1st in 1861 the majority of town and community institutions and decisions were copied from those in Vienna. Not surprisingly many Cieszyn politicians made good careers in Vienna, e.g. Joseph von Kalchberg, one-time Director of the Cieszyn Komora who, in 1861, took the position of Austrian Minister of Trade and Economics. (The Komora was an office that administered this area during the Austrian rule). Or dr Johann Demel, long-time mayor of Cieszyn, who was one of the leading figures in the German Liberal Party. We also cannot omit Members of the Viennese Parliament who came from Cieszyn Silesia: dr. Richard Bukowski, legal adviser to the Cieszyn Komora, mayor dr Johann Demel von Elswehr, dr. Theodor Haase, a Senior of the Silesian Evangelical Church, Rev. Józef Londzin, leader of the Union of Silesian Catholics, Jan Michejda, who directed the Polish National Federation, and the Socialist activist Tadeusz Reger.
It was not only good careers but also better lives that many other Cieszynites sought in Vienna. High School graduates were drawn to the capital after knowledge and 90% of them obtained higher education in Viennese institutions. They brought back to their family homes many metroplitan examples to follow, among others the Academic Union ‘Concordia’, operating in the years 1859-69, and “Silesia Association” existing from 1869 till today.
At the turn of the 19th century almost every Cieszyn family had members in the capital, which meant that Vienna was the obvious example for everyone to follow in many fields. The capital set the tone for Cieszyn political life, technical novelties were imported from Vienna, prosperous firms opened branches here and renowned firms could not ignore the reliable Cieszyn market. Artists from Vienna came in greater and greater numbers to appear on Cieszyn stages, Viennese newspapers were daily sources of information and gossip of Viennese Society and Viennese fashions were a constant element of the daily life of Cieszyn’s ‘elite’. Thanks to its connections with Austria and Vienna Cieszyn got itself permanently within the circle of universal European culture.
“OUR EMPEROR”, I.E. FRANCISZEK JÓZEF I (FRANZ JOSEPH I) IN CIESZYN
Although it was never forgotten that his great-great-grandmother Maria Teresa had carried out the partition of Poland the figure of Franz-Joseph I was highly esteemed and valued in Cieszyn. The Duchy of Cieszyn formally belonged to the Habsburg monarchy from 1526, but the Habsburgs in fact ruled here from 1653. For a long period Austrian Emperors exhibited no direct interest in the newly acquired Duchy, treating it often as an object of bargaining, legacy, dowries and recompense. This attitude was changed by the Emperor Józef II when, in 1766, he visited Cieszyn, and passed through the town twice more in 1773 and 1787. His nephew, Emperor Franciszek I, chose Cieszyn as the seat of his Court after the flight from Vienna, from Napoleon, in 1805. Cieszyn then became the actual capital of the Austrian Monarchy. Franciszek I visited Cieszyn again after the Napoleonic Wars in 1817.
However, the first Emperor who fully appreciated the significance of personal inspections of his possessions was Franciszek Józef I. During such visits he could see for himself the cultural and economic condition of his monarchy and the moods of “his faithful peoples”. Often with this method, together with his undeniable personal charm, he was able to gain for himself the loyalty, respect and admiration of his subjects. During his long life “His Excellency” visited Cieszyn four times. Those visits occurred in 1851, 1880, 1890 and 1906. The period of 55 years between the first and last visits of the Emperor to Cieszyn was long enough for a legend to come into being about the Venerable Emperor, which remains vivid among Cieszynians to the present day. The first visit of the young, 21- year- old Emperor took place on November 3rd, 1851. The Emperor stopped briefly in the Cieszyn Market Square to change horses on his way home from an inspection of Galicia. In spite of its brevity, as Pavel Stalmach wrote, “he brought about the vision of great feast”. The next time the Emperor came was on a visit of inspection. He was in Cieszyn from 17th to 20th October 1880. The Emperor’s stays in Cieszyn from 3rd to 5th September 1890 and from 30th August to 5th September 1906 were connected with great army manoeuvres carried out in the Cieszyn region.
Every visit of the Emperor was accompanied by special arrangements in order to host the Emperor in a most respected and solemn way. Triumphal arches were erected, public and private houses were embellished, orchestral and choral performances were prepared, displays of fireworks were mounted and special night marches with batons took place. Franz Joseph I stayed in Cieszyn Castle. In the front rooms of the first floor of the Hunter’s Palace the Emperor’s suite was prepared.
It consisted of a bedroom, a dressing room, a study, a drawing room and a reception room. The suite was embellished with elegant furniture, portraits of Habsburgs and paintings by great painters such as Raphael or Murillo that came from the collections of Cieszyn’s Archdukes – the rulers of the Duchy of Cieszyn.
During official audiences the Emperor received Court Dignitaries, representatives of the local authorities, the clergy of both denominations, Silesian noblemen, Staff officers, Members of the Viennese Parliament and the Silesian Diet (Sejm), prominent townspeople, representatives of village parishes and members of German, Polish and Czech Associations. The Emperor treated selected guests to dinners in a so-called ‘Marquee from Custozza’, a large tent, inherited from Archduke Albrecht, erected on the Castle Hill. Together with the desserts ‘Court sweets’ with portraits of Franz-Joseph I on them were served, and these were eagerly crammed into the banqueters’ pockets as proud souvenirs, later taking an important place in Cieszyn drawing-rooms.
The joy of the gathered crowd had no boundaries when, in 1880, the Emperor, without any Guard, on foot, visited public buildings, schools, rest-homes, churches and cloisters. He respected every religion, so he also visited the Protestant Church of Jesus, where he sat on a throne especially made for the occasion, and the beautifully embellished Jewish Synagogue on Bożnicza street. He also visited industrial establishments, such as the Archduke Steelworks in Trzyniec, the Dairy in Cieszyn and the furniture factory belonging to the Jewish entrepreneurs Jacob and Josef Kohn.
The Emperor’s visits made trade more lively. About 50 thousand people came to the town from the nearest surroundings but also from Moravia, Galicia and Hungary. Hotels and restaurants were packed full and Cieszyn merchants competed in the sale of souvenirs carrying the portrait and coat of arms of the Emperor.
During his last visit in 1906 the Emperor opened new premises for District Court and Council Chambers where he wrote in the Visitors’ Book. After his return to the capital Franz-Joseph I sent a hand-written letter in which he wrote: “I had an opportunity to again convince myself of the high culture of this country and of the truly patriotic attitude of its people. The cordial reception that was prepared for me, and especially from the Town of Cieszyn, that testifies a great attachment to me and to our House, fills me with great joy.”
The inhabitants of Cieszyn nursed a great attachment to this Monarch, under whose rule they enjoyed a feeling of stability and welfare. In 1892 they named one of the pavilions of the Silesian Hospital after Franz-Joseph I and in 1898, on the occasion of the 50th year of his rule, the town built a “Jubilee Orphanage” named after him and the Empress Elżbieta in Willowa street (presently Kraszewskiego street). Five years later, in 1903, at the end of Franz-Joseph street (presently 3 Maja street) a ‘Jubilee Bridge’ appeared on the Olza river. On the 80th birthday of the Monarch, in 1910, Cieszyn townspeople erected in Lasek Miejski a sculpture in the shape of an obelisk with the Emperor’s bust. In many buildings visited by the Emperor commemorative plaques are preserved.
JOZEF KORNHAUSEL: HOW A VIENNESE ARCHITECT CHANGED THE FACE OF CIESZYN
Cieszyn’s worst fire, which devastated the town in 1789, became paradoxically the spur for its growth and economic development. The greatest intensification in house-building occurred in the years 1820-1850, giving the architecture of the town the ambience of late-classicism and Biedermeier style.
Quite an important role in this process was played by well-known Viennese architect Józef Kornhausel. Born in 1782 in Vienna, the son of a mason, he studied architecture there under famous representatives of Viennese classicism J.F. Hohenbergs and Peter von Nobile. In 1808 he became a member of the Viennese Academy. He died in Vienna in 1860. Kornausel’s specialty was buildings designed to accommodate a lot of people. A characteristic quality of his buildings was his use of broad planes of walls, modest architectural decorations limited to pilasters, pilaster strips and arches, the placing of windows in semi-circular flat niches and the use of high attics. His architecture is marked by delicacy and frugality of articulation, and good taste in balancing masses in one organic whole. He was a representative of the declining phase of the Viennese classicism (the Biedermeier phase), which left its impression especially on Austrian architecture.
In the years 1812-18, as Director of Building for the Liechtenstein Princes, he was active first of all in Baden, near Vienna, where he erected the town Theatre, the Town Hall, Palaces for the Liechtenstein Princes and the Esterhazy Counts, as well as a number of townhouses. In a later period he became associated with the Court of Archduke Karol Habsburg, for whom he erected an impressive castle (Weilburg) near Baden, and in Vienna a town palace. In the following years it was Vienna itself that became the area of his activity, testified by, besides many town houses, such realisations as the facade of the Scottish Cloister, a Synagogue, a Circus on the Prater, theatres in Josefstadt, Hietzing and Heiligenstadt, and the rebuilding of the cloister in Klosterneuburg near Vienna. He was also the creator of numerous palaces in Moravia and Cieszyn Silesia.
In 1838 the Cieszyn Prince Karol Habsburg brought Józef Kornhausel to Cieszyn and commissioned him to rebuild his residence on the Castle Hill. He told him to level the ruins in the upper part of the castle and set there a romantic park. The remnants of the lower castle were used to build a so-called Hunter’s Palace, and an Orangery attached to it. The Palace itself, built to extremely simple and frugal designs in classicist style, faces the town. The two-storey central part of the palace with a Serlio’s theme and a triangular fronton, both typical of Kornhausel, was flanked by two single-storey wings with symmetrically placed vestibules. In the south-western corner of the palace, on a mediaeval bastion, the architect designed a Temple-Belvedere in the form of a Doric Portico, which frames the perspective of the Avenue situated on the other side of the Olza river. Next to the palace Kornhausel erected a classicistic Orangery, which was pulled down in 1966. He also gave a classicistic character of a pavilion-chapel to the castle Romanesque rotunda, with big windows, vaulted in a semicircular way and flanked by pairs of pilasters. It was only in 1955 that it was brought back to its original state. The ground of the whole of Castle Hill was leveled and an English landscape park was created. In this way, after the termination of the works in 1840 Cieszyn Castle became a typical romantic and classicistic structure of simple architecture, skillfully introduced into the park landscape.
In Cieszyn Kornhausel didn’t confine himself to the commission of the Archduke Karol. In 1836 actors started a fire in an auditorium adjacent to the Town Hall. The theatre was burnt in the fire, the Town Hall and its tower were partly destroyed. A Public Committee for the Restoration of the Town Hall created by the Municipal Council announced a Competition for a Project for the reconstruction of the Town Hall and the auditorium. Although the competition was won by Franciszek Schneider from Vienna, the authorities of the Province accepted the plans of Józef Kornhausel. The plans assumed the broadening of the main body of the Town Hall, separating it from the theatre, and the transformation of both elevations. During the restoration, in 1839, the facade of the Town Hall underwent an essential transformation. In a place where there had been, up to then, arcades, a Doric columned Portico was built and it supported a balcony. The elevations where embellished with flat pilaster strips and a triangular tympanum, which emphasized the simplicity of the new facade. Also the town theatre building (the present cinema) underwent a thorough change. A presentable entrance, from Ratuszowa street, led to the auditorium, which was a two-storey space embellished with pilaster strips, ionic pilasters and a gallery. The theatre also played the function of a ball-room, therefore it was surrounded by storage rooms, a coach-house, a stable, a restaurant and restaurant rooms. The external facade of the theatre (unchanged till today) is characterized by a typical Kornhausel refined simplicity achieved by means of delicate rustication, moulds and semi-circular windows. In 1847 theatrical spectacles were revived there, which entertained the inhabitants of Cieszyn until the new theatre was built in 1910.
Also the local aristocracy took advantage of Kornhausel’s stay in Cieszyn by ordering designs for their abodes. This is what the count Saint Genois d’Anneaucourt did, for whom he designed, in 1840, the third wing of their town abode (the so-called the Larisch Palace, presently the museum). In that wing Kornhausel designed the palace stable of rare foundation (presently the “Cafe Museum”). Built on the plan of a circle, two-storey high and with a domed vault, it was supported by a stone column placed in the centre. In the walls, in semicircular bays, 16 stands for horses with marble feeding troughs were placed.
IN THE VIENNESE STYLE; CIESZYN HOTELS, RESTAURANTS AND CAFES.
Vienna had an undeniable effect on the customs and lifestyle in the whole of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Inseparable from it was the social life that took place mainly in cafes, pastry shops, restaurants, eating houses and open-air cafes, as well as in hotels and inns. Viennese examples, directly transferred to Cieszyn, bore fruit in the form of many places with striking interiors with excellent cuisine and service.
Already in the 18th century a few inns and road houses operated in Cieszyn. In the centre of the town there was “The Russet Deer” hotel (in the Market Square) which accommodated a lot of celebrities and crowned heads; among others, the Emperor Józef II, Czar Aleksander, Grand Duke Konstanty and General Kutuzow. Also in the Market Square there was “The Gold Crown” inn where, in 1813, Duke Józef Poniatowski stayed for a few days. In Głęboka street the oldest wine-vault of Ferdinand Turek (founded in 1749) operated, serving a rich variety of Austrian wines. Beyond the town walls, in Frysztackie Przedmieście (Frysztackie suburb), there was an inn called The Deep Blue Star and at Górny Rynek and Wyższa Brama - “A Golden Ox” hotel, “A Golden Circle” road house, and the following inns: “The Three Negroes” and “The Polish King”. They all offered their guests liquors, meals and accommodation. Their furnishings were still modest, as in Mendrok’s public house in Głęboka street. There, in a large room with a stove in the middle and one candle to provide light, townspeople spent their evenings, smoking pipes, drinking wine and passing on the local news and pieces of information from distant lands. Apart from catering, such public houses or inns played various functions of a social and cultural character, thus contributing to the integration among the town community and development of its contacts with the world.
In the second half of the 19th century, a considerable diversification and specialization of catering businesses occurred. Numerous restaurants, cafes, pastry shops, wine-vaults, beerhouses, off-licences, and buffets appeared, and beside the traditional inns more and more modern hotels came into being. At the turn of the 19th century as many as 83 restaurants, 7 cafes and 5 hotels functioned in Cieszyn.
The cafe that had been operating longest was “Cafe Jedek”, at the corner of the Market Square and Mennicza street, founded in 1840’s by Jan Jedek. After 1891 it started to function as “Cafe Zentral”, commonly called “Centralka”.
Shrouded in mystery was the restaurant of “Dom Niemiecki” (“The German House”, presently “Retro Club”) opened in Głęboka street in 1898. Situated in a basement with high arched vaults it became, in 1906, a seat of a parafreemasons’ association called “ Schlarafia Teschenia”, which led to its popular name, “Masonic Lodge”, still current today.
One of the biggest and the most renowned hotels was the hotel “Austria”. In the 1880’s, in place of Mendrok’s public house, Franz Stiller created a cafe restaurant, which he transformed, after a few years, into one of the best hotels in the town. The Room of Archduke Eugeniusz, created in 1891 according to the best Viennese patterns, became the pride of the place. For a long time it played the function of the only concert hall in Cieszyn , having enough room for 450 people. After 1914 the hotel operated under the name “Grand Hotel Austria”. Its most celebrated guest, at the beginning of the First World War, was Józef Piłsudski. The other Cieszyn hotels - “The Central Station”, “The Town Cieszyn” or “Hotel National” looked and functioned in a similar way.
However, it was the “Russet Deer” hotel, situated in the Market square, that became, more than any other hotel, the synonym for Viennese chic. It was already operating in the second half of the 18th century, and it was run by various entrepreneurs called ‘gospodzki’. The investments made by them, such as: building an additional second storey; starting a horse omnibus that brought guests from the railway station in Pruchna, and later from Saska Kępa; were not enough in the face of the development of railway and tourism at the end of the 19th century. Therefore in 1910 a group of Cieszyn townspeople under the leadership of Ludwik Kametz (a master-builder) established a company called “ The Russet Deer Hotel” which erected a new, big structure designed especially for hotel purposes. The new hotel was built in place of the old one and a neighbouring tenement house and they did it according to the design of a Viennese architect, Kilian Kohler, The formal opening took place in June 1912. On the three floors there were 67 hotel rooms with so-called English bathrooms, central heating, electric lights, ventilation and fridges, and a luxuriously furnished cafe, in the style of the Viennese secession. There was also a drawing room for ladies, a restaurant, a concert hall, a ballroom, a winter skittles room, and special club rooms available for meetings of various Cieszyn associations.
The hotel was furnished according to the latest Viennese models and in the capital style. Traditional Viennese cuisine was the specialty of the restaurant. The cafe served typical Austrian cakes and desserts, including the inevitable coffee made in many different ways. Almost every day there were performances of artists from Vienna and other cultural centres of the Empire in the concert hall. For the clients’ convenience, Franciszek Hermann’s renowned hairdresser’s (the Emperor’s and royal Court hairdresser) together with a beauty parlour, operated in the hotel. During the First World War the hotel was occupied by officers from the Austrian Army Headquarters. Later it was the seat of the Inter-Allied Committee. It was not only social and cultural life that centred on the hotel, but also political – on a larger than local scale. This contributed to the appearance of many vivid legends connected with the hotel.
APPLE STRUDEL AND “FRYTA” - VIENNESE DELICACIES ON THE CIESZYN TABLE
Numerous Cieszyn restaurants and cafes that served the delicacies of the Viennese cuisine contributed to its broad popularization.
Therefore until today, on many Cieszyn tables one can find characteristic dishes, such as: a chicken soup with “fryta” (i.e. a rolled up and sliced pancake), a caraway soup, “Tafelspitz” roast beef (The Emperor Franciszek Józef I ‘s favourite), Viennese veal cutlet, Viennese style chicken coated in bread-crumbs, or noodles with cabbage and ham. Dishes of other stock, namely from other lands of the Empire also appeared in Cieszyn menus. They were: Czech dumplings, noodles and plum jams, Hungarian goulash, stuffed peppers and “palaczinki”.
Coffee Viennese style, whose best varieties were delivered by the Julius Meinl (a well-known Austrian firm) coffee-roasting room and store-house in Głęboka street, was and still is popular. A lot of the present Cieszyn cafes keep this tradition alive.
It is not possible to imagine Viennese coffee without sweet desserts and cakes, such as: Sacher layer cake, pischinger, “buchetki”(small buns) with plum jam or sweet pancakes.
At Christmas time both in Viennese and Cieszyn homes small shortcake biscuits are served. Their shapes of all sorts and kinds, their decorations, fillings and flavours are reflected in a rich range of names behind which lie dozens of different recipes. So, on Cieszyn Christmas Eve table one can find cat’s eyes called “lincerki”, beehives, coffee-lets, “truffles”, “potatoes”, royal cookies, wafers, gingerbreads, starlets, little breads and gingerettes, coconut rolls, almond, rum and walnut balls, marzipan mushrooms, macaroons, flakes with chocolate, tiny meringues, crackling cookies and cookies with jelly, crescents and half-moons, walnut slices and coconut dries, “mincer” cookies, fruit cookies, little nuts and clovers. The process of baking of such a great variety of cookies would be extremely tedious so Cieszyn ladies share the work and then their pastries – and wait, with pretended indifference, for the opinion about their creations.
Unquestionably, however, the most desired Viennese delicacy, willingly prepared by Cieszyn hostesses, was and is until today the apple strudel (sometimes cheese or poppy-seed strudel). Every household has its own, tried and tested recipes and secret ways of stretching the dough and baking. Also, every strudel, although the ingredients are similar, looks and tastes different. Different also are the ways of serving it: it can be served hot, cold, with whipped cream, vanilla ice-cream or plain – with powdered sugar. Indeed, every autumn an annual competition for the best strudel in Cieszyn is held and it produces a lot of well-founded excitement among the ladies, the jury and the audience. And here is one of many private recipes, dating from the beginning of the 20th century:
“Leaven the dough with a glass of water, 1 teaspoonful of vinegar, a pinch of salt and flour (it should be sifted). It takes little less than half a kilo of flour. The dough mustn’t be too compact or too watery. Next, when the dough no longer sticks to your palm, grease it with butter and cover it with a hot clay saucepan and leave it for more than an hour.
In order to stretch the dough, you must prepare a table covered with a clean tablecloth. Take a shallow plate and put it upside down under the tablecloth, in the middle of the table. Sprinkle some flour over the tablecloth. Put slightly flattened dough in the middle of the table (on the plate) and stretch it in all directions. Make sure it is not stretched too thin – otherwise it will crack. The edges are thicker and should be cut off. Leave the dough on the tablecloth to dry.
Sprinkle the stretched dough generously – first with melted butter and then with breadcrumbs. Next put thinly sliced apples, not peeled, sprinkle them generously with powdered sugar and finally with cinnamon, raisins, orange peel, and, if you want – even with finely chopped sweet almonds.
Next bend the dough a little and roll up the rest, lifting it with your hands from the bottom, together with the tablecloth, and this is how the dough “rolls itself up” to the end. Put it in a long baking-tin or coiled in a saucepan that has been coated generously with butter and sprinkled with breadcrumbs. Moisten the top with butter and bake it in a hot oven for a whole hour. When it finishes baking, you can pour cream over it and when it is done - sprinkle it with sugar”.
However, there is one ingredient that is not written in any of the recipes. According to experienced Cieszyn housewives, the warrant for real apple strudel, something that guarantees its taste and perfection is the 500 years of the Habsburgs’ reign. This is exactly what a charming tradition is about!
EMPEROR’S AND KING’S COURT PURVEYORS, I.E. CIESZYN DELICACIES IN VIENNA
One of the elements that linked, in a special way, some Cieszyn entrepreneurs with Vienna was the title of “Emperor’s and King’s court Purveyors”. Originally it entailed the privilege of delivering the products of a given firm to the Emperor’s Court – though the privilege was hardly applied in Cieszyn as the food products were provided for the Habsburgs’ tables directly by Komora Cieszyńska. It supplied, among other things, ewe’s milk cheese and butter called Teebutter (the name is an abbreviation for the full name – “Teschner erzherzogliche Butter”, Cieszyn archducal butter). It is still present in Viennese shops even today. By the second half of the 19th century the title was already more of an honorary title – however, it enabled the owners to place the Emperor’s double-headed eagle on the firm’s trademarks and products. This added splendour to a given firm and its owners – the more so as it was really the best firms and products of a given branch that were distinguished in this way. The firms in Cieszyn that were given the titles were the ones that were active in the fields the town on the Olza was famous for, i.e. trade, printing, photography and alcohol production.
The first to get the title of Emperor’s and King’s court Purveyor was the printing-house and bookshop of Karol Prochaska. It was in 1883. The Prochaska printing-house, set up in 1806, was the oldest establishment of that kind in Cieszyn Silesia . It remained in the hands of the Prochaskas as late as 1945. In the second half of the 19th century Prochaska transformed a printing house that was not very big, situated on Stroma street, into one of the biggest printing establishments in the whole of the Empire, an establishment which employed about 400 before the First World War. It had, among other things, a modern lithographic establishment that printed maps, as well as album publications. A railway map of the Austrian monarchy that went into about a hundred editions was a cartographic hit for the firm. Most of all, however, the Prochaska printing establishment published books, and they were books in several tens of languages; among others Hebrew, Arabic and Ethiopian. In addition to books, it also printed magazines: a local paper ”Gwiazdka Cieszyńska” was published there for a long time. Prochaska was also the publisher of “Silesia”, the most important German magazine in Austrian Silesia.
The degree of acknowledgement of the high standards of Cieszyn printing was revealed in the fact that the next firm that obtained, in 1901, the title of the Emperor’s and King’s court Purveyor was also a printing house, - Fritz Kutzer’s printing house. From the beginning he set high standards by equipping it with the most modern machinery. In addition to books he also published, in great quantities, trade books and lithographs. The firm had warehouses for their products in, among others, Vienna and Budapest. Next in 1905 the title of the Emperor’s and King’s court Bookseller was obtained by Siegmund Stuks who specialized in selling belles-lettres and tourist guides. Archduke Eugeniusz, who resided in Cieszyn, visited his bookshop in Świętego Krzyża square every day, where he did some shopping for his private library.
Apart from printing, Cieszyn was renowned for its production of high-quality alcoholic beverages, in which producers of Jewish origin had a substantial share. Among them was Moritz Fasal who, in 1868, set up a firm in Cieszyn that produced liqueurs, high-grade vodkas and soda-water During the following years the firm developed into a large enterprise whose products won prizes in national and international shows. One of the best known products was the famous (and often counterfeited) ”Fasalówka”. The Fasal firm also had warehouses in many towns of the Empire – among others in Vienna, and the Emperor honoured its work by giving it the title of Emperor’s and King’s court Purveyor in 1903. In 1913 another Cieszyn producer of vodkas and liqueurs, Samuel Spitzer, became the next purveyor with the title.
Cieszyn was also famous for its numerous photographic ateliers which, starting from the middle of the 19th century, captured not only its inhabitants, but also the beauty of the town on the Olza. Thanks to the local printers, thousands of copies of postcards made people all over Europe familiar with Cieszyn views. The best known Cieszyn photographer was Heinrich Jandaurek, who learnt his profession in Vienna. He opened his own atelier (in the beginning with his brother) in a house in Głęboka street in 1870. He often took pictures of the members of the Ruling House, which substantially increased the number of his clients. Jandaurek received a number of prizes for the high quality of his work. The prizes were, among others, medals awarded by the Photographic Association in Vienna in 1877 and 1887.
His crowning achievement was the title of the Emperor’s and King’s court Photographer that he received in 1900. It was a distinction that was equivalent to the title of the Emperor’s and King’s court Purveyor, just as the title of the Emperor’s and King’s court Hairdresser that Franz Hermann, a hairdresser from the “Russet Deer” hotel, received in 1915.
However, for many centuries, apart from craft, it was trade that had the greatest importance to the town’s economy. In the group of the Emperor’s and King’s court Purveyors trade was represented by Józef Konczakowski and his son Bruno. Józef came from a family of immigrants from the Eastern parts of the Republic. In 1878 he took over a small ironmonger’s shop in the Market Square that belonged to Robert Gomolka. Over several years he transformed it into a large firm that supplied the needs of, besides Cieszyn, the surrounding countryside and industrial plants in the Ostrawa-Karwina coalfield and Trzyniec. Towards the end of his life Józef Konczakowski lived to achieve recognition in the form of the title of the Emperor’s and King’s court Purveyor, which he got in 1907. In 1909 the same title was given to his son Bruno who took over the firm after his father’s death (he had learnt the secrets of the trading profession in Vienna). He was better known as a collector of old weaponry and art and craft objects. He purchased them during his numerous business trips all over the Empire. In his house in the Market Square he created a private museum in which he displayed his rich and valuable collection.
AN INVITATION TO THE WALTZ, I. E. JOHANN STRAUSS IN CIESZYN
One of the living Cieszyn traditions, strongly rooted in Viennese fashions, is the musical life, cultivated until today, and the carnival parties and balls that come as its consequence. Cieszynians go to their theatre and concert halls with unabated enthusiasm to see Viennese operettas and the numerous festivals, such as, for example, the Festival of Vocal Music “Viva il Canto”, enjoy great popularity.
Musical life developed in Cieszyn in the 18th century and reflected what was happening on Viennese stages and in concert halls. Theatrical and operatic performances, on the one hand, but also masked balls and balls took place (starting from 1726) in the theatrical hall, also called redutowa, a masked-ball room (from reduta = a masked ball), that adjoined the Town Hall. In that hall Mozart’s, Haydn’s and Mendelssohn’s works were performed. Cieszyn also welcomed the greatest musicians of the time. On November 16th, 1844, Johann Strauss the Father and his orchestra gave a concert in the Masked-Ball Room, making Cieszynians familiar with his most recent waltzes, polkas and marches.
It was also with enthusiasm that Franciszek Liszt was received. In order to invite this famous genius pianist, the director of Komora Cieszyńska, Josef von Kachlberg, announced a subscription list among the inhabitants of Cieszyn, himself declaring a substantial sum. Soon a thousand guldens were collected, which made it possible to cover the cost of the artist’s expensive and complicated journey from Vienna. Von Kachlberg wrote the following invitation to Liszt: “ Please come to Cieszyn because Cieszyn cannot come to you”. Director Kachlberg even bought a piano built by the Viennese firm Streicher, the pianist’s favourite make. Liszt came to Cieszyn and on June 2nd, 1846, he gave a public concert in the new stylish Orangery in the Cieszyn castle. He won the hearts of the audience who came in great numbers from Cieszyn and the whole region. Kachlberg invited all the Cieszyn musicians to the concert and generously bought them expensive admission tickets. Franciszek Liszt stayed in Cieszyn for 8 days. During the day he visited the town and the neighbourhood, and in the evenings he played for hours for the enchanted guests who tightly filled von Kachlberg’s castle drawing-rooms.
More than forty years later the castle became the location for other musical events. From 1888, Archduke Eugeniusz, the brother of Fryderyk (the last owner of Cieszyn landed property), and “the most handsome of the Habsburgs” was garrisoned in Cieszyn. His military duties were undoubtedly rather monotonous and did not satisfy the interests of the archduke who had the soul of an artist and who liked to surround himself with people of art and culture. In this way a small “court”, called “Cieszyn Wartburg”, came into being in the Cieszyn castle - where the archduke resided. Through the court the archduke, who performed the role of a Maecenas, inspired the musical and cultural life in Cieszyn . In the absence of a large enough room, he equipped the spacious cellars of the castle brewery - transforming them into a concert hall with a stage. He put on (his favourite) Richard Wagner operas there. The artists of the Court Opera, brought from Vienna for the purpose, performed as soloists, and clerks of the highest rank and their wives, as well as Cieszyn townspeople, played supernumeraries. Scenery was taken care of by the engineers employed in Komora Cieszyńska, and the musical setting was provided by a properly trained orchestra of the local 100th Infantry Regiment, rehearsed supposedly by the talented archduke Eugeniusz himself. In 1891 the inhabitants of Cieszyn repaid the archduke by giving his name to the concert hall that adjoined the “Austria” Hotel.
Cieszynians not only admired the concerts of the invited artists, but they themselves learned and improved as musicians, often reaching the highest levels in that field. The first music school in the town, founded by Karol Slawik, was opened in 1860, and mainly piano and singing were taught. Ottokar Slawik, a student of well-known Austrian composer Anton Bruckner, took the management of the school over after his father. The school conducted classes according to the program of the Viennese conservatory and quite a few of its students continued their education precisely there. In the department of a famous violin virtuoso Michał “Zeno” Pogrobiński, many fine musicians received their education, for example the world famous violinist Max Rostal, and Eduard Zathurecky, a Director of the Academy of Music in Budapest. Both Slawiks were members of the Cieszyn Singing Association (Teschner Manner – gesangverein), founded in 1841, which put up a monument to Franz Schubert in Archduke Rudolf Square in 1901, i.e. on the 60th anniversary of its foundation. There were more choirs like that in Cieszyn, i.e. choirs that attracted lovers of singing. This fondness for music and giving concerts is revealed today especially during the time of carnival when every week parties and balls take place in many rooms, restaurants and private houses; they are organized by different institutions, schools, professional circles and organizations. These balls proceed according to customs sanctioned by tradition; numerous social games, competitions and lotteries adding colour to them. Usually they are charitable and ‘self-helpful’ in character.
The first ball with the participation of the higher social classes took place on May 13th, 1779, after the signing of the so-called Cieszyn Peace Treaty that ended the Bavarian War of Succession between Austria and Prussia. Seven envoys from the main European countries that conferred in Cieszyn gave a grand ball for its hospitable inhabitants to celebrate the negotiated peace. It was then that Cieszyn townswomen brought, for the first time, crinolines and different accessories, so fashionable in the Rococo period, from Vienna. In later years Cieszyn ladies did not necessarily have to go to Vienna for their dresses because they could be obtained locally. They provided themselves with chic Viennese clothes and accessories in many shops and milliner’s shops. These commodities were provided by such shops as: “Modes de Viennes”, “Wiener Schuhwarenhaus” (shoe salon) or the workshop of Zofia Leitner, a well-known milliner that operates until today in Głęboka street.
“FELLNER & HELMER” ATELIER, I.E. VIENNESE SECESSION IN CIESZYN
The increasing development of Cieszyn in the second half of the 19th century changed its urban and architectural face. This was connected with the plans of the mayor Johann Deml von Elswehr (at the end of the 19th century) to create a so-called Grand Cieszyn. In that period many public buildings appeared in the town, in the style of the so-called Viennese Ring. For example: the District Court in Garncarska street, the People’s school in Wolności square, the Catholic Parish Office in Dominikański Square, Cieszyn Savings-Bank in the Market Square and the Old People’s Home in Korfantego street.
An the turn of the 19th century the Secession style in its Viennese variation set in in Cieszyn. Although lines that were busy and asymmetric, wavy and full of energy were characteristic of the Secession style, in Vienna another trend developed, emphasising classical tendencies, and using a flat geometric ornamention.
The Cieszyn architects, who were educated in the Viennese technical Schools of Higher Education, commonly used the “Wiener Sezession” style. First of all, it was Albrecht Dostal, the designer of ‘Albrechtsgymnasium’ (today the Antoni Osuchowski Secondary school) and Robert Lewak, whose style is best reflected in his own villa in 3 Maja street and a town house at the corner of Górny Rynek and Limanowskiego street.
Quite an important role in the architecture of Cieszyn was played by the extremely busy firm of Eugen Fulda which erected a lot of town houses and private villas in the town. His own, four-storey house with the first Viennese lift in Cieszyn, situated at the corner of Świętego Krzyża square and Głęboka street and built in 1912, can serve as an example. Downstairs there was a modern textile store-room belonging to O. Aufricht, and in the attic there was a modern atelier of the well-known Viennese photographic firm of Karl Pietzner.
Apart from these renowned architects, there were also some talented master-builders who were active in Cieszyn at the turn of the 19th century. They were : Carl Friedrich, Alois Jedek, Anton Jonkisch, Ludwig Kametz, and Josef Nossek. It was thanks to them that the following structures were erected: the People’s School and ‘Wyższa Szkoła Realna’ (a secondary school) in Londzina square, the Polish Teacher Training College for Men in Bobrek quarter, the Lutheran seminary for girls in Wolności Square and many town houses, all in the style of the Secession.
Cieszyn public buildings were also built as a consequence of competitions that were arbitrated by the Austrian Association of Engineers and Architects in Vienna (Oesterreichisches Ingenieur und Architekten-Vereins), with the participation of the Society of Technicians (Techniker-Club) from Cieszyn. Some Viennese architects realized their projects in Cieszyn , such as (to give just one example) Kilian Kohler, the designer of the modern building of the “Russet Deer” Hotel and a few Cieszyn town houses.
The beginnings of the building of the “pearl” of Cieszyn architecture, that is the Secession Theatre in the very heart of the town, were similar.
For the developing town the premises of the Kornhausel theatre, situated behind the Town Hall, or the archduke Eugeniusz’s room in the “Austria” Hotel were no longer adequate.
Cieszyn merchants, craftsmen and entrepreneurs decided (with the help of the town authorities) to build a theatre that would meet the new needs. This initiative was also the consequence of aggravating national quarrels in Cieszyn. The theatre was supposed to become the centre of German culture in the town. In 1902 a private Association for the Building of the Theatre (Theaterbauverein) was formed and it diligently collected half a million crowns for this purpose. The Association turned to the internationally famous and experienced architectural Viennese atelier of “Fellner & Helmer” which specialized in the building of theatres.
It was Ferdinand Fellner who, together with Hermann Helmer, established, in1872, the atelier that was famous all over Europe. By 1915 they had built more than 200 structures all around Europe. They were: castles and palaces, villas and town houses, hotels, factories, banks and department stores. In that number there were also 48 theatres in, among other places, Vienna, Augsburg, Salzburg, Karlsbad, Zurych, Berlin, and, on Polish territory – in Stanisławów, Toruń and Łańcut.
After numerous consultations and project approvals, in 1908 they set about building the Cieszyn theatre. The main executor was the Cieszyn building firm of Eugen Fulda. Hugo Baruch, a Berlin and Viennese entrepreneur who specialized in putting up theatrical stages, and “Pittel & Brausewetter” from Vienna, a firm that provided reinforced concrete work, also took part in the building works.
The theatre was erected on the spot where the first parish church in the town had been situated (until the end of the 18th century) and after that a style-less barracks structure. The building works were ended in 1909. The interior, equipped in a modern way, contained 770 seats (now 630), a revolving stage, an iron fire-proof curtain, its own boiler room for central heating and generating power, a scenery and costume storage room, a ballet room and dressing-rooms.
The Cieszyn theatre is characterized by modernized late Baroque that reflects the fashion of the times, i.e. the imposition of the Secession stylistics on the 18th century prototypes. This brought about the architecture of the exterior that was extremely mellow and had many curved moulds and arches, as well as the interiors of the house and the foyer with white walls and richly gilded stucco that add a lot of charm and glamour.
The formal inauguration of the new theatre took place on the 24th of September, 1910, while the Association for the Building of the Theatre transformed itself into the German Theatrical Association ( Deutschen Theaterverein) that managed the theatre. The repertoire of “The German Theatre in Cieszyn” ( Deutsches Theater in Teschen) was in German; however, for economic reasons, the Association was forced to rent the theatre to Polish productions as well. After the Second World War the theatre received the name of Adam Mickiewicz.
ARCHDUKES, GENERALS, SOLDIERS, I.E. EMPEROR’S AND KING’S CIESZYN GARRISON
For many decades the Emperor’s multinational army added a specific colour to Cieszyn. At the beginning of the 20th century about 1500 soldiers were stationed here and this is not including the officers – so they constituted almost 10 % of the population of Cieszyn. The army was visible in the town during formal parades and marches and the army orchestra played on Sunday and Holiday afternoons in the Market Square and the town parks. When they were off duty, elegant officers, dressed in operetta-like uniforms, sat in the local restaurants and cafes. They constituted an element much welcomed by the ladies, that lent variety to social meetings, balls and parties. Quite a number of them set up a family with some beautiful maiden from the town and stayed in Cieszyn for good, enriching its multinational mosaic.
The army was stationed permanently in Cieszyn from the middle of the 17th century, occupying, at the beginning, private lodgings in the town. In 1775 barracks for 5 companies and staff officers were put up in today’s Mennicza street. Attached to the barracks there was, in the years 1787 to 1852, “An Army Educational Institution” for boys. On the spot after the parish church burnt down in 1789, new barracks were erected in 1794, at the State’s charge. They were called “kasarnia.” Apart from “kasarnia” there was also a gun-powder warehouse, a military hospital, and barracks at Frydecka street, on the other side of the Olza river. “Kasarnia” was dismantled in 1904 and the new theatre was erected on its spot. However, before that happened, in 1895, on the slopes of Mały Jaworowy, a huge complex of barrack buildings, named after Archduke Fryderyk was erected. It comprised 22 structures where the 54th and the 100th Infantry Regiments and the 31st Regiment of Territorial Defence were stationed. Also, the following had their premises there: the district Draft Headquarters, a military hospital, the military police and the army orchestra.
The appearance of the members of the Ruling House among officers’ staff inspired great agitation in the town. Just like archduke Eugeniusz, they did their military service in high positions. As a general rule they kept open house and visiting them meant social ennoblement. Similarly, a gracious visit of “the highly born” to the house of some townsman in Cieszyn was great favour.
Also the so-called ‘Emperor’s Manoeuvres’ in 1890 and 1906 were great events. They assembled around the Emperor, the Austro–Hungarian Commanding staff, staff officers of numerous regiments, foreign observers and military attaches. The manoeuvres themselves could be watched by the inhabitants of Cieszyn and the surroundings, with the Emperor’s consent, only from some distance. In the evenings, on the other hand, a rich social life thrived, starting with official dinners given by the monarch for non-participating parties and picnics in the townspeople’s salons. Such events enabled Cieszyn to assume the refinements of a capital town.
The Cieszyn Habsburgs were also closely bound with the army. Duke Albert Kazimierz Sasko-Cieszyński (1738 – 1822) took part in the 7 Years’ War and as early as when he was 23 years old, he was promoted, for his courage, to field marshal–lieutenant. He also took part in the ‘Bavarian War of Succession’ that ended with the signing of the “Cieszyn Peace Treaty” in the residential town of the Duke, in 1779. He also took part in the first phase of the Napoleonic Wars, then settled in Vienna in 1795.
His successor, Archduke Karol Ludwik Habsburg (1771–1847) distinguished himself, on the other hand, as a reformer of the Austrian Army and its superb commander-in-chief. In 1809, as the sole Austrian commander, he beat Napoleon, who was heading for Vienna, in the battle of Aspern. Since then the nickname “The victor of Aspern” stuck to him and on the Square of the Heroes in front of the Emperor’s residence in Vienna an impressive equine monument was put up for him.
Also the next Cieszyn duke, Albrecht Fryderyk Habsburg (1817-1895), who was called in turn “The victor of Custozza”, got his equine monument in Albertina Square in Vienna. This was induced by his war service in Italy and a brilliant victory after the battle of Custozza in 1866 . Before it happened, though, he had taken part, as a Field Marshal, in many armed conflicts where Austria took part, and as the Inspector General of the Army he contributed to its modernization.
The last of the Habsburgs in Cieszyn, archduke Fryderyk (1856 – 1936) was the General Inspector and Commander-in-chief of the Austrian army during the First World War. It was because of him that Cieszyn became the seat of the Austro-Hungarian Army Headquarters in 1914-1916, a so-called AOK (Armeeoberkomando).
The figure of Józef Piłsudski who, in 1914, organized I Brigade of the Polish Legions still under the Austrian wings, caused great agitation. Then he used to stay in the “Austria” Hotel in Cieszyn and appeared in his legion uniform without any insignia of rank. What created a sensation among the Austrian officers and the hotel guests was when officers saluted him while standing at attention.
On November, 21st, 1916, the venerable Emperor Franciszek Józef I died in Vienna. Three days after his funeral, on December 3rd, 1916, the last Austrian Emperor, Karol I, came to Cieszyn. After his visit the Headquarters was moved to Baden near Vienna. It was the last visit of an Emperor to Cieszyn.
Together with the end of the First World War the decline of the Austrian rule in Cieszyn Silesia took place. In the night between October 31st and November 1st 1918 officers of the Cieszyn garrison, whose nationality was Polish, arrested the Austrian commander of the garrison, Colonel J. Gerndt, they took control over the army and the strategic points in the town. They passed the authority on to The People’s Council for the Duchy of Cieszyn, whose leaders were three, now former, members of the Viennese parliament, i.e. Rev. Józef Londzin, Jan Michejda and Tadeusz Reger.