The Raczyński Library ( Polish: ''Biblioteka Raczyńskich w Poznaniu'') is a

public library A public library is a library, most often a lending library, that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil servic ...

founded by Count Edward Raczyński in

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

. The

library A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

's building was erected in 1822–1828 with the financial support of Edward Raczyński Foundation. The structure of a classical building features a

colonnade In classical architecture, a colonnade is a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building. Paired or multiple pairs of columns are normally employed in a colonnade which can be straight or curv ...

reminiscent of the eastern

façade A façade or facade (; ) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loanword from the French language, French (), which means "frontage" or "face". In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important asp ...

of the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

. In front of the main building of the library stands the Hygieia's Fountain statue created by Albert Wolff in 1841.

History

The neoclassicist building of the library is located at Liberty Square (''Plac Wolności''). During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

the building was demolished with explosives by the Nazi German troops and nearly all of the library's books (90%) were destroyed in the resulting fire, except for the special collections looted earlier by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

. In 1953, the library was rebuilt according to the project by Janina Czarnecka. In 1994, the library was in possession of around 252,000 books. Between 2010 and 2013 a new wing of the library was constructed, which helped to better display the library's collections. It was officially opened on 1 July 2013 and covers the area of 11,000 square metres and was co-financed by

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

funds. The current director of the library is Anna Gruszecka. The library also exercises control over the museums of such writers as

Henryk Sienkiewicz Henryk Adam Aleksander Pius Sienkiewicz ( , ; 5 May 1846 – 15 November 1916), also known by the pseudonym Litwos (), was a Polish epic writer. He is remembered for his historical novels, such as The Trilogy, the Trilogy series and especially ...

, Kazimiera Iłłakowiczówna and Józef Ignacy Kraszewski.

Past directors

The directors of the library: * (1829-1852) Józef Łukaszewicz * (1852-1868) Antoni Popliński * (1868-1901) Maksymilian Sosnowski * (1902-1912) Oswald Collmann * (1913-1914) Wilhelm Christiani * (1916), (1918-1919) Adolf Kunkel * (1919-1928) Antoni Bederski * (1929-1939) Andrzej Wojtkowski * (1939-1941) Józef Raczyński * (1941-1945) Paul Sattler * (1945-1947) Józef Frieske * (1948) Halina Kurkówna * (1949-1953) Feliks Róg-Mazurek * (1954) Wacław Lica * (1955-1956) Leon Pawlak * (1957-1962) Bernard Olejniczak * (1964-1972) Helena Seidel * (1962-1963), (1972-1977), (1981-1997) Janusz Dembski * (1977-1981) Alfred Laboga * (1997-2014) Wojciech Spaleniak * (2014–present) Anna Gruszecka

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Raczynski Library In Poznan Buildings and structures in Poznań Public libraries in Poland Tourist attractions in Poznań Library buildings completed in 1828 1829 establishments Rebuilt buildings and structures in Poland

History

Past directors

See also

References

External links