Riga Polytechnic - history
Polytechnikum Riga was founded in 1862 as the first technical university in the Romanov Empire. It educated future agronomists, chemists, engineers, mechanics, architects and tradesmen. Classes were held in German. In 1896, the name of the university was changed to Riga Polytechnic Institute (Рижский политехнический иститут, РПИ) - from then on, the language of instruction was Russian.

The Riga Polytechnic played an extremely important role in the formation of the Polish technical intelligentsia in the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century. In no other foreign research centre were Poles so numerously represented among students, and in no other did Polish students play such a significant role in academic life.

It was in Riga, at the Technical University, that the only legal Polish student organisations in the entire Russian Empire - the "Arkonia" and "Welecja" corporations - were active as early as the 1880s. They made great contributions to the maintenance of Polishness among Polish students, and many of their adepts made a lasting mark in Polish and European history, science, culture and social life.

Among the Polish graduates of the Riga Polytechnic are Professor Ignacy Mościcki - an eminent chemist and President of the Republic of Poland, General Władysław Anders - the winner from under Monte Cassino, Marian Zyndram-Kościałkowski - the Prime Minister of the Polish Government, as well as numerous professors and rectors of Polish universities: Warsaw University of Technology, Warsaw Agricultural University, Jagiellonian University, inventors, writers, social activists and many, many others.

Riga Polytechnic Charterhouse
A former punishment cell preserved in the building of the University of Latvia is a rare and valuable reminder of the lively student life at Riga Technical University, in which Poles took an active part, although not always in accordance with university regulations. It is one of the few rooms of this type that have survived to the present day.

The former punishment room is located on the last floor of the oldest body of the present Riga University. The building was constructed between 1866 and 1869, and later other wings were added to it, which today form the oldest buildings of the university. The building is a single room with two small windows and a single door. A narrow corridor, from which there are entrances to other rooms, now leads into the former punishment cell, which was built on an elongated rectangular plan measuring 6.6 X 3 m. and is about 4 m high.

The purpose of this room between 1869 and 1875 is unknown. On the basis of the rather sparse but existing painting decoration, it can be assumed that this room was intended to have a function that was not necessarily limited to a utility room, which is also evidenced by the lighting of the room through two small windows.

Between 1875 and 1903, the room was used by the university as a punishment room for students. Almost all the wall decorations were created during this period. It is possible to see decorations that differ in their expression, for example inscriptions engraved in Cyrillic letters. This makes it possible to assume that the punishment room took different turns in its history and that it was "visited by various guests" in the years much closer to us. It was not until the second half of the 20th century that the former punishment room was taken into the care of the University Museum.

On the initiative of the Academic Tradition Society, in 2007, with the agreement of the Rector of the University of Latvia, the Polish conservator Paweł Baranowski (Museum of the Palace of King John III in Wilanów), commissioned by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, compiled documentation showing the state of preservation of the paintings and drawings on the walls of the former punishment cell.

By the decision of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, the Society of the Academic Tradition was awarded funds from the Programme "Protection of Cultural Heritage Abroad" to finance conservation and restoration work on the punishment room. A team of Polish specialists composed of Joanna Czernichowska, PhD (manager), Paweł Baranowski, Sylwia Pawełkowicz, Agnieszka Kalbarczyk and Agnieszka Pawlak completed the work in 2011.

On 23 November 2012, during the visit of the President of the Republic of Poland Bronislaw Komorowski in Riga, the ceremonial opening of the punishment cell after conservation works was held. The event was accompanied by the promotion of the book 'Polentechnikum' and the Latvian premiere of the film 'Riga Penitentiary. A Living Legacy'.

The former student punishment cell is open to the public and is part of the Museum of History of the University of Latvia

. Book 'Polentechnikum '
Although several important books on both the Riga Polytechnic and its Polish students have been published in Poland in recent years, the role of this university is currently not more widely known and properly appreciated. An opportunity to change this state of affairs was the 2012. 150th anniversary of the founding of the polytechnic. The publication "Polentechnikum. "Polentechnikum", the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage joined the celebrations of this important date. The conservation of paintings in the building that was the seat of the Riga Polytechnic, preserved on the walls of the former student dormitory, carried out with funds from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland in 2008-2011, has also become an important element of this. Fragments of the restored inscriptions and drawings enrich the graphic design of the publication. The motto of the publication is a sentence uttered by Gustav von Kieseritzky, director of Riga Technical University in 1875-1885: The Baltic Technical University should properly be called the "Polentechnikum", because Poles dominate there not only in numbers, but also in terms of scientific progress.

Video
The starting point of the story of the 1869 founded The starting point for the story of the "punishment centre" - a place of solitary confinement for bloodthirsty students - is the recollections of eminent Poles, graduates of Riga's almae matris. The guides to the punishment cell are the social activist and diplomat Mieczysław Jałowiecki, the publisher Ferdynand Hoesick and the President of the Republic of Poland Ignacy Mościcki. All three studied at the Technical University of Riga, and all belonged to academic corporations affiliated with it - Jałowiecki to the "Arkonia", Hoesick and Mościcki to the "Welecja".

The student reminiscences of the film's protagonists are illustrated by animations based on drawings that decorated the walls of the punishment cell. The film is a tribute to the Polish intelligentsia originating from the Riga academic centre and to the authors of the conservation work undertaken on the initiative of the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, which resulted in the restoration of the punishment cell and its return to the general public.

Funding: Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, National Centre for Culture, Academic Tradition Society