Marcel Burger - Third time's the charm

Looking proud on the banks of the Wisła river (Vistula), the former royal city of Kraków is remarkably easy going. It is popular magnet for the creatives and tourists alike, with about about a million people calling it home if one count the about 200,000 students in that are still officially registered in the villages of their mams and dads. And the about 100,000 Ukrainians that fled the war, and of which many found a job in the buzzing city. Having students is a real long historic fact for Kraków, as the Jagiellonian University was founded here in 1364 and remains the centrepiece of the academic world today.

The rooftops of Kraków are a must see, and the city has several options, like here from the rooftop terrace of the Music School. The white domed building is Poczta Główna, the now mostly empty Central Post Office building. The balloon in the distance is a tourist attraction, on a wire.

Unlike many Polish cities the buildings of the Old Town are authentic, and is on the UNESCO World Heritage list. Word has it that the Nazi-German general advancing into Kraków in 1939 liked it that much, he forbid bombing like what happened to almost all other Polish cities. Some buildings date back to the Middle Ages. The iconic Wawel Castle is from the 16th Century, and the city just grew around it.

I just recently started to process more of the photos I have been taking in Kraków, my home town, ever since my first visit as a tourist in 2017.

"Art wall" on the reconstructed old city wall near the Florian gate.

"The bridge of love", pedestrian and bicycle bridge that connects the popular centre city areas of Kazimierz and Podgórze.

The biggest and probably most impressive landmark of Kraków and its Old Town (Stare Miasto) is Wawel Castle. Once it was the residency of kings, ever since king Kazimierz the Great ordered it buit in the 14th Century. After that it was expanded and it shows at least four different main architectonic styles. Some parts look more German, some parts - like the inner courtyard, Italian. But it is the Polish flag on top. The fortified stronghold is a tourist magnet, with an estimated 1 to 2 million visitors every year post-COVID.

Especially in summer, tourist boats float up and down the Krakowian part of the river Wisła (Vistula)

Inside the Sukiennice, or Cloth Hall, bazaar on Kraków's main square one can find anything from jewelry to souvenirs

Kraków is home to about 200,000 students, that give the city a lively vibe

On Rynek, the main square in the old town is one of Europe's biggest

The trumpet player in the cathedral tower on main square. Four of them work in shifts, playing the same tune every hour. Legend has it that centuries ago a predecessor tried to signal the alarm for advancing forces and was killed by an archer. Up to today the trumpet player stops where - according to the stories - his fellow man was silenced in history.

View at the main cathedral, the Bazylika Mariacka, on main square - seen from the rooftop terrace of the Music School.

The Bazylika Mariacka during a crazy 2 January sunset.

Planty (Stare Miasto)

Stretching over 4 kilometres (2.9 miles) in length, Planty offers you a glimpse of the size of the city until the end of the 1700s / early1900s. Stroll around the Old Town (Stare Miasto) and imagine the city walls that was encircled the Kraków of the past. Not much is left of the original wall, but the renovated / reconstructed Florian Gate on the norther side is a gem. Here one can also find the Barbican, the old circular mini fortress. Along the stretch of Planty one can find references to where towers where, and parts of the fundaments and walls can be seen.

For Krakowians Planty is a favourite park to run through, cycle through, commute through, dance in (there is a gazebo on the eastern side), sit and relax on a bench, talk with friends (live or on the phone), behold of the many different trees and see them change in the seasons, or enjoy it any other way.

The photos of this series I took on an early April morning in 2024.

Bronowice Małe and a century old double love story

A true double romance of more than a century old has been kept alive in the Bronowice Małe area of Kraków. It is the love story of the Polish painter and progressive politician Włodzimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer who married Anna Mikołajczykówna, the daughter of a peasant, in 1890. The Tetjmajers' manor house in the then village of Bronowice was the scene of another wedding, of Anna's sister Jadwiga with the Polish poet Lucjan Rydel, on 20 November 1900.

Now, we would likely not know anything about this, if it was not for Stanisław Wyspiański. This Polish writer and artist was a guest at Lucjan and Jadwiga's wedding and immortalized the event in the drama The Wedding (Wesele in Polish). Up to today, Polish people still tell the lover story of more than a century ago - likely even more dramatised - to the younger generation.

The manor house described in Wyspiański's play still exist up to today and has been named Rydlówka, after Rydel. Since 1969 it has been a museum, and is managed by the Muzeum Krakowa (the Historical Museum of the City of Kraków) since 20 November 2018 - the anniversary date of Rydel & Jadwiga's wedding.

Rydlówka, the real manor house (partly reconstructed after a fire in the 1960s) in Bronowice that was the scene of the real wedding on 20 November 1900, and featured in the drama Wesele by Stanisław Wyspiański. All photos in this chapter are from November 2024.

Details from the outside of the manor house.

Take a stroll through the neighbourhood of the Rydlówka manor house in Bronowice Małe to discover small gems.

Tetmajer's park is nearby, named after the Włodzimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer who owned the manor house in Bronowice in his days.

Grzegórzki

Grzegórzki is a easy-going residential area, a little northeast of the old town. It started as a village in the 1300s, but is already part of Kraków since the 1400s. Take a stroll through the area and be a spectator of all the bigger historic houses. Almost around every corner awaits a surprise or a hidden gem for the noticeable observer. The photos of these series I took in June 2024.

The last photo of these series features a special building, nicknamed The Skeleton (Szkieletor in Polish). Officially called the Unity Tower, it is 102.5 metres tall. Construction started in 1975, but was stopped before the end of the seventies. Hence, the nickname, as just the skeleton of what it was supposed to be stood tall, for decades in a row. After long debates and court cases, the reconstruction of the building commenced again in the past decade and on 30 September 2020 it was finally completed - this time in a modern version of the 1920s Art Deco style.

The Wisła (Vistula) river

The Wisła river (Vistula in English) is the longest river of Poland, crossing almost the enitre country from south to north. On its 1,047 (651 miles) journey from the mountains to the Baltic Sea, Kraków is the first major city it flows through.

The banks of the river are very popular to jog, walk, cycle, picnic, read a book or take a small boat ride on. It seldomly causes havoc. During the September 2014 record rain fall in Central Europe, Kraków escaped rather unharmed. The people in many towns and villages in the Silesia region further west were less lucky.

The photos in this section have all been taken on Sunday 15 September 2024, when during a few hours in the afternoon the Wisła flooded the pedestrian and cycle paths on its lower banks. The city itself was never under threat.

Around 10:00 the pedestrian and cycle path on the left hand side of this photo was still just above the water line.

The same path around 14:00 in the afternoon.

Two passers-by witness the flooding of the path from underneath the Dębnicki bridge, the main bridge leading to the avenue ("Aleja") that encircles the inner city.

View to the east from the Zwierzyniecki bridge. Several hundreds of kilometres upstream, the mighty Wisla has its spring. Notice the mountains in the far distance.

Tyniec

The village of Tyniec, 12 kilometres (8 miles) from the Kraków old town, is locally known for its gorgeous fortified monastery. Built on a limestone rock the Benedictine abbey and adjacent buildings are best viewed from the other side of the Wisła (Vistula river), easy to reach by car or by hopping on the electrically-powered passenger and bicycle ferry that crosses the river here. The rock of Tyniec has already been a place where monks have gathered since the 11th century.

Behind the monastery is a hidden gem: the beautiful forest of Tyniec. Hike with me in my April 2024 published new photo album of this Lasy Tynieckie.

The Benedictine Abbey and monastary of Tyniec, caught on a warm early-April evening in 2024.

The main square (Rynek) with the Saint Mary's Basilica (Kościół Mariacki), the Cloth Hall (Sukiennice) and the touristic horse and carriage

The touristic horse and carriage, with almost always a crew of a male horseman and a female side-kick - and with not always the greatest chemistry between them

Lucjan and Jadwiga Rydel and kids around 1910 (Photo in collection National Museum)

Włodzimierz and Anna Tetmajer and kids, the beginning of the 1900s (Photo in collection National Museum)

The drama Wesele, still a famous Polish book.

A copy of the 1904 theatre play Wesele.

The room where older family guests were discussing life and everything, as it was in details described in the drama Wesele.

Colourful chest in an adjacent room.

Just down the manor house hill, across the road, this traditional Bronowice wooden house is in pretty bad shape. But do note the painted details on the window frame.

The path leading to the the Rydlówka.

Morden bird feeding house at the premises of the Rydlówka.

A new lake and even newer jetties are a nice new touch to Tejtmajer Park.

Detail of Tejtmajar Park.