Die Stadtmauer als Determinante der wahren Zivilisation. Die Wahrnehmung polnischer Städte durch fremde Reisende im 17. und 18. Jahrhundert

Abstract

The imposing fortifications were typical of the Teutonic Order’s heritage in northern Poland. They were also characteristic of the eastern flank of the Polish- -Lithuanian state with Kamieniec Podolski in the southeast. Foreign travellers reporting their visits to Gdańsk mentioned both the fortifications and the architectural styles in the city centre with the armoury at the forefront. Gdańsk was for them either a transit city on the way to Königsberg or on the route from the north along the Vistula to Warsaw and further east, or towards Kraków. The city walls were an element of urban architecture obvious to both foreigners in Poland and to Polish travellers in Western Europe. If they were absent, the authors of the journals noted this fact diligently, not concealing their surprise and disapproval. The narrative of travelling women is interesting, because ladies did not necessarily limit themselves to the description of the churches, charity institutions, and prisons visited, where attempts were made to rehabilitate prisoners. Teofila Konstancja Morawska, who was by her first husband a Radziwiłł, stands out among the authors, for in her report we find surprisingly good knowledge of defence issues on the European scale. However, it should be remembered that she lived in Lithuania in a land of wars and conflicts on a smaller (local) and national scale, in which she reportedly defended family property personally involving the use of firearms. Almost all her relatives, including her spouse, sooner or later became soldiers. Therefore, she cannot be compared in any way to another traveller, Sophie Schwarz, who weakened in the Gdańsk armoury at the sight of large stocks of weapons, emphasizing that the view was not worthy of the supposedly weaker sex. Foreigners staying in Poland usually focused on the differences in civilization and culture from Western Europe. Polish travellers mainly visited churches, started the day with Holy Mass and possibly confession, and admired the architecture and rich decoration of the churches. They emphasized their deep faith and most often, their Catholic faith. One should recall here a general thought that from the first partition of Poland in 1772 up to 1918, Poland was not an independent country. Independent Poland appeared on the maps of Europe only after the end of World War I.