Polish Hall for Prince Józef Poniatowski

The Polish Hall is named after Prince Józef Poniatowski, a commander and statesman of the Napoleonic era who lived from 1763 to 1813. His final days were tied to the end of Napoleon's campaign: on 16 October 1813, during the Battle of Leipzig, Napoleon appointed him a Marshal of France. Three days later, the prince drowned in the River Elster while covering the French retreat.

The exhibition explores the connections between Pszczyna, its owners and Polish culture through Poniatowski's story. Objects on display include an early nineteenth-century rootwood table with a top inlaid with semi-precious stone tiles, a late eighteenth-century Baroque mirror in a carved gilt frame, and a twelve-arm wooden chandelier with crystal pendants from the second half of the eighteenth century. Reproductions were supplied by the Princes Czartoryski Foundation in Kraków and the National Museum in Warsaw.

The idea for the hall came from art historian and arms specialist Zdzisław Żygulski Jr. Teresa Grzybkowska and Marcin Nyga prepared it in collaboration with museum director Maciej Kluss.