“Processions, courtiers, / the rustle of peacock feathers!” sang Ewa Błaszczyk, setting Agnieszka Osiecka’s poem to music. And indeed, history takes on many shades, but here it has left its opulent mark. A royal procession featuring life-size figures. Men, clad with courtly splendour, mounted on steeds on which ‘a row of gold studded with turquoise’ is set, as one might read in the register of Jan III Sobieski’s riches. Although the procession immortalised in this fresco actually took place two centuries before the Relief of Vienna. In addition to the dignitaries, the artists depicted warriors dressed in Eastern style.

Here, a bearded man in a pointed cap and with a quiver on his back is approaching the right-hand edge of the work, whilst a moustached man in an oriental caftan leads horses adorned with plumes. There are also ladies – one, in a turquoise gown and a horned bonnet, rides on horseback; the other, of lower rank, walks along, flirting with a halberdier as she goes.

But all of them are merely a backdrop for the bride and groom. She is the Polish-Lithuanian princess, Jadwiga Jagiellonka ( 1457–1502), daughter of Kazimierz Jagiellończyk and sister of Sigismund the Old. In her day, Europe’s most prominent suitors vied for her hand, and – due to the close kinship between the young couple – the Pope had to grant his consent to the famous marriage. He is George Wittelsbach ( 1455–1503), Duke of Bavaria-Landshut, dressed in a jewel-encrusted outfit, with a cap in his hand—presumably removed whilst bowing— mounted on a black, spirited stallion, he gazes in one direction – towards the golden carriage adorned with a red banner bearing a white crowned eagle, in which the princess sits in a golden gown. Behind a veil of wealth and splendour, the figure betrays a sense of indecision.

Landshut – inspiring and uniting

An exceptionally picturesque scene, though one cannot help but wonder how it came to be that we can admire it in one of Bavaria’s towns, namely Landshut. What’s more, this work of art, with the Polish national symbol at its centre, is located in the seat of the municipal authorities, and in one of its most prestigious halls. On the face of it, the explanation is simple.

In the second half of the 19th century, it was decided that three interconnected Gothic townhouses deserved to be rebuilt, and the authorities in Landshut merged them into a single Neo-Gothic town hall . The interiors required decoration, and artists associated with the Munich Academy of Fine Arts were invited: August Spieß, Rudolf Seitz, Ludwig Löfftz and Konrad Weigand . All of them had a body of work in their portfolios that reflected the Historicist style. They were commissioned to illustrate the wedding in Landshut in 1475 , an event from a time of the town’s prosperity. At that time, the town aspired to be the principal centre of Bavaria, deriving its wealth, amongst other things, from the nearby silver mines. The early 16th century brought a civil war (the so-called Bavarian Conflict) over the succession to the Duchy of Bavaria-Landshut, and consequently the city’s downfall. It is significant that the townspeople and nobility, threatened with the confiscation of their property, found refuge in the Polish town of Łańcut, which had been founded by their forefathers. Let us recall that the name Łańcut is the Polish version of the German ‘guardian of the land’, i.e. Landshut. The wars fought along the Isar contradicted the narrative of the town’s grandeur, which is, after all, what the nineteenth-century authorities wished to convey. It is therefore no surprise that they chose the wedding of Prince George the Rich of the House of Wittelsbach to Princess Jadwiga as their subject. In the early 1880s, the Town Hall’s State Hall was adorned with a series of frescoes and stained-glass windows depicting this very event.

The wedding of Jadwiga Jagiellonka as depicted by Bavarian painters

Bavarian artists were able to draw on various works; let us focus on one in particular – the portrait of Jadwiga. It is housed in Landshut at the Trausnitz Castle Museum and is the work of an artist known as Mair. It was painted before 1502, and the princess depicted in it gazes serenely into the distance, holding a dove in her hands. The creators of the frescoes also studied German and Polish chronicles, thereby gaining an understanding of the context of the event.

Following in their footsteps, we learn that the story of the betrothal began in the early 1470s, when the Duke of Bavaria-Landshut, George the Rich, began to look for a royal alliance to further his political aspirations and turned to the Polish monarch. From Casimir Jagiellon’s perspective, giving his daughter in marriage to such a suitor bore the hallmarks of a misalliance , though, on the other hand, the marriage held advantages and the king hoped, amongst other things, that the ruler of Landshut would support Jadwiga’s brother Władysław, who was ruling in Bohemia. The negotiations dragged on for a long time and it was not until Christmas 1474, in Radom, that the monarch and the prince finally reached an agreement.

The wedding was scheduled for October of the following year , but it was not without its complications. Jerzy failed to meet the wedding procession in Wittenberg, which the king took as an affront; and once the conflict had been resolved, it transpired that there were outbreaks of disease along the route, necessitating a detour. Finally, on 14 November 1475, the Polish party arrived on the outskirts of Landshut, where they were welcomed not only by the groom but also by Emperor Frederick III himself. It was only then that the eighteen-year-old Jadwiga saw her future husband for the first time. The meeting marked the start of the celebrations, the scale of which chroniclers illustrated with figures . Nearly 10,000 guests feasted for several days, during which time the following were consumed:

“323 oxen, 11,500 geese, 40,000 chickens, 194,345 eggs, 140 pounds of raisins, 730 pounds of figs, three buckets of honey, 1.5 quintals of saffron, 338 pounds of pepper, and 75,000 crabs”.

Accounts of the wedding also have broader significance in terms of source studies . The eminent historian Karol Szajnocha concluded from them that in the second half of the 15th century, contrary to earlier beliefs, the sabre was already a popular weapon amongst Polish knights.

The wedding of Jadwiga Jagiellonka – re-enactments of the wedding in Landshut

The Town Hall frescoes captured people’s imagination. In 1903, innkeeper Georg Tippel, together with baker Joseph Linnbrunner, organised a re-enactment of the historic wedding . The first re-enactment involved 248 actors, and this unique ‘urban play’ proved an immediate success. It was decided to stage it every four years; the most recent one, held in 2017, saw as many as 2,000 residents take part, whilst a mere 600,000 spectators watched the entire series of events spread over three weeks of the summer holidays.

The tombstone of Jadwiga Jagiellonka in Reitenhaslach

According to Adam Krzemiński, a journalist specialising in German affairs, “Wanda, who did not want a German” “has, since the 16th century, become almost a founding myth of the Sarmatian Republic”. Jadwiga, then, would be her opposite: she does not divide but unites, and in this regard she leads a rather impressive list of queens, princesses and ordinary Polish women who agreed to marry their western neighbours. Their fates, of course, have unfolded and continue to unfold in various ways, though it is known that the daughter of Casimir Jagiellon was not happy in her marriage .

Jerzy turned out to be as wealthy as he was dissolute , and , a decade later, he sent his Polish wife away to Burghausen Castle , 80 km away, so that she would not disturb him . Left alone, she spent the last seventeen years there and, in mysterious circumstances , died in 1502. She was buried in the nearby Cistercian abbey at Reitenhaslach. The tombstone of the Jagiellonian princess was destroyed in 1800, and today the only trace of her presence there is a symbolic memorial plaque. And this will be the fourth and final Polish artefact. As we stand before the plaque, let us reflect on how Jadwiga Jagiellonka would have delighted in our visit.

Other Polish heritage sites associated with Jadwiga Jagiellonka in Germany

(compiled by B. Gutowski)

1. A scroll of parchments containing a list of expenses, meals and the guest list for the wedding of Jadwiga Jagiellonka and George the Rich.

   The collection of the State Library in Munich contains a parchment scroll entitled: “Was Kostung über Herzog Georgs des Reichen von Landshut Hochzeit erlaufen”, meaning: how much the wedding cost. The scroll contains a list of guests and describes in detail the costs of the ceremony and the meals. The lavishly celebrated wedding was often held up later as a model for royal weddings.

2. The coat of arms of George the Rich and Hedwig Jagiellon in Burghausen

   The coat of arms adorns the castle gate. Most of the buildings and the overall appearance date from 1393–1505, when the castle was the residence of the Lower Bavarian branch of the House of Wittelsbach. From 1485, the castle was the residence of the Polish princess Jadwiga Jagiellonka, daughter of King Casimir IV Jagiellon and wife of the Bavarian Duke George the Rich.

3. Portrait of Jadwiga Jagiellonka
   Hans Krell
   Circa 1537
   Oil on panel
   48 x 36 cm,
   Grunewald Hunting Lodge (Jagdschloss Grunewald), Berlin
   Inv. No. 2152

   Inscription: HEDEWICK BORN OF ROYAL DESCENT. FROM POLAND. MARQUISE OF BRANDENBURG ANNO DOM M D XX

4. Portrait of Jadwiga Jagiellonka
   Before 1502
   Oil on panel
   27 x 54.5 cm
   Landshut

   -

5. The castle chapel, known as Hedwig’s Chapel in Burghausen

   Read our article on Hedwig’s Chapel in Burghausen.

6. Stained-glass window depicting George the Rich and Jadwiga Jagiellonka in Landshut Town Hall

   Read our article on the stained-glass window depicting George the Rich and Jadwiga Jagiellonka in Landshut Town Hall.

7. A symbolic tombstone in the Cistercian monastery of Raitenhaslach near Burghausen