Eventful history – The Poland Museum in Rapperswil has a new home – News

For a long time it was not clear whether the Poland Museum could remain in Rapperswil. Now it has found a new home on the lake.

Poland and Rapperswil – that’s a special story. It dates back to the 19th century and is about the struggle for independence and self-reliance. In 1870 a group of Poles in exile founded the Poland Museum in Rapperswil, which was the first national museum at the time and is still one of the most important museums in Poland today.

For a long time, the museum was housed in Rapperswil Castle, but after a referendum in autumn 2020 it was clear: the museum definitely has to leave the castle and make way for a local museum. The local community of Rapperswil-Jona, which owns the castle, hopes to attract more visitors. Renovation work in the castle will begin in October, and the Poland Museum will have to go by the end of June.

Kissing awake, with a Polish touch

But now it has found a new home, just a few meters further down the lake, in another of the city’s landmarks: the Hotel Schwanen. The hotel was empty for six years, and now the Polish state has bought it through a foundation.

This was announced at the beginning of July in the empty Swan Hall in Rapperswil by Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister Piotr Glinski, in the presence of numerous guests and representatives of the Polish government and embassy. It was agreed not to disclose the purchase price, Polish newspapers wrote of 25 million francs.

Legend:

The new home of the Polish Museum: the venerable Hotel Schwanen in Rapperswil.

SRF / Katrin Keller

The Poland Museum is to be set up in the smaller part of the Swan. A Polish educational and research institute is to be added. The hotel and catering business is also to be resumed – after all, the Schwanen has a restaurant, 25 rooms and banquet and seminar rooms. «We want to kiss the swan awake. Maybe with a Polish touch, with Polish cuisine,” says Polish ambassador Iwona Kozlowska. That is why we are now looking for a tenant.

No independent Poland without Rapperswil

But why is there a Poland museum in Rapperswil? And why does it mean so much to Poles? In the 19th century, Switzerland hosted Polish refugees who had a big goal: an independent Polish state. At that time Poland was divided between Russia, Prussia and Austria-Hungary – the foundation stone for an independent Poland was laid in Rapperswil.

«This is where the Polish parties were founded, this is where the Polish associations were founded. Rapperswil is therefore very important for the history and people of Poland,” says Anna Buchmann, director of the Polish Museum. In 1918 Poland finally became independent – but Switzerland remained a place of refuge, for example during the Cold War.