During the pandemic, we have been taking a closer look at the value of Kraków’s intangible heritage.
Last year was marred by the pandemic which brought widespread disease and countless deaths, as well as devastating social and cultural lives the globe over. Jakub Zawadziński encapsulated this in his nativity scene (szopka), submitted to last year’s Kraków Nativity Scene Contest. At first glance it looks like a classic construction, with the Nativity and angels on the upper storey set among Cracovian architecture. But take a closer look, and you’ll see the central niche on the lower storey is concealed by a theatre curtain, Cracovian hats, scythes and the attributes of the Lajkonik are left on the landing, while the parasol of the flower seller’s stall is folded away. There are no human figurines, and the emptiness on the Main Market Square is made all the more haunting by flocks of pigeons. The nativity scene was awarded First Prize in the small nativity scene category, with the competition forced to step away from its traditional format. Although the public weren’t able to attend the popular presentation of the works, makers of Cracovian nativity scenes assembled by the Adam Mickiewicz statue on the first Thursday of December as usual. Nativity Scene (szopka) tradition in Kraków was inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity UNESCO in 2018.
Bugle player – figurine in a nativity scene made by Zygmunt Grabarski (1912-1984), 1st prize at the 41st Nativity Scene Competition in 1983, from the collection of the Seweryn Udziela Ethnographic Museum in Kraków, photo by Jacek Kubiena
Kraków is “Poland’s most famous city, boasting a magnificent royal castle and the acclaimed Academy,” filled with numerous ancient buildings, monuments and artworks. Its genius loci is present in living traditions and cultural practices; although they are constantly shifting and evolving, they constitute the city’s intangible heritage.
Paradoxically, as many of our great outdoor events were cancelled or moved online due to the pandemic, their value as Kraków’s intangible treasures became all the more notable.
The Lajkonik – the bearded rider of a hobby horse clad in stylised oriental robes designed by Stanisław Wyspiański – is one of Kraków’s most recognisable symbols. This enduring popularity has been maintained through the colourful parade of the Lajkonik with his entourage through the city streets and squares, earning it an entry on Poland’s list of intangible cultural heritage in 2014. Volumes have been written on the Lajkonik’s name and the origins of the custom, dating back to the early 18th century. Even so, we cannot be certain whether the links between the tale of raftsmen from the nearby village of Zwierzyniec stopping the Tatar horde from attacking Kraków and the prancing Lajkonik are rooted in real legend or simply the invention of Konstanty Majeranowski penned some two centuries ago. The route, costumes and music had been modified and adapted over the years, but the date has remained fixed throughout: you can find the Lajkonik cavorting through the city on the octave of Corpus Christi.
Every day, passers-by can catch a glimpse of a golden trumpet delivering a plaintive melody from the top of taller tower of the Basilica of St Mary and ending suddenly midway through a note. The hejnał bugle call, famous the world over, has a history dating all the way back to 1392. For centuries it was played at dawn and at dusk to mark the opening and closing of the city gates and as a warning against fire or invasion. Legend has it that one fateful day, the guard sounding the alarm was struck by a Tatar’s arrow. Today, the hejnał is played every hour on the hour in the four directions of the compass, marking the passage of time in city’s everyday life, and it is transmitted live on radio at midday every day.
Photo by Artur Żyrkowski
For centuries, special occasions have been marked in Kraków by bells pealing from church towers throughout the city. For half a millennium, the greatest of them all has been the Sigismund Bell, named for its founder King Sigismund I the Old, resounding from Wawel Cathedral. Its sonorous sound carries above the city on the most important national and church festivals and marks events momentous for Kraków and Poland. On 25 March 2020, Old Sigismund tolled during the prayers for the end of the pandemic. Sadly, a few weeks later its noble sound did not accompany the St Stanislaus Procession from Wawel to the Pauline Church on the Rock since the event was cancelled due to the pandemic. The traditions of this procession, bearing relics of some of Poland’s most important saints, date back to the 13th century, and it brings together representatives of Church and state authorities and crowds of churchgoers. The procession is held on the Sunday after St Stanislaus’ Day (8 May) and it’s accompanied by an indulgence at the Pauline Church.
An indulgence is an annual fete held on the day of the patron saint of the given church, and the faithful come along pray for their penitence to be reduced. Indulgences are usually accompanied by feasts and fairs, with traders peddling traditional folk wares. Emmaus is a medieval custom of flocking out for an indulgence at churches outside of the city walls on Easter Monday to commemorate Jesus meeting with apostles following His resurrection. The tradition was once popular all over Poland, now only surviving in Kraków, in Zwierzyniec district. According to an author writing over a century ago, Emmaus has always been attended by great crowds from Kraków and nearby villages as well as “guests from far-flung corners of Poland wishing to enjoy a truly Polish Easter”. The celebration’s sacral dimension gradually faded over the years, while the joyful, bustling strolls of early spring took on a patriotic note during the time of the partitions and went as far as the Kościuszko Mound.
Earthen bell from Emmaus or Rękawka, Kraków, turn of the 20th century, from the collection of the Seweryn Udziela Ethnographic Museum in Kraków, photo by Marcin Wąsik
The Rękawka was an equally popular celebration, held on the Tuesday after Easter. Crowds of Cracovians flocked to the Krakus Mound and the Lasota Hill to admire the panoramic views over the city and visit the Church of St Benedict. But the high point of the event were folk games such as rolling eggs, bread and coins down the slopes to be caught by young boys waiting at the foot of the hills. The custom was banned in 1897, but Cracovians continued to flock to Rękawka throughout the 20th century. It was an occasion similar to Emmaus with a fairground, live music, dances and feasts, marking springtime in Kraków.
Rękawka, Podgórze, Kraków, photo by Światowid Photo Agency, 1920/30s, from the collection of the Seweryn Udziela Ethnographic Museum in Kraków
Emmaus and Rękawka also host great fairs of arts, crafts and toys, although today’s stalls mostly abound with imported plastic tat. For a long time, the traders sold handcrafted, home-made wooden and clay toys. Stanisław Cercha wrote in 1896, “Everyone comes back with a hatchet and an earthen bell to show that they’ve been to Emmaus…” As well as popular children’s toys, visitors bought memorabilia for “good luck”, hoping they will bring them health and prosperity. Another popular memento was the tree of life – a painted green stick adorned with leaves topped with a bird’s nest or a little bird mounted on a spring. The ethnographer Tadeusz Seweryn saw these objects as a reminiscence of ancient springtime rites and customs commemorating the dead. The Rękawka Festival, organised since 2001 by the Podgórze Cultural Centre at the foot of Krakus Mound, features re-enactments of mediaeval jousts and duels and everyday lives and customs of ancient Slavic peoples.
Tree of life, Emmaus, Kraków, 1921, from the collection of the Seweryn Udziela Ethnographic Museum in Kraków, photo by Marcin Wąsik
Unfortunately this year’s long-awaited Emmaus and Rękawka feasts was cancelled once again due to the ongoing pandemic. Instead, we could enter the competition for the most beautiful Emmaus tree, organised by the Zwierzyniecki House, branch of the Museum of Krakow for the seventh time. It is also worth visiting the Seweryn Udziela Ethnographic Museum to see historic toys and trinkets sold at Emmaus and Rękawka between the late 19th and mid-20th centuries.
Małgorzata Oleszkiewicz
Małgorzata Oleszkiewicz – senior curator at the Seweryn Udziela Ethnographic Museum in Kraków. She studies cultural and social aspects of folk rites, customs and arts and crafts. She is especially interested in the intangible heritage of Kraków and the region.
The text was published in the 1/2021 issue of the “Kraków Culture” quarterly.
