A Guide to the Garden-City

Podkowa Leśna“Horseshoe Grove”

Anna Żukowska-Maziarska

Copyright © by Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Miasta-Ogrodu Podkowa Leśna

Translated, edited, and expanded by Philip Earl Steele

Photographs:

Jacek Maziarski (and archival)

On the cover: the newly restored Casino in Podkowa Leśna’s City Parkphotographer: Tomasz Jakobielski

Publisher:Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Miasta-Ogrodu Podkowa Leśna

05-807 Podkowa Leśna, ul. Świerkowa 1

Contents

How to get to Podkowa Leśna 5

Introduction 6

Tourism 8

Cultural events and regularly held artistic happenings 12

Sporting activities 14

Protected natural treasures 15

Historical sites and monuments 19

A calendar of Podkowa Leśna’s history 28

Famous Podkovians 34

A word about Podkowa Leśna’s street names 42

Where to eat – and where to stay 44

Important addresses and telephone numbers 45

Polish Pronunciation Guide 46

Hiking trails and bike paths in the Młochowski Forest

How to get to Podkowa Leśna:

From downtown Warsaw it takes just some 40 minutes on the WKD commuter train to arrive

at the Main Station in Podkowa Leśna, which means ‘Horseshoe Grove’.

The WKD train is all the more convenient, as it departs from Warsaw every 30 minutes –

during weekday mornings and late afternoons/early evenings even twice as often.

In fact, Podkowa Leśna has

three WKD stations. On the

way from Warsaw the first is

Podkowa East (Wschodnia,

in Polish). About one kilometer

later is the Main Station

(Główna). Ride another

kilometer and you’ll be at

Podkowa West (Zachodnia).

The WKD line is divided into

three travel-time zones. To get

to Podkowa Leśna from

Warsaw you will need the ticket for zone III. As of March 2008 the cost is 6 złoties for adults

and 3.80 zł for children. During school vacations the adult guardian and child pay only 3 zł

each. Just ask for “family tickets”.

By car the most direct route from Warsaw to Podkowa Leśna is along the Warsaw-Skierniewice

highway (28 km).

Introduction

The Garden-City of Podkowa Leśna (pronounced: poht-KOH-vah LESH-nah) offers its

residents the comfort of a natural setting, the graces of a refined cultural life, and the

advantages of vibrant community activism.

Moreover, Podkowa Leśna – which means ‘Horseshoe Grove’ – is a wonderful get-away for

Varsovians, be that because they love nature, wish to attend outstanding cultural events, or

have an interest in history.

Podkowa covers some 10.1 km² and has a population of 4,000. It is located in the Młochowski

Forest, and is surrounded by woods on three sides – from the east, the south, and the west.

Thus, despite its proximity to the Warsaw metropolitan area, Podkowa is home to sizeable

virgin stands of trees, as well as to many

species of plants and animals.

The natural virtues of the Podkowa area – its

fresh, foresty air and protection from the

southwesterly winds – eminently lent

themselves to the decision more than 80 years

ago to found Poland’s first Garden-City. This

was done in accord with the concept of the

Englishman Ebenezer Howard, who a century

ago developed what he envisioned as the ideal

solution to urban congestion.

Thus, here in this natural, forested setting an

altogether unique town arose in the 1920s.

Podkowa’s instant allure drew many prominent

figures from the world of the arts, science, and

politics. And the climate of those times still

makes itself known today, thanks to the homes

and lasting legacy of those people. Indeed, Podkowa’s early home architecture offers a rare

opportunity to acquaint oneself with the styles and fashions of the interwar period – and so do

many of the town’s other buildings, notable among them St. Christopher’s Catholic Church, the

WKD train station, and the trademark Casino in Podkowa’s lovely park.

The stately home of the literati Anna and Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz – which, together with its

surrounding parkland, is known as ‘Stawisko’ – is host to concerts, exhibitions, and lectures

throughout the year. Stawisko’s rich cultural program is supported by the Parish in Podkowa,

by The Friends of Podkowa Leśna Society, Podkowa’s City Culture Center, the Federation of

Podkovians, and numerous other NGOs.

Indeed, the community of people in Podkowa Leśna is altogether unique as regards civic spirit

and cultural and artistic life. This no doubt reflects the fact that so very many artists,

academics, musicians, architects, scientists, and engineers make their homes here. Not

coincidentally, Podkowa Leśna boasts one of the highest percentages of people with university

degrees and one of the highest voter-turnout rates in Poland.

Podkowa and its environs may be explored on foot, on horseback, by car, by the WKD train –

and of course by bike on ever longer, specially prepared bike trails that wind through the

neighboring towns and forests. In the winter Podkowa’s City Park and the Młochowski Forest

invite sledders and cross-country skiers.

And so we have today’s Podkowa Leśna – Horseshoe Grove – situated in a dense forest of oak,

pine, beech, birch, hornbeam, larch, acacia, and alder – and with such forest shrubs as juniper,

spindle, bird cherry, buckthorn, and broom. A stroll in Podkowa’s woods will delight with the

blueberries, rare flowers, and many varieties of mushrooms to be seen growing on the forest

floor – as with the not infrequent sightings of foxes, hares, and martens. But more abundant

are the birds, especially turtledoves, wood pigeons, and – particularly on Podkowa’s outskirts –

partridges and pheasants.

Tourism

Bike trails

Podkowa’s Młochowski Forest has three

lovely bike trails that loop out into the Forest.

Each begin and end at the edge of the Forest

on Krasiński street. The small loop is 4

kilometers long, the medium loop a kilometer

longer. The large loop circles out a full 9

kilometers.

The entrance to the Forest and the places

where the trails diverge are posted with

information signs that clearly show where you are and where you want to go.

You may find a map of those forest trails on page 4 of this booklet.

Horseback riding trails

Podkowa’s forests also include trails for horseback riders. For instance, the Młochowski Forest

has 12 kilometers of horseback trails. They are shown on the map provided in this guidebook.

Cross-country ski trails

The Młochowski Forest is a favorite place for winter fun, too, drawing cross-country skiers to

its scenic trails. In fact, these are the same trails described immediately below, ones groomed in

the winter for skiing enthusiasts by the Młochowski’s foresters.

Hiking trails

Winding through Horseshoe Grove and its environs are several carefully-marked trails that

beckon all year-long.

For instance, in the springtime Podkovians enjoy their forests’

wild lilies and violets – and of course the carpet of windflower (a

protected species!) in Bluejay Gulch. Nor can the spring’s

wonderfully blooming rhododendrons and azaleas be missed in

many of Podkowa’s home gardens.

A further spring attraction is that of the large pond – dry throughout the rest of the year – in

Podkowa’s rolling City Park, a favorite place for strolls not only during the warm seasons.

In the autumn Podkowa’s forests become simply glorious when the ivy (Virginia creeper)

covering the entire trunks of old trees turns its stunning shades of red, from incandescent to

crimson.

Once the leaves have fallen it

becomes easier to observe Podkowa’s

older homes, many of which have

maintained their original form and

gardens from the interwar period.

Photo: Nathalie Bolgert

And of course throughout the year – winter, too – Podkovians are ever accompanied by their

town’s plentiful birds and bright orange squirrels.

The Red Trail enters Podkowa from the north, from the town of Brwinów. It runs along

Wiewiórek, Główna, Sarnia, and Myśliwska streets to Podkowa’s Main Station (2 on the map on

page 4 of this booklet). From there it runs south on Jan Paweł II street, past St. Christopher’s

Catholic Church (1). Just to the right

of the trail on Iwaszkiewicz street is

the historic villa “Aida” (6), which is

eminently worth seeing. The Red Trail

then turns east into Lipowa Avenue,

and from the WWII monument to the

“Brzezinka” Company of the Home

Army (29) it runs along Prus and

Krasiński streets to the Bolesław

Hryniewiecki Nature Preserve in the

Młochowski Forest, from where it continues on to Zaborów (near the mass grave of soldiers of

the Home Army), and then on to the Na Dębaku Forest Ranger’s Station near the Brwinów-

Nadarzyn highway.

Within the township of Horseshoe Grove the Red Trail is about 3 ½ km. long. The forest part

of the trail, running from the Hryniewiecki Nature Preserve to the Ranger Station, is about 4

km. long.

Incidentally, in the area where the Red Trail runs along Myśliwska street one is likely to notice

a breed of dog unusually prevalent in various habitats of Horseshoe Grove. This stout, short-

legged, yapping but otherwise friendly dog resembles the Welsh corgi, and may in fact be its

continental ancestor. Dogologists have labeled it canis familiaris podkoviensis, some believing

that it originated on Miejska street, others on Helenowska.

The Blue Trail begins at the PKP station in Brwinów and runs along Grodziska street past the

villa “Zagroda” (once belonging to the writer Zygmunt Bartkiewicz) to Stawisko (17 – the Anna

and Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz Museum), which lies on the border between Brwinów and Podkowa.

From there it continues along Sokola, Ptasia, and

Sępów streets to the protected Bluejay Gulch,

and then across Słowicza street, through the

wooded, picturesque low hills and under the

WKD rails, past the prewar Casino (4) and

alongside the City Park to Podkowa’s Main

Station, where it joins the Red Trail. The two

trails runs together to the end of Lipowa Avenue,

where the Blue Trail veers off along Sosnowa,

Dębowa, Bukowa, and Wschodnia streets to Podkowa East. After that it goes along Jelenia

street parallel to the rail line, crossing it in the town of Otrębusy, where it continues to Karolin

(the headquarters of “Mazowsze”, the national folkloric song and dance troupe), then to the

Młochowski Forest, the Zaborów Nature Preserve, and on to the towns of Nadarzyn and

Komorów. The part of the trail that stretches across Podkowa is about 6 km. long.

The Yellow Trail runs from Podkowa’s Main Station (2) along the rail

line and the City Park, then past the Casino (4) to Bluejay Gulch on the

other side of the rails, from where it continues along Słowicza and

Zachodnia streets to the train station Podkowa West, before going back

through the Park to the statue of the Holy Virgin (8) at the conjunction

of Parkowa, Kwiatowa, and Bluszczowa streets, where Podkowa’s

founding stone was laid. From there the trail follows Bluszczowa, Jan

Paweł II, and Sienkiewicz streets to the Bolesław Hryniewiecki Nature

Preserve, and then winds through the forest to Karolin (again, the

headquarters of “Mazowsze”, the national folkloric song and dance

troupe), after which it ends at Otrębusy’s WKD station. The entire trail is

7 km. long – the part that runs through Podkowa measures 4 km.

The Green Trail runs through the forests surrounding Podkowa. It begins at the Main

Station, from where it follows the Red Trail to the Hryniewiecki Nature Preserve. From there it

goes through the forest to the village of Żółwin and the Na Dębaku Forest Ranger’s Station. It

then goes to Zosin and the WKD station in Otrębusy. The entire trail is about 8 km. long.

Cultural events and regularly held artistic happenings

Throughout the year there are concerts and artistic happenings at the ☺ Anna and Jarosław

Iwaszkiewicz Museum in Stawisko, Gołębia 1 street. For information please call: 022 758

9363

Stawisko Manor boasts authentic residential interiors from the turn of the 19th century,

precious antique furniture (although the home was built in the late 1920s), an impressive

collection of 19th-and 20th-century Polish paintings, and priceless photographs. It also holds the

library and the archives of Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz. Throughout the year the Stawisko Ladies’

Club and the Garden of Art and Learning organize exhibitions, classes in museum work,

concerts, and lectures here at the Museum.

Don’t miss the summer concerts in the churchyard garden of ☺ St. Christopher’s – nor the

special concerts for children. For information please call the parish chancellery: 022 758 9222

photo: Marcin Boratyn

The ☺ City Culture Center “MOK” (right behind the Main Station) holds art exhibitions,

stages theatrical performances, hosts concerts, and screens ambitious films. MOK also

organizes evening dance classes of many types.

During the academic year MOK is home to the crowd-drawing, weekly lecture series known as

POKOLENIA, which reaches out to seniors in particular. Tel. 022 758 9441

Beginning its work in 2008 is the ☺ Podkowa Civic Initiative Center in the freshly restored

Casino in the City Park. Its mission is to encourage and energize cultural outreach programs of

all types, and thereby to promote community integration.

The ☺ Polish College of Theology and Humanities, Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Jan

Paweł II street 39. This, the only institution of higher learning in Grodzisk County, organizes a

wealth of cultural and academic events open to all the whole year round. Among the most

popular are the special evenings devoted to presenting the history, culture, and religion of the

Bible lands – from Greece, across the Levant, and to Saudi Arabia and Egypt. The Adventist

College regularly holds concerts, and of course closely co-operates with Podkowa’s City

Authorities and civic groups in organizing and hosting a range of community cultural events.

Tel. 022 758 9214.

The ☺ Pola Gojawiczyńska Public Library on Błońska street 50 regularly plays host to a

variety of meetings and lectures. Tel. 022 758 9648, homepage: http://www.mbp-

podkowalesna.pl

As the ☺ parish church in Horseshoe Grove is St. Christopher’s – the patron saint of

travelers – each year at 11 o’clock on the first Sunday of May the parish priest blesses cars and

other vehicles. On the preceding Saturday he

blesses bicycles. And of course he again

blesses all types of automobiles on July 25,

which is Saint Christopher’s Day. This

ceremony is called “Autosacrum”, and it is

one of the many events that give Podkowa its

special charm.

☺At the initiative of the Council of Europe ‘European Heritage Days’ were organized

throughout Poland in September, 2005. As this is one of the most important European

programs for the promotion of culture, Horseshoe Grove has participated with characteristic

enthusiasm every September since 2005 under the banner “Open Gardens”.

The artistic, sporting, and educational events

festivities organized in Podkowa as part of

European Heritage Days have been very successful

in drawing large crowds and fulfilling the aim of

better acquainting the local community with its

history, promoting Poland’s cultural heritage, and

calling attention to European culture’s shared roots

– at the same time as accentuating the

distinctiveness of individual regions. The

organization of European Heritage Days entails an extraordinarily diverse, rich and difficult

undertaking, but one to which numerous residents and societal organizations from Podkowa

have heartily lent their support.

Sporting activities

☺ TKKF Horse-riding Club “Podkowa” – Głogów street 11, tel. 022 758 9426

☺ LKS Horse-riding Club “Wolta” – in the neighboring village of Żółwin, Nadarzyńska

street 30. Open on Sundays from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., tel. 022 758 9127

The ☺ City Culture Center “MOK”, Świerkowa street 2/4 – stunt-bicycling, skateboarding,

medieval sword-fighting (on Saturdays), dancing and yoga classes, ping-pong, and pool, tel.

022 758 9441

The ☺ Polish College of Theology and Humanities, Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Jan

Paweł II street 39. Every year at Corpus Christi (usually in early June) the Adventists hold a

soccer championship called “The Rector’s Cup”. The teams competing usually represent various

Christian confessions – from the Baptists and the Pentecostals to the Catholics. Tel. 022 758

9214

During winter there is an ice-rink at the ☺ schoolyard of the grade school and junior

high, Jan Paweł II street 20. For sledding, head into the City Park to join the fun on the

popular slopes there. And don’t forget the trails for Nordic skiers in the Młochowski Forest!

Protected natural treasures

Bluejay Gulch

This wooded preserve of nearly 4 hectares extends

along the narrow, picturesque gulch in the western part

of Horseshoe Grove. Bluejay Gulch (“Parów Sójek”, in

Polish) embraces the remaining portions of the natural,

broadleaved riparian forests within the township. The

130-year old oaks towering here share Bluejay Gulch

with lindens, hornbeams, ash trees, and elms. In the

forest undergrowth one can find the asarabacca variety

of birthwort, lungwort, woundwort (betony), Busy

Lizzie (balsam), and hops.

“Parów Sójek” also abounds in a wide range of wild

birds, not least of which are the bluejays from which the

gulch gets its name.

The Bolesław Hryniewiecki Nature Preserve

The Hryniewiecki Nature Preserve

begins on the eastern edge of

Horseshoe Grove. It contains one of

the oldest woodlands in Mazovia, with

oaks and pines up to 170 years old.

Among the forest animals living here

are foxes, deer, hares, bats, squirrels,

and moles – among the birds there

are bluejays, cuckoos, woodpeckers, thrushes, and hoopoe, with

their beautiful red crests. On the forest floor are species typical for

oak forests: cinquefoil (specifically, silverweed), lungwort, broom,

and may lily. The Preserve covers 24.7 hectares and is open to explorers, hikers, and bicyclers –

but not to dogs! They must be left at home.

The Zaborów Nature Preserve

Just east of the Hryniewiecki Preserve is the Zaborów Nature

Preserve. Its broadleaved forest gives nesting shelter to 26

bird species, including ones so rare as the northern three-toe

woodpecker, the black woodpecker, the red-crested hoopoe,

the small thrush, and the hawfinch. Also nesting here are the

green woodpecker, the large northern three-toe woodpecker,

the wryneck, the common treecreeper, nuthatch, the blue tit,

the black-head tit, and the great tit. 18 of the 26 bird species

nest in the hollows of the old oaks, lindens, and hornbeams so

plentiful here. The Preserve covers 10.26 km². Dogs are not

allowed into the Preserve. The Żółwin-Nadarzyn forest road

runs along its southern border.

The City Park

Horseshoe Grove’s City Park stretches from Podkowa’s Main Station to Podkowa West, the

third of Podkowa’s three WKD train stations. It contains 14 hectares of predominantly pine and

oak forest that rises from gentle sandy-soil hills. The Park is home to a number of hares – and

abounds with squirrels and hedgehogs. In May the Park resounds with the song of nightingales.

The City Park, with its lovely trails winding

round the pond and about the rolling hills,

is simply a perfect place for strolls. And in

winter the slopes enjoyed for generations

are just the thing for sledders and those

learning to ski.

The (albeit infrequent) sightings in the

City Park of a lone buffalo (specifically – a

large Polish żubr) have never been

confirmed. But the recent reports of a camel seen swiftly striding through the park, rider upon

its back, are by no means a joke! The large camel is the unique possession of one of Podkowa’s

many animal lovers.

Lipowa Avenue

Lipowa Avenue is unique for its three rows of towering lindens and the dirt road that runs

parallel to it for bicyclists and pedestrians. Lipowa extends about 400 meters, from Jan Paweł

II street to where the street forks at the monument to the soldiers of the Home Army, the Polish

underground forces who so bravely resisted the Nazis during World War Two – here in

Podkowa Leśna and its environs, as well.

The garden in the churchyard of St. Christopher’s Parish

Initially the garden at St. Christopher’s was designed

to be a “green sanctuary” extending out from the

church proper. The garden was to hearken to religious

symbolism and tradition. For instance, there was to be

a Bible garden, nature scenes from past centuries, and

a bird paradise. That plan was not carried out in full,

but the result is entirely stirring nonetheless. The

peacocks, the landscaped pond, the pergola, the

display of boulders commemorating events of Polish heroism and martyrdom – they all make

the churchyard garden a must-see.

While here, do also visit the Mother and Child Playground beside the churchyard where you

can see the enormous linden, one of Horseshoe Grove’s many historical monuments.

The parkland at Stawisko

At the western edge of Podkowa Leśna is an 18-hectare

estate surrounding the home built by Podkowa’s co-

founder Stanisław Lilpop for his daughter Anna and

her husband Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz, both of whom are

important Polish literati of the 20th century.

This gently sloping area boasts numerous stands of

trees well over a century-old. Certain individual trees

are upwards of 200 years old. Five of the nine old pines that Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz called his

“muses” and included in his works have survived to this day.

Originally the Stawisko estate was 35 hectares in size. The northern part was severed away in

the 1960s by the Warsaw-Skierniewice highway and passed to a new owner.

Stawisko’s parkland might have been confiscated altogether after WWII. Indeed, Stanisław

Lilpop was almost apologetic when in the late 1920s he told his daughter and her husband that

he would build them a home on an estate of “only” 35 hectares. But Lilpop recognized the

possible threat of radical agrarian reform. His perspicacity was soon to prove saving, as after

the war the communists did in fact seize all such estates having 50 hectares and more...

Some of the birds of our forests:

Kos – Blackbird

Szpak – Starling

Sikora bogatka – Great Tit

Wróbel – Sparrow

Kowalik – Nuthatch

Dzwoniec – Greenfinch

Rudzik – European Robin

Grubodziób – Hawfinch

Kwiczoł – Fieldfare

Sójka – Bluejay

Wrona – Crow

Dzięcioł – Woodpecker

Kawka – Jackdaw

Sroka – Magpie

Gołąb grzywacz – Wood Pigeon

Słowik – Nightingale

Historical sites and monuments

Use the map on page 4 and the numbers below to locate these must-sees

1. St. Christopher’s Catholic Church (Jan Paweł II street 7) was designed by Bruno

Zborowski and was built in 1933 thanks to important funding from the Polish Automobile Club

and the Polish Aero-Club. For after all, St. Christopher is the patron saint of travelers –

particularly automobile drivers and pilots.

The church was subsequently expanded together with

the growth of Horseshoe Grove’s population. It

presents a captivating spatial plan with the way the

interior of the church opens out into the churchyard

and the pergola overgrown with ivy, something which –

as befits the concept of a garden-church in a garden-

church – creates a “green sanctuary”.

At the altar a fresco presents the church’s patron St.

Christopher, painted by Jan Henryk Rosen. Rosen, who

is the author of the frescos in the Armenian Cathedral

in Lvov, also designed the four stained-glass windows

with images of saints. Both the black marble of the altar

and the granite from which the external stairs were

built come from the Orthodox Cathedral that was torn

down on Warsaw’s Saski Square in the 1920s. On the

north side is a domed chapel with an image of the Holy

Madonna. Directly on the left as you enter the church is

the Soviet Bloc’s first plaque commemorating the

anticommunist uprising in Hungary in 1956. It was

placed there in 1986. Outside in the churchyard garden

is the monument commemorating the Soviets’

massacre of over 20,000 Polish officers at Katyń Forest

in 1940. The monument is called “Poland’s Calvary”,

and was designed by Jerzy Kalina.

On the outside wall of the chapel is a plaque dedicated to the memory of the employees of the

railway running through Podkowa Leśna who lost their lives during World War Two.

2. The Main Station Building, Podkowa Leśna Główna, was

built of masonry in 1927. It has a ticket-window brattice and a

large, covered waiting area. The façade of the main building is

decorated with elements hearkening to the Polish Renaissance.

3. The monument commemorating Polish and Hungarian

brothers-in-arms who fell in Podkowa Leśna during World War

Two. It is located on Polish-Hungarian Friendship Square in the small

park across from Podkowa’s City Hall on Akacjowa street. This is one

of many examples of how Podkovians cultivate their deep respect and

fondness for Hungarians. That respect arose the summer of 1944,

when the 100 Hungarian soldiers conscripted by the Nazis and

stationed in Podkowa Leśna showed its residents not only leniency,

but sympathy and outright friendship. Indeed, in September 1944 the

Germans executed three Hungarian soldiers in Podkowa for

collaborating with the Polish underground.

4. The Casino in the City Park. Podkowa’s trademark was designed by Juliusz

Dzierżanowski, who modeled his work on the architectural style of Western European health

spas, especially Vichy. It was built in 1928 – and in all certainty has never been as stunning as it

is today, as in 2007 Horseshoe Grove’s City

Authorities completed a 2.5 million złoty

restoration. 75% of that sum was obtained from the

European Union’s Regional Development Fund.

The Casino will now be home to a wealth of

activities, notably those of the newly founded

Podkowa Civic Initiative Center, whose mission is

to encourage and energize cultural outreach

programs of all types, and thereby to promote

community integration.

Certain Podkovians are known to claim that

on unusually clear days you can see the

stunning Tatra Mountains in southern

Poland from the Casino’s rooftop lookout.

That claim does, however, have its skeptics –

people who cite the distance of 350 km., the

Earth’s curvature, etc.

5. The Hunting Lodge was built by

Podkowa’s co-founder Stanisław Lilpop. It

stands on the corner of Modrzewiowa and

Jan Paweł II streets. Lilpop built the Lodge

during the first decade of the 20th century.

Later, following a reconstruction, it belonged

to the Gayczak family. For many years during

the postwar period it housed a preschool.

6. “Aida” is the name of the charming

wooden villa on Iwaszkiewicz street. It was

built by the Lilpops around the year 1900,

when the entire area of today’s Podkowa was

still a vast hunting ground. In the 1920s Anna

née Lilpop and Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz spent

their summer months here, regularly receiving

guests – notable among them literati from that

period’s influential group of poets known as

“Skamander”.

7. House number zero, where Lipowa Avenue meets Jan Paweł II street. Today home to the

small general store “Zabytek” (which means ‘monument’), this wooden building is the sole

survivor of the summer cottage settlement known as “Stanisławów”, which arose in the 1870s

along the present Lipowa Avenue. Bogdan Wróblewski, the historian of early Podkowa, calls

Stanisławów “the seed of the future […] Podkowa Leśna” and “the harbinger of the Garden-

City”.

8. The statue of the Holy Virgin (at the intersection of Bluszczowa, Kwiatowa, and

Parkowa streets) stands at the site where Podkowa Leśna’s founding stone was laid. The statue

was made by Aurelia Jaworska, a talented young sculptress of the interwar period.

9. Borowin, the home at Borowin street 5. This summer cottage was built in 1927-28. During

the Nazi occupation the Niemyski family concealed and cared for a large number of Jews here.

Indeed, in 2000 Lucjan, his wife Barbara, and his sister Janina joined the over 6,000 Poles

honored as “Righteous Among the Nations” by the Yad Vashem Institute. A Home Army radio

transmitter was also hidden at Borowin.

10. Zarybie, at Młochowska 1. This is the former manor house of Halina and Janusz Regulski.

It was expanded in the early 1930s according to the design of Juliusz Dzierżanowski, who gave

the manor a baroque and classical form. Zarybie was one of the centers of conspiracy against

the Nazis. Czesław Miłosz, the

1980 Nobel Laureate for

literature, spent time here during

World War II. After the collapse

of the Warsaw Uprising in 1944

Zarybie became a shelter for

dozens of those fleeing the ruined

capital. In 1959 Zarybie was sold

to the Seventh-Day Adventist

Church together with its

surrounding grounds (which include parts of a scenic park). Today it is the Rectory for the

college operated by the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, and has just undergone a complete

restoration and remodel.

11. Żółwin Manor, in the village of

Żółwin just next to Podkowa. In 1940 it

was purchased by Henryk Witaczek, the

creator and propagator of the natural silk

industry in Poland. In 1924 he founded the

Central Silk Experimentation Station in

neighboring Milanówek. During the Nazi

occupation this 19th-century classicist

manor gave shelter to many of those

fleeing the destruction of Warsaw.

12. Przedwiośnie – “Spring Dawn”, the former pensione at Parkowa street 21, was built in

1928.

13. The villa of Karol Bertoni on Storczyków

street 24 was built between 1927 and 1933. It

borrows from the exquisite style developed by

Polish highlanders in the Tatras. During the Nazi

occupation it was the home of Stanisław

Wachowiak, who was then the head of the large-

scale charitable organization that functioned in

Poland during both world wars, the Rada Główna Opiekuńcza.

14. The villa designed by Stanisław Futasewicz on Parkowa 37 is a fine example of Polish

manor architecture.

15. Krychów, the villa at Kwiatowa street 20, originally belonged to Tadeusz Baniewicz, the

director of what is today’s WKD commuter train line. The villa was built in 1930-31 according

to the design of Jan Szperling. In the desperate period of the Warsaw Uprising’s collapse

Baniewicz handed his home over to serve as a surgical ward. Hundreds and hundreds of the

injured were treated here. In the postwar period Baniewicz’s daughter Krystyna lived at

Krychów with her husband Kazimierz Michałowski, the world famous archaeologist and

Egyptologist. For long years their home included a laboratory of the Mediterranean

Archaeology Section of the Polish Academy of Sciences.

16. The statue of Jesus at the intersection of Gołębia and

Bażantów streets is dedicated to the memory of Jan and

Stanisław Lilpop, both of whom died during World War Two.

17. Stawisko, Gołębia street 1. This magnificent manor house was built by Stanisław Wilhelm

Lilpop in 1928 according to the design of Stanisław Gądzikiewicz. It was the home of Lilpop’s

daughter Anna and her husband Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz, both of whom spent the rest of their

lives here – Anna passing away in 1979, and

Jarosław in 1980. Jarosław wrote many of his

greatest works at Stawisko, and indeed, the

Iwaszkiewicz home figures in the works and

memoirs of many of Anna and Jarosław’s

friends and guests. Among them were the

composer Karol Szymanowski, the poets

Stanisław Baliński, Jerzy Liebert, Antoni

Słonimski, Jan Lechoń, and the writer Jerzy Rytard.

During World War Two, and especially after the collapse of the Warsaw Uprising in the early

autumn of 1944, many of the people notable in Polish culture found safety at Stawisko.

Today Stawisko and its parkland is the Anna and Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz Museum, where

concerts and artistic happenings are organized throughout the year.

18. Korabinek, the villa at Ptasia street 6, was built in 1926 for the family of Henryk

Karpiński, professor of chemistry and the chairman of “Centropapier”. Korabinek is modeled

on the Italian renaissance villa.

19. The Lali Manor at Słowicza 25, was built as a pensione in 1929. It was soon purchased by

Jan Dzierżyński, the cousin of Feliks, who in 1918 founded the notorious Cheka, the Bolsheviks’

political police. Feliks, it need be stressed, shared nothing with his cousins at Lali, who were

patriotic Poles and practicing Catholics. Lali’s southern elevation (facing the rail line) is an

original and beautiful design, most notable for its semi-circular balcony upon fluted columns,

and for the striking conch-shell that rises overhead. In the wall of Lali’s west façade is a tender

sculpture of the Holy Virgin. Jan Dzierżyński had this sculpture placed there to express his

gratitude for the fact that all his family survived World War Two.

20. Włada – the villa built by the constructor Mieczysław Szydłowski for himself in 1927-28 at

Słowicza street 20. This is one of the first homes built in so-called “international style”.

21. The villa at Bobrowa street 8/10 was

built in 1930 for Zdzisław and Ewelina

Krzyżewski by Stanisław Futasewicz, the author

of a quite similar home he built for himself at

Parkowa street 37. Both are fine examples of

Polish manor style.

22. Anna is the name of the wooden villa built in 1930 at Jelenia street 5, not far from

Podkowa East.

23. The villa Renata is at 11 Listopad street 1/3. The home was built in 1933-34 according to

the design of Jan Siennicki. For several years now the popular TV series “Klan” has been filmed

here at Renata.

24. The Glass House is to be found at Sosnowa street 9. It was built for the writer Irena

Krzywicka in about 1931 according to the design of Maksymilian Goldberg. Like the villa Włada

(see # 20), the Glass House is in “international style”. Irena Krzywicka usually resided here for

just half the year – namely, from spring to autumn. Among her frequent guests were such as

the renowned man of letters Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński, the poet Antoni Słonimski, the classicist

Jan Parandowski, and the writer Ksawery Pruszyński.

25. Jedlina is at Wschodnia street 5. The villa was built in

1928 according to the design of Mieczysław Szydłowski and

Dunin-Borkowski for Wacław Franciszek Jacobson, the vice-

president of the Commerce Bank in Warsaw. This lovely

example of Polish manor architecture was recently

remodeled.

26. The villa at Bukowa street 19 was built in 1927 and in 1932 became the home of the

artists Jan and Teodora Skotnicki (see their entry in “Famous Podkovians” below). The terrace

boasts a sculpture of Nike of Samothrace, which Teodora made during her student years in

Kraków at the School of Fine Arts.

27. The villa at Dębowa street 6 was built in 1931 according to the design of Władysław

Sawicki. It is a fine example of manor style.

28. Kurza Stopka [“Chicken Foot”] at Sosnowa street 39 is a wooden home built in 1930

for the writer and publicist Benedykt Hertz.

29. The monument to the “Brzezinka” Company of the Home Army is found at the

intersection of Lipowa, Topolowa, and Sosnowa streets. The monument was designed by Jerzy

Juczkowicz and Stefan Żółtowski, both of whom hail from Podkowa.

30. The villa Krywojta at Lipowa Avenue 15 was built in manor style in 1928-29 for Henryk

Zabłocki, the director of Norblin, the specialist metallurgical factory that made products

ranging from ammunition casings to fine kitchen utensils.

31. The villa Marysin is at Słowacki street 20. It was built in 1931 for Aleksander Enholc, the

director of the Polish affiliate of the British Bible Society. Marysin is a wonderful example of

manor style.

32.The villa at Słowacki street 5 (on the picture above) was built in 1937. It is one of the

finest examples of home architecture in Warsaw’s entire outlying area.

33. The Cemetery in Podkowa Leśna arose around the graves of three Hungarian soldiers

whom the Germans executed in early September of 1944 for assisting the Polish resistance in

Podkowa. Residents of Podkowa buried Pal Hunyadi, Jozsef Vener, and Antal Toth where they

were murdered. Their graves gave rise to city’s cemetery, located between Brwinowska and

Główna streets.

A calendar of Podkowa Leśna’s history

First half of the 19th century – the area of today’s Podkowa Leśna is part of vast land

holdings that belong to Duke Michał Hieronim Radziwiłł.

1845 – the first part of the Warsaw-Vienna rail line opens – namely, the Warsaw-Grodzisk

stretch. The trains stop in neighboring Brwinów on demand.

1852 – the lands of Duke Radziwiłł are purchased by Józef Wilhelm Szmidecki.

1861 – those same lands pass to Stanisław Lilpop Sr., the grandson of Antoni Augustyn Lilpop,

who came to Poland from Graz (Austria) in 1789 and opened a watchmaker’s shop in Warsaw.

1866 – Stanisław Lilpop Sr. dies.

1870s – on a portion of the lands owned by the Lilpop family a latifundium of sorts comes into

being. It is known as Wilhelmów. At that same time a summer cottage settlement called

Stanisławów arises along what is today’s Lipowa Avenue in downtown Podkowa. Where Lipowa

Avenue meets Jan Paweł II street stands the last surviving wooden building of Stanisławów.

According to tradition, Joanna Lilpop, the widow of Stanisław Lilpop Sr., planted the three

rows of majestic lindens on Lipowa Avenue with her own hand.

Circa 1900 – the wooden home “Aida” (see #6 in the preceding section) is built in Wilhelmów

(on today’s Iwaszkiewicz street).

1909 – the vast land holdings once owned by Duke Radziwiłł are broken up. The hunting

enthusiast Stanisław Wilhelm Lilpop, the son of Stanisław, retains only the settlement of Borki

and Wilhelmów as a hunting estate. In is in that year that the name “Podkowa Leśna” first

appears.

1913 – according to some sources, the idea of a garden-city in Podkowa Leśna is first

elaborated by the well-known architect and urbanist Tadeusz Tołwiński.

1918 – the joint-stock company “Siła i Światło” [Power and Light] is registered in Warsaw.

1922 – the joint-stock company EKD (“Elektryczne Koleje Dojazdowe” – Electric Commuter

Train] arises. This is the forerunner of today’s WKD commuter train.

1925 – the company “Garden-City Podkowa Leśna, limited” is created by Stanisław Lilpop Jr.,

“Power and Light”, and the BZSZ Bank. The company purchases the lands of today’s Podkowa

Leśna from Stanisław Lilpop Jr. One year later EKD becomes a shareholder.

At the conjunction of Parkowa, Kwiatowa, and Bluszczowa streets, Podkowa’s founding stone is

laid.

The architect and urbanist Antoni Jawornicki draws up a plan for Podkowa Leśna.

Construction begins of the train line from Warsaw to Grodzisk Mazowiecki.

1927 – the gala opening ceremony of the commuter line. The sale of lots has been underway in

Podkowa for a year, and the first homes are being built.

1928 – in the City Park the beautiful Casino is completed according to the design of Juliusz

Dzierżanowski.

1930 – Horseshoe Grove has some 98 homes, 39 wooden ones and 59 from masonry.

The Friends of Podkowa Leśna Society is founded.

1932 – the construction of St. Christopher’s Church begins according to the design of Bruno

Zborowski.

1933 – Bishop Szlagowski consecrates the church. The first pastor is Father Bronisław

Kolasiński.

The first “Autosacrum” takes place (see “Cultural events” above).

1934 – Podkowa Leśna is recognized as a community and is administratively incorporated into

the district of Helenów within Błoński county.

1939 – the board of The Friends of Podkowa Leśna Society pass a measure to submit 50 złoties

to the National Defense Fund.

On September 1 German bombs fall on Podkowa, striking the vicinity of today’s taxi stand near

the Main Station, the grounds of the Zarybie estate, and a wooded area not far from Podkowa

West.

1939-1944 – years of war and underground resistance. Active in Horseshoe Grove are 1) the

League in Defense of the Republic (incorporated into the Home Army in 1943), 2) the “Alaska”

Platoon that gathers airdrops, and 3) the “Brzezinka” Company. These organizations carry out

both minor and major sabotage and distribute the underground press. People, arms, and

ammunition are picked up at the secret airdrop site “Osowiec” in the Młochowski Forest.

Military training is conducted, and radio transmitters secured. As the historian of wartime

Horseshoe Grove Michał Domański writes, during the occupation hundreds of Jews seeking

safe hiding in Podkowa are helped by the Home Army, Father Kolasiński, but especially by

numerous local people, notable among them the Niemyski family of Lucjan, his wife Barbara,

and Lucjan’s sisters Janina and Stanisława (see #9 in “Historical sites and monuments”). After

the collapse of the Warsaw Uprising in the early autumn of 1944, Podkowa, Brwinów, and

Milanówek are dubbed “little London”, for the reason that so many meetings of the Polish

underground’s authorities are held here. London, after all, is where Poland’s government-in-

exile was located throughout most of World War Two.

December 1941 – Stefan Korboński, that outstanding Polish patriot, together with a group of

his colleagues broadcast from their secret location in Podkowa the first radio audition from

occupied Poland to Great Britain.

Autumn 1944 – following the collapse of the Warsaw Uprising thousands of refugees seek

shelter in Horseshoe Grove. An official committee is created to help the injured soldiers and

refugees from Warsaw. Over 300 patients receive hospital care at the Casino in the City Park,

and at the home of the Baniewicz family.

Stefan Korboński sets up a radio-transmitter in Podkowa and establishes contact with the

government-in-exile in London.

In the Podkowa Leśna home of Stanisław Lorentz, the renowned art historian, a group of

leading representatives of Polish science and art meet and decide to organize a campaign to

rescue the cultural treasures left behind in devastated Warsaw. Thanks to their heroic efforts

the remaining collections of the National Museum, the National Library, University Library,

and Central Archives are evacuated.

January 17, 1945 – the Germans abandon Podkowa Leśna and the communists begin to take

power across the territories “liberated” by the Soviets. The new authorities announce that all

members of the underground must register themselves and turn in their weapons. They also

forbid anyone to listen to broadcasts from London. On January 18 Podkowa’s school begins

holding classes in the open.

March 27, 1945 – in nearby Pruszków the Soviets kidnap 16 of Poland’s most prominent

leaders of the anticommunist movement. Those men are taken away and jailed in Moscow’s

dreaded Lubianka Prison.

In April Stefan Korboński begins to perform the office of the government-in-exile’s delegate in

Poland.

1950 – Horseshoe Grove’s Public Library is opened on January 1.

November 11, 1951 – Podkowa’s St. Christopher’s Church becomes autonomous from the

parish in Brwinów (perhaps not incidentally, November 11 is Independence Day in Poland ).☺

1959 – Janusz Regulski sells the manor house “Zarybie” (see #10 above in “Historical sites and

monuments”) to the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, which opens its seminary here.

1964 – Father Leon Kantorski becomes the Parish Priest in Podkowa Leśna. The church in

Podkowa is one of the first in Poland to implement the reforms of the Second Vatican Council.

Father Kantorski conducts Holy Mass facing the faithful and in Polish.

1965 – the new building for the elementary school is opened on today’s Jan Paweł II street.

1966 – at the initiative of Kazimierz Michałowski, Stanisław Lorentz, and Tadeusz Baniewicz a

series of exhibitions and classes are organized at the elementary school in the aim of educating

the young through art. Items from the collections of the National Museum are displayed at such

exhibitions as “Ancient Art”, “The Child in Polish Painting”, “Painting in the Interwar Period” ,

and “Scenes from Old Warsaw”.

1968 – national attention is drawn to the parish church in Horseshoe Grove when the “Beat

Mass” is celebrated for the first time ever in Poland. It was performed by the group “Czerwono-

Czarni” to the music of Katarzyna Gärtner and the words of Kazimierz Grześkowiak and Joanna

Kulmowa. The nationally-popular local band “Trapiści” is also proudly remembered for its

performance of the “Beat Mass” all across Poland in those years.

1969 – Podkowa Leśna acquires the legal status of city (from January 1).

The first art exhibition at the church in Podkowa, its first theatrical performance (“The Little

Prince”), and the first blessings for animals, including dogs, cats, canaries, turtles, and horses.

1970 – Festival of Sacral Music.

1971 – the Adventist seminary adopts Michał Belina-Czechowski (1818-1876) as its patron.

Belina-Czechowski, once a Polish priest, became an Adventist clergyman and was the precursor

of Adventism in Europe.

1971-76 – the first stage of enlarging St. Christopher’s Church.

May 1980 – a 10-day hunger strike is held at the parish in Podkowa to show solidarity with

people imprisoned because of their fight for freedom of expression.

1981 – the Garden-City Podkowa Leśna’s urban plan, residential layout, and greenery are

added to Poland’s list of monuments.

1982 – the Parish Committee “Help Thy Neighbor” is created in the aim of helping those the

communists had interned together with the introduction of Martial Law in December 1981. The

Committee continues its activity until 1991.

1984 – at St. Christopher’s Catholic Church Holy Mass is celebrated in the Eastern Rite by

Father Romanyk, the provincial head of the Basilian Monks. An Eastern Orthodox choir sings.

At Stawisko the Anna and Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz Museum is created.

1985-88 – the second stage of enlarging St. Christopher’s Church.

1986 – the Adventist seminary opens its new administrative and lecture-hall building.

The City Culture Center (MOK) is opened and begins its mission.

1988 – the private elementary school opens under the aegis of the Catholic Intelligentsia Club.

1989 – after decades of forced suspension, The Friends of Podkowa Leśna Society resumes its

activity.

1990 – the private high school on Wiewiórek street opens its doors.

1993 – the premiere issue of Podkowa’s cultural magazine is published – Podkowiański

Magazyn Kulturalny.

1994 – the Society “Ogród Sztuk i Nauk” [Garden of the arts and sciences] is created at

Stawisko.

1995 – publication of Bogdan Wróblewski’s book Podkowa Leśna Miasto-Ogród do 1939 roku

[The Garden-City Podkowa Leśna up to 1939] by The Friends of Podkowa Leśna Society. This is

the first of 16 works published by The Friends as of 2008.

1997 – the construction of the city water and sewer system begins.

2000 – The Federation of Podkovians is created in the spring in the aim of halting a move

made by the then City Council to auction off 2 hectares of land in the City Park. Their effort is

joined by other organizations and interested persons and meets with success.

In December Podkowa’s own Lucjan Niemyski, his wife Barbara, and his sister Janina are

honored by the Yad Vashem Institute as “Righteous Among the Nations”, in recognition of their

rescue of Jews at their home Borowin (see #9 in “Historical sites and monuments”).

2005 – in February Horseshoe Grove’s City Council unanimously passes a strategy for

sustainable development over the upcoming 10-year period. The strategy’s four main points are

1) modernizing public utilities in reliance upon pro-ecological technologies; 2) protecting the

natural environment and the Garden-City’s historic layout; 3) meeting residents’ educational,

recreational, and welfare needs; and 4) fostering the growth of post-industrial business activity.

In September, under the aegis of European Heritage Days, Horseshoe Grove organizes some 60

cultural, educational, and sporting festivities. Such success was achieved that European

Heritage Days has become an annual event in Horseshoe, drawing large crowds from far and

wide each September.

2006 – in February the Federation of Podkovians launches the Uniwersytet Otwarty

POKOLENIA [the Open University GENERATIONS], a crowd-drawing, weekly lecture series

that reaches out to seniors in particular.

European Heritage Days is again a highlight on the calendar.

2007 – in June the daily Gazeta Wyborcza publishes a walking-tour guide (“Spacerownik”) to

Podkowa Leśna. On July 1st some 600 sightseers stroll about Horseshoe Grove together with

the guide’s author.

In September the restoration of Podkowa’s trademark Casino in the city park is completed. It is

here the festivities of 2007’s European Heritage Days are kicked off.

2008 – Grand opening of the Casino in the City Park. The final work on the city water and

sewer system is completed.

Famous Podkovians

In alphabetical order

Tadeusz Baniewicz (1879-1974), engineer, the creator of the plan for Vilnius’ tram lines, co-

organizer of the Polish school in St. Petersburg during World War I. After Poland regained state

independence in November 1918, Baniewicz came to the capital and

designed the city’s commuter lines. He also designed the electric tram

lines in the Dąbrowski Basin in Upper Śląsk (Silesia). Baniewicz

oversaw the construction of today’s WKD line from Warsaw to Grodzisk

Mazowiecki, and stayed on as its director until it was nationalized by

the communists in 1947. Taking advantage of his office, during the Nazi

occupation he provided fictional employment with WKD to many

activists of the resistance. From 1930 he and his family resided at the

villa Krychów (see #15 above in “Historical sites and monuments”).

During the occupation it was Baniewicz who, together with Father Kolasiński, sculpted St.

Christopher’s beautiful churchyard garden. In the desperate period of the Warsaw Uprising’s

collapse Baniewicz handed his home over to serve as a surgical ward. Podkovians also

remember Baniewicz for his work as chairman of the committee to build the elementary school.

Pola Gojawiczyńska (1896-1963), writer, author i.a., of “The girls of Novolipki” (1935). In

1944 she and her daughter found safety in the home of her friends Anna and Jarosław

Iwaszkiewicz at Stawisko. Following the war she purchased a lot on Błońska street and had a

small wooden summer cottage built. Horseshoe Grove’s Public Library on Błońska street bears

her name: The Pola Gojawiczyńska Public Library.

Benedykt Hertz (1872-1952), who hailed from a Polonized Jewish family, was the son of an

insurgent who fought against the Tsar’s rule of Poland in the January Insurrection of 1863-64.

In 1884 he was imprisoned by the Tsarist police in Warsaw for his participation in a patriotic

demonstration. He studied in Zurich and in Paris before becoming a journalist, writer of fairy

tales, and an author of political satire, essays, and plays. He lived in Podkowa at the home

called “Chicken Foot” (see #28 above in “Historical sites and monuments”) from 1930 until the

end of his life. He is remembered as having helped devise the names for Horseshoe Grove’s

streets (see pages 42-43 below).

Anna Iwaszkiewicz (1897-1979), the only daughter of Stanisław

Lilpop Jr., was born in neighboring Brwinów. In 1922 she overcame

her family’s resistance and married Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz. She was

a writer and translator (notably, of works by Alain Fournier, Michel

Butor, Thomas Merton, Marcel Proust, and Alfred Whitehead).

Among her friends were numerous poets and representatives of the

world of culture. Before WWII she published under the penname of

Adam Podkowiński. Her memoirs are highly praised. Near the end

of her life she published a book entitled “Our pet animals”. She died

at her home in Stawisko and was buried in Brwinów.

Anna and Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz (below: a portrait of the couple by the inimitable Witkacy).

Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz (1894-1980) was born in

Kalnik, Ukraine, where his father (an insurgent in

Poland’s war against Tsarist rule in 1863-64) was

among the managerial staff of a sugar refinery. Jarosław

went to school in Elizavietgrad and Kiev, where he later

began to study law. In 1918 he left Ukraine during the

revolutionary unrest and moved to Warsaw. There he

became a member of the “Skamander” group of poets.

In 1922 he married Anna Lilpop. Six years later the couple was living at Stawisko, which

remained their home for the rest of their lives. Iwaszkiewicz authored outstanding stories,

novels, dramas, and books of poetry. He is buried beside his wife Anna in Brwinów.

Ill. Anna Żukowska-Maziarska

“Aida”, the first home of Jarosław and Anna Iwaszkiewicz in Podkowa (see # 6 in “Historical sites and monuments”).

Oskar Koszutski, the long-serving and founding director of the Anna and Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz Museum

in Stawisko, draws attention to the final poem Iwaszkiewicz composed – “Urania” – written in February

1980. Koszutski explains that Iwaszkiewicz often referred to the nine majestic old pines at Stawisko as “the

muses”, and that at the close of his life Iwaszkiewicz called on the spirit of the pine he had named “Urania”

to stand watch over his home – and his legacy:

Urania – that’s my name for you, my lady pine and sister

For the finger of your trunk points heavenward

And the wind that whips at your black mantle

down below falls still. Sister – I summon you.

As once did fortunes in crowns of mistletoe,

do long abide at the threshold of my home.

And guard the flower, the fruit, and the bee,

as well as hearts that falter secretly.

Urania – muse of doom’s day!

Goddess of what ends, goddess of what endures

Goddess of desolation and all wickedness

Stand thou watch over my home and nothingness.

Take me in your mantle, that savage gown

Tear off my limbs – ones ne’er again to be mine

Bury me, save me, render me your crown,

That I, too, may be Urania, nothingness, and the pine.

Uranio, sosno, siostro — tak ciebie nazywam

Bo palcem pnia swego ukazujesz niebo

Wiatr co się w twojej czarnej grzywie zrywa

Zacicha dołem. Siostro, wzywam ciebie .

Jak niegdyś wróże w koronach z jemioły

Abyś wytrwała w progu mego domu

I strzegła kwiatu, owocu i pszczoły

I serc co tutaj gasną po kryjomu.

Uranio, muzo dnia ostatecznego

Bogini końca, bogini trwałości

Zniszczeń bogini i wszystkiego złego

Stójże na straży domu i nicości.

Weźmij mnie w swoje grzywy, ty szalona

Wyszarp mi ręce, co już nie wyrosną

Pogrzeb mnie, ratuj, daj swoje korony,

Bym także był Uranią, nicością i sosną.

Father Leon Kantorski (born in 1918) is Podkowa Leśna’s long-

serving Parish Priest (1964-1991). Before arriving in Podkowa he

was a pastor to university students in Warsaw. Thanks to Father

Leon’s ministry in the 1960s and 70s the church in Podkowa

became a center that gathered young people and was always open

to innovative proposals such as the “Beat Mass” (see the Calendar

entry for 1968). Not long after the communists introduced Martial

Law in December 1981 the Parish Committee “Help Thy Neighbor”

was created. The Committee distributed medicines and both material and legal help to those

the communists had interned. It also organized a series of art exhibitions and meetings with

prominent artists, politicians, and intellectuals. In 1991 Father Leon began his retirement. He

now lives at the parsonage in Podkowa.

Father Bronisław Kolasiński (1882-1945) was the first priest at Podkowa’s St.

Christopher’s Church. During the Nazi occupation he worked in the resistance, attended to the

needy, and helped in the efforts to hide Jews from the Germans. He is buried in the Holy Virgin

Chapel in St. Christopher’s Church.

Stefan Korboński (1901-1989), lawyer, agrarian activist. From 1939, after he escaped from

Soviet captivity, he was important in the Polish resistance movement, lending his time and

leadership to many underground organizations, including that of the state railway’s radio link

with the Polish government-in-exile in London. From August of 1944 he directed the Internal

Affairs Department of Poland’s underground authorities. After being arrested by the NKVD and

imprisoned in Moscow with leaders of Poland’s underground he took the office of the

government-in-exile’s delegate in Poland. In 1947, under threat of arrest by the communists, he

secretly escaped from Poland. During the occupation he made radio broadcasts from Podkowa

to London. After the collapse of the Warsaw Uprising Podkowa is where he and his wife made

their home, namely at “Zarybie” (see #10 above in “Historical sites and monuments”).

Irena Krzywicka (1899-1994), publicist, writer, translator, who in the interwar period wrote

articles and short stories on customs and morality that shocked public opinion. In 1930 she

purchased a lot in Podkowa at Sosnowa street 9. She soon had “The Glass Home” built (see #24

above in “Historical sites and monuments”). This design by Maksymilian Goldberg was

unusually modern for its time. Excepting the years of the Nazi occupation, Krzywicka lived here

until 1949. After the war she was the cultural attaché at the Polish Embassy in Paris, and later

in Switzerland. From 1962 and until the end of her life she lived in France.

Stanisław Wilhelm Lilpop (Jr. – 1863-1930) was the descendent of a family that moved to

Poland from Graz, Austria, in the late 18th century. In 1789 his great-grandfather Stanisław

Wilhelm opened a watchmaker’s shop in Warsaw. That business continued on for a century and

a half, all the way to the outbreak of WWII in 1939. His father, Stanisław Lilpop Sr., was a

constructor of agricultural machines and equipment, as

well as of equipment for the food-processing industry.

Stanisław Sr. was the co-owner of the Stock Company

“Lilpop, Rau, and Loewenstein”, and also a well-known

collector and patron of the arts. In 1861 he purchased the

vast land holdings belonging to Józef Wilhelm Szmidecki.

Those lands included an area known as Wilhelmów, the

site of today’s Podkowa Leśna. After Stanisław’s death in

1866, his widow Joanna née Petzold, and later their son

Stanisław Jr. (b. 1863) took over management of the

family’s lands, ones they little by little sold off. Stanisław

kept only Wilhelmów, where he pursued his intense

passion for hunting. In 1925 he sold the lands of today’s

Podkowa Leśna to the company “Garden-City Podkowa

Leśna, limited”, keeping 40% of the shares and a 45-hectare area that soon became Stawisko,

where in 1928 he completed the construction of the home for his daughter Anna and her

husband Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz. Stanisław Wilhelm Lilpop took his own life in 1930, and was

buried in neighboring Brwinów.

Stanisław Lorentz (1899-1991), art historian, museum curator, before WWII he was a

conservator of monuments in the voivodeships of Vilnius and Novogrodek. From 1935 to 1982

he was the director of the National Museum in Warsaw. In November 1944 at the Podkowa

home of Professor Lorentz it was determined that efforts had to be made to gather the treasures

of Polish culture still to be saved in the ruins of Warsaw. He would meet at the café and

reading-room of Wanda Suchecka in Podkowa with his assistants Jan Zachwatowicz and

Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz (among others) and then head out from Podkowa each day in search of

treasures. In result of those efforts some 300,000 books were brought out of Warsaw, along

with what remained of the collections of the National Museum and University Library.

Kazimierz Michałowski (1901-1981) was a

world-renowned Egyptologist and archaeologist. In

the late 1930s he conducted the first Polish

archaeological research in Edfu. After the war he

carried out excavations i.a., in Palmyra, Alexandria,

and Faras. He also led the committee of experts

who oversaw the work to save the Abu Simbel

temple. He was the author of numerous scientific works on both ancient Egypt and Greece.

Having spent much of the wartime years in Podkowa, where he was active in the resistance, in

1945 he married Krystyna, the daughter of Horseshoe Grove’s Tadeusz Baniewicz. From 1973

the couple began living here year-round at their villa Krychów, a part of which had been made

into a laboratory of the Mediterranean Archaeology Section of the Polish Academy of Sciences

(see #15 above in “Historical sites and monuments”).

Halina and Janusz Regulski were,

from 1923, the owners of Zarybie (see

#10 above in “Historical sites and

monuments”). During the interwar

period Janusz Regulski was the

director of the company “Power and

Light”, the co-creator of the concept of

founding the Garden-City Podkowa

Leśna on the WKD commuter line, and

the person who offered the idea to

build a sports center in the City Park –

i.e., the Casino, Podkowa’s trademark. Janusz and his wife were motoring enthusiasts, and

thanks to their efforts the Polish Automobile Club agreed to sponsor the construction of a

church in Podkowa. In September 1939, when German warplanes were indiscriminately

bombing Warsaw, Janusz performed the duties of Warsaw’s Head Fire Chief beside Warsaw’s

mayor Stefan Starzyński. During the occupation the Regulskis’ home in Podkowa was a center

for the resistance, and the first place where people and weapons from local airdrops found their

way.

Jan Henryk Rosen (1891-1982), painter,

and son of a famous painter. He spent his

childhood in Paris, and during World War I he

fought in the French Army. He returned to

Poland in 1921. This highly esteemed painter

of religious works was the author of the

frescos and stained glass windows in the

Armenian Cathedral in Lvov, the creator of

the polychrome at the chapel in Kahlenberg

near Vienna, and two compositions in the

papal residence at Castel Gandolfo. At

Horseshoe Grove’s St. Christopher’s Church

Rosen created the mural in the presbytery that

portrays the church’s patron, and also the four

stained glass images of St. John, St. Nicolas,

St. Julian, and the Archangel Rafael. His

lasting presence at the church makes it easy

for Podkovians to consider him one of their own. Photo: Tomasz Jakobielski

Jan and Teodora Skotnicki (1876-

1968 / 1881-1963) were artists. They studied

at Kraków’s School of Fine Arts – Teodora née

Trenkler under the famous painter Jacek

Malczewski, and Jan under the master of

landscapes Jan Stanisławski. They co-

operated with the cabaret “Green Balloon”,

and together with Władysław Skoczylas

founded the society known as “Kilim”,

devoted to the art of Poland’s Tatra Mountain region. Jan was an officer of the Polish Legions

during World War I, and in 1916 became a member of the Regency Council, which ushered in

Polish statehood in 1918. During the interwar period he was the director of the Art Department

of the Ministry of Religious Confessions and Public Enlightenment, where he performed the

function of minister of culture. From 1932 to 1939 Jan and Teodora spent the warm seasons in

Podkowa Leśna at their home and atelier, but after the war they lived there year-round (see #26

above in “Historical sites and monuments”).

Bruno Zborowski (1888-1983), architect, alumnus of Lvov Politechnic, and soldier in

Poland’s victorious war against the Bolsheviks in 1920. He lectured at the School of Fine Arts in

Warsaw. Prior to World War II he designed i.a., the Warsaw Residential Co-operative and

churches in Imielnica, Podkowa Leśna, Komorów, and Sokołów Podlaski. During the Nazi

occupation he was a soldier of the Home Army. After the war he lectured at the Warsaw School

of Technology and authored numerous plans for the reconstruction of Warsaw’s historical

monuments – including the Arsenal and the church of the Dominicans. As the architect of

Horseshoe Grove’s parish church, he is proudly remembered as one of the town’s historic

figures.

A word about Podkowa Leśna’s street names

As Bogdan Wróblewski notes in his history of early Podkowa Leśna, “a naming system [for the

city’s streets] was devised that was both fitting for a garden-city – and immensely charming”.

Indeed, so charming are the names of Podkowa’s streets that they need be shared in English.

Horseshoe Grove was divided into four sections. In one section the streets were given names of

animals, in another names of trees, in another those of birds, and in the fourth those of flowers.

Local memory dimly has it that Benedykt Hertz, the Podkovian writer of fairy tales, proposed

the names – and that there was important help from a group of Podkowa’s children.

Please enjoy the English equivalents provided below ☺

North-east section - animals:

ul. Wiewiórek – Squirrel street

ul. Borsucza – Badger street

ul. Sarnia – Doe street

ul. Bobrowa – Beaver street

ul. Rysia – Lynx street

ul. Jelenia – Deer street

ul. Królicza – Bunny street

ul. Lisia – Fox street

ul. Jeża – Hedgehog street

ul. Łosia – Moose street

ul. Dzików – Boar Street

ul. Krecia – Mole street

And one more:

ul. Myśliwska – Hunter street

South-east section - trees:

ul. Akacjowa – Acacia street

ul. Klonowa – Maple street

ul. Kasztanowa – Chestnut street

ul. Topolowa – Cottonwood street

ul. Brzozowa – Birch street

ul. Jaworowa – Sycamore street

ul. Grabowa – Hornbeam street

ul. Sosnowa – Pine street

ul. Wierzbowa – Willow street

ul. Modrzewiowa – Larch street

al. Lipowa – Linden Avenue

ul. Orzechowa – Walnut street

ul. Jodłowa – Fir street

ul. Dębowa – Oak street

ul. Świerkowa – Spruce street

North-west section - birds:

ul. Słowicza – Nightingale street

ul. Orła – Eagle street

ul. Gołębia – Pigeon street

ul. Sokola – Falcon street

ul. Sępów – Vulture street

ul. Szczygla – Lark street

ul. Bażantów – Pheasant street

ul. Kukułek – Cuckoo street

ul. Sójek – Bluejay way

ul. Jastrzębia – Hawk street

ul. Szpaków – Starling street

ul. Krasek – Roller street

ul. Wróbla – Sparrow street

And simply:

ul. Ptasia – Bird street

South-west section - flowers:

ul. Storczyków – Orchid street

ul. Wrzosowa – Heather street

ul. Konwalii – Lily of the Valley street

ul. Czeremchy – Cherry street

ul. Paproci – Fern street

ul. Bluszczowa – Ivy street

ul. Sasanek – Buttercup street

ul. Jałowcowa – Juniper street

ul. Irysowa – Iris street

ul. Borowin – Huckleberry street

ul. Różana – Rose street

ul. Jaśminowa – Jasmine street

ul. Głogów – Hawthorne street

ul. Kalinowa – Honeysuckle street

And simply:

ul. Kwiatowa – Flower street

In one other area – namely, between the south-west and south-east sections – Podkowa’s

streets bear the names of famous Polish writers. Hence, Reymont street, Sienkiewicz street,

Krasiński street, and so on.

Where to eat – and where to stay

Horseshoe Grove has three nice restaurants. They are:

- Weranda & Café on Jan Paweł II street, right before St. Christopher’s Church. From

the veranda in the rear of the restaurant, Weranda’s elegant interiors open up to the

Mother and Child Playground, making it convenient for parents dining with children.

Open 7 days a week “from 10 am ‘til the last guest” – at least until 10 pm.

- Milimoi on Modrzewiowa street 33 is known for both its health-conscious menu and

the changing works of notable artists on display. Open from 12 noon to 9 pm. Closed on

Mondays.

- Biały dworek at Gołębia street 39 is right around the corner from Stawisko. Open

from 9 am to 9 pm, Thursday to Sunday.

If you want to enjoy some pastry, perhaps an ice cream, or maybe a cold beer, do also consider:

- Café 14 at Brwinowska street 14

- Café “As” at Jan Paweł II street 15

———

Just a few kilometers from Podkowa Leśna in Grodzisk Mazowiecki are several comfortable

hotels right on the Warsaw-Skierniewice highway, among them:

- Gniazdo, Królewska street 45, which has 8 two-person rooms. Tel. 022 734 0754, fax

022 734 06 74, cell 0 601 40 52 52. E-mail restauracja.gniazdo@neostrada.pl)

- Gospoda u Czwarnów, Królewska street 20, which has rooms for one, two, and three

persons. Tel. 022 724 0456. Homepage www.uczwarnow.pl

Important adresses and telephone numbers

- City Hall, Akacja street 39/41. Tel. 022 758 9878, 758 9004, 758 9109. E-mail:

urzadmiasta@podkowalesna.pl, homepage: www.podkowalesna.pl

- Police Station, Brwinowska street 17. Tel. 022 758 9105, 022 758 9110

- Volunteer Fire Station (in Żółwin). Tel. 022 758 9982

- Post Office, Słowicza street 2. Tel. 022 758 9293, 022 758 9494, 022 758 9328

- Taxi stand, next to Podkowa’s Main Station. Tel. 022 758 9142

- Private health clinic, Błońska street 46/48. Tel. 022 729 1065, 022 758 9265

- St. Christopher’s Catholic Church, Jan Paweł II street 7. Tel. 022 758 9222. E-mail:

proboszcz@podkowalesna.com

- Stawisko, the Anna and Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz Museum, Gołębia 1. Tel. 022 758 9363,

fax 022 729 1421. E-mail: stawisko@stawisko.pl, homepage: www.stawisko.pl. Open:

Wednesdays, Fridays 9am to 3pm, Thursdays 9am to 5pm, Saturdays 10am to 3pm,

Sundays 10am to 5pm.

- The City Culture Center “MOK”, ul. Świerkowa 2/4. Tel. 022 758 9441. E-mail:

mokpodkowa@poczta.onet.pl, homepage: www.mokpodkowa.pl

- The Friends of Podkowa Leśna Society, ul. Świerkowa 1. Homepage:

www.podkowalesna.org

- The Federation of Podkovians, ul. Świerkowa 1. Homepage:

www.zwiazekpodkowian.org.pl

- Podkowa Bookstore (always stocked with maps, booklets, and other useful information

for tourists), Jan Paweł II street 3. Tel. 022 758 9415

- The Polish College of Theology and Humanities, Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Jan

Paweł II street 39. Tel. 022 758 9214, fax 022 759 2179. E-mail: wsth@wsth.pl,

homepage: www.wsth.pl

Polish pronunciation guide

General opinion to the contrary, it is in fact quite easy to read and pronounce Polish words, for

Polish orthography is almost perfectly phonetic. Therefore, it is enough to learn the distinctive

pronunciation of a handful of letters, along with that of the letters not found in other languages

and that of certain letter combinations which at first glance may appear unmanageable.

This guide to Podkowa Leśna has been edited with respect for personal names, proper nouns,

and special Polish terms. Thus, the following simple pronunciation guide may be of help to

many readers.

ą – sounds like a long ‘o’, but is pronounced through the nose. Hence its classification as a

“nasal vowel”

c – is pronounced just like ‘ts’, as in pots or tsar

ć – is the equivalent of ‘ch’ as in chair

ch – however, is pronounced like the ‘h’ in horse

cz – can also be treated as the equivalent of ‘ch’ as in chair

dzi – sounds like ‘jee’, as in jeep

ę – sounds like the ‘e’ in pet, but is pronounced through the nose. Hence its classification as a

“nasal vowel”

j – is pronounced just like ‘y’, as in you or yard

ł – is pronounced just like ‘w’, as in water or wine

ń – is “soft”, vaguely resembling the ‘ñ’ in Spanish

ó – is pronounced like ‘oo’, as in hoop or school

rz – sounds like the ‘z’ in azure and seizure, or the ‘s’ in pleasure, occasion, usual, etc.

ś – is the equivalent of ‘sh’, as in shine

sz – can also be treated as the equivalent of ‘sh’, as in shine

w – is pronounced like ‘v’, as in very. However, when at the end of words it sounds like ‘f’

y – is pronounced just like it is in myth

ż – is pronounced exactly like ‘rz’, that is, like the ‘z’ in azure and seizure, or the ‘s’ in pleasure,

occasion, usual, etc.

We cordially welcome our guests to Horseshoe Grove!

that is...

Serdecznie witamy naszych gości w Podkowie Leśnej!

(sehr-DECH-nyeh vee-TA-mih NA-shikh GOHSH-chee v Poht-KOH-vee-ay

LESH-nay)