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Jan Zbigniew Bem, Tadeusz Fuss-Kaden, Paweł Polachowski, Zygmunt Stankiewicz, Tadeusz Tomaszewski, wystrój polskiej kaplicy w Zuchwil, 1941-1942, prace w metalu, drewnie, kamieniu, witraż, photo Andrzej Pieńkos, 2014
Licencja: CC BY-SA 4.0, Warunki licencji
Fotografia przedstawiająca Decoration of the Polish chapel in Zuchwil
Jan Zbigniew Bem, Tadeusz Fuss-Kaden, Paweł Polachowski, Zygmunt Stankiewicz, Tadeusz Tomaszewski, wystrój polskiej kaplicy w Zuchwil, 1941-1942, prace w metalu, drewnie, kamieniu, witraż, photo Andrzej Pieńkos, 2014
Licencja: CC BY-SA 4.0, Warunki licencji
Fotografia przedstawiająca Decoration of the Polish chapel in Zuchwil
Jan Zbigniew Bem, Tadeusz Fuss-Kaden, Paweł Polachowski, Zygmunt Stankiewicz, Tadeusz Tomaszewski, wystrój polskiej kaplicy w Zuchwil, 1941-1942, prace w metalu, drewnie, kamieniu, witraż, photo Andrzej Pieńkos, 2014
Licencja: CC BY-SA 4.0, Warunki licencji
Fotografia przedstawiająca Decoration of the Polish chapel in Zuchwil
Jan Zbigniew Bem, Tadeusz Fuss-Kaden, Paweł Polachowski, Zygmunt Stankiewicz, Tadeusz Tomaszewski, wystrój polskiej kaplicy w Zuchwil, 1941-1942, prace w metalu, drewnie, kamieniu, witraż, photo Andrzej Pieńkos, 2014
Licencja: CC BY-SA 4.0, Warunki licencji
Fotografia przedstawiająca Decoration of the Polish chapel in Zuchwil
Jan Zbigniew Bem, Tadeusz Fuss-Kaden, Paweł Polachowski, Zygmunt Stankiewicz, Tadeusz Tomaszewski, wystrój polskiej kaplicy w Zuchwil, 1941-1942, prace w metalu, drewnie, kamieniu, witraż, photo Andrzej Pieńkos, 2014
Licencja: CC BY-SA 4.0, Warunki licencji
Fotografia przedstawiająca Decoration of the Polish chapel in Zuchwil
Jan Zbigniew Bem, Tadeusz Fuss-Kaden, Paweł Polachowski, Zygmunt Stankiewicz, Tadeusz Tomaszewski, wystrój polskiej kaplicy w Zuchwil, 1941-1942, prace w metalu, drewnie, kamieniu, witraż, photo Andrzej Pieńkos, 2014
Licencja: CC BY-SA 4.0, Warunki licencji
Fotografia przedstawiająca Decoration of the Polish chapel in Zuchwil
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ID: POL-001448-P

Decoration of the Polish chapel in Zuchwil

Zuchwil | Switzerland
gsw. Zuchwiu, Zuchu
ID: POL-001448-P

Decoration of the Polish chapel in Zuchwil

Zuchwil | Switzerland
gsw. Zuchwiu, Zuchu
Variants of the name:
Polenkapelle

The former 16th century cemetery chapel (dedicated to the Fourteen Helpers) lost its original function when the church cemetery was closed down in the 19th century. Due to the existence of two Polish monuments at this cemetery: Tadeusz Kościuszko and Tadeusz Reytan, and the creation here of a peculiar place of national worship, known locally as the Polenanlage, it was decided to entrust its reconstruction and adaptation for new purposes to Polish soldiers from the Second Division of Rifle Rifles, interned in Switzerland in 1940.

The regulations for the competition for the design of the reconstruction and interior decoration of the 'DSP memorial chapel in Solura' were issued at the internment camp in Elgg near Winterthur on 24 October 1941 (with an application deadline of 1 December). The competition was "open to all Polish soldiers interned in Switzerland" and also included the need to resolve the issue of interior lighting, the design of a new entrance, and the surroundings of the building. The reconstruction took place in 1942 on the initiative and with funds raised by the Pro Polonia Committee, with the strength of Polish soldiers (the structural work of the roof was carried out by the Conti company from Solura). The general design by the Warsaw architect Jan Lewiński does not seem to have concerned the details of the furnishings, which were carried out by artists from among the interned members of the Division: painter Tadeusz Fuss-Kaden (pointillist Christmas-themed painting on suspended wooden ceiling, 410 x 360 cm; stained glass windows, also design of iron grilles and decorative handle with mermaid motif), Jan Zbigniew Bem (silver-plated metal plaque-engraving according to the image of Our Lady of Ostra Brama, 52 x 42 cm; crown with eagles above the altar), Paweł Polachowski (carving of a large oak wall-mounted bench in the style of pre-war Polish art deco, length: 400 cm), Zygmunt Zygmunt Bem (carving of an oak wall-mounted bench in the style of pre-war Polish art deco, length: 52 x 42 cm). 400 cm), Zygmunt Stankiewicz (wooden relief on the entrance door 107 x 60 cm; work on the altar mensa: three marble relief figures, height 56.5 cm), Tadeusz Tomaszewski (bronze Reytan plaque on the outer wall of the chapel, set in before the restoration work, dimensions 93 x 74 cm).

The decoration, although not uniform, resulting from the improvised action of various artists, is very elaborate in every detail. It also consists of (of undetermined authorship): a floor of marble slabs with the coats of arms of Polish cities, an ornamental candlestick, plaques with inscriptions. Iconographic motifs with easily identifiable associations for Polish soldiers appear throughout the decor (e.g. the aforementioned coats of arms marked in the stone floor, national and religious symbols). Even the large metal key to the entrance door (preserved) was re-modelled into the motif of the Polish eagle. During the dedication ceremony of the chapel on All Saints' Day, 1 November 1942, the Division Commander, General Bronislaw Prugar-Ketling, emphasised that, with all its modesty, "it symbolises virtues and spiritual values, the highest...". In artistic terms, Stankiewicz's works are undoubtedly the most interesting: the marble reliefs of the altarpiece (Evangelists St. Mark, St. Luke and St. John) show an excellent mastery of technique and a clearly defined stylistics, referring to pre-war classicising sculpture (e.g. by E. Wittig). The wooden relief "Fight on the French-Swiss Border" from the chapel door presents a different convention, more primitive. Next to the chapel and the statue of Tadeusz Kosciuszko is a stone bench carved in 1941 by a soldier Pakuta according to a drawing by Tomaszewski, with an inscription recalling the day the soldiers of the Division were interned in Switzerland: "18.VI.1940".

Time of origin:
1941-1942, inauguration 1.11.1942
Creator:
Tadeusz Fuss–Kaden(preview), Zygmunt Stankiewicz(preview), Paweł Polachowski(preview), Jan Zbigniew Bem(preview), Tadeusz Tomaszewski(preview)
Bibliography:
  • Jerzy Rucki, „Szwajcarskie wędrówki, śladami polskich żołnierzy internowanych w Szwajcarii”, Warszawa 2000, s. 88-90, 93.
  • J. Zieliński, Nasza Szwajcaria, Warszawa 1999, s. 131-132.
  • S. Piekarski, Polskie muzy w krajobrazie Szwajcarii, t. I, Warszawa 2002, s. 54-58, 257.
  • T. Zaniewska, Arystokracja ducha. Od wspólnoty rodzinnej do wspólnoty światowej. Rozmowy z artystą rzeźbiarzem i filozofem Zygmuntem Stankiewiczem, Białystok 2003.
  • „Polskie ślady w Solurze i Zuchwilu / Polnische Spuren in Solothurn und Zuchwil”, red. P. Zielony, T. Ackermann, R. Pawłowski, Warszawa–Solothurn 2022.
Keywords:
Author:
prof. Andrzej Pieńkos
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