Cemetery for Distinguished Citizens, Poznan, Poland, Part II

Now, what is the story of these beheaded monuments, I wonder...

See also the photo blog article Cemtery for Distinguished Citizens, Poznan, Poland, Part I.

Cemetery for Distinguished Citizens, Poznan, Poland, Part I

I discovered this sign on my way out of the cemetery. I only wish I had seen it earlier on, and it would of course have been an advantage if the snow had not covered up the whole map!

I was at least the first human being who visited the cemetery that day.

Grave of Stanisław Mikołajczyk (1901-1966), Prime Minister of the Polish Government in exile during WW2, and Deputy Prime Minister in Poland before the communists took control of the government. He was married to Cecylia Mikołajczyk, née Ignasiak (1900-1951).

The Preiss family grave.

Rydlewski and Kasiewicz family grave. Celestyn Rydlweski (1875-1940), a Polish officer and WW1 hero, killed in 1940. Here I would be pleased if (any) Polish readers could add more information about him.

Wojciech Szczęsny Kaczmarek (1942-2009), president of Poznan 1990-1998.

I visited the Old Parish Cemetery, now Cemetery of Distinguished Citizens, on my way to the Old Garrison Cemetery (I will return to this cemetery later on) during my visit to Poznan in November 2010. The entrance is from Ks. Jozefa not far from downtown Poznan.

The information at the gate of the cemetery says:

Old Parish Cemetery, currently Cemetery for Distinguished Citizens
Established in 1810 as a parish cemetery, it was surrounded with a fence in 1829. Closed down at the end of the 19th century. Since 1936 under management of the city, since 1948 known as the Cemetery for Distinguished Citizens on which famous Great Poles are buried and on which gravestones of high artistic value from closed down cemeteries are gathered. The cemetery features numerous examples of precious tombstones, mainly from the 19th century.

In Polish named Cmentarz Starofarny/Cmentarz Zasłużonych Wielkopolan, in German Alter Pfarrfriedhof/Friedhof Verdienter Großpolen.

See also Cemetery for Distinguished Citizens, Poznan, Poland, Part II.

Glimpses of Poznan, Poland

(1) Photos no. 1 to 12 are taken at the old town square of Poznan, Stary Rynek. The photos were taken on different days during the last days of November 2010, and I wasn't always lucky with the light conditions (at least I will use that as an excuse!)

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(10) Statue of a Bamberg woman. The printed version of Poznan In Your Pocket guide describes her as "a peasant girl carrying pails of water", but she looks more as a woman to me. Anyway, the Bambergers were poor Catholic farmers from the Bamberg district of Bavaria, Germany, and they arrived in Poznan about 300 years ago at the invitation of the city authorities. They were to help rebuild villages devastated by the Northern War of 1700-1721 and depopulated by the spread of plague. The statue is from 1915 and is situated behind the town hall at Stary Rynek.

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(14) This should be the backside of the local government building. The park is named after Chopin.

(15) Christmas decorations in one of the local malls.

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(19) Monument of Hipolit Cegielski (1813-1868), a Polish businessman/industrialist who founded the Cegielski factory

(20) My favourite teams in football (soccer) and ice hockey, Norwich City FC and Manglerud Star respectively, both play in yellow and green. I had to love the Poznan trams as well!

All photos from Poznan were taken during my visit in November 2010. I took a direct flight from Sandefjord Airport, so Poznan, the 5th largest city of Poland and known for trade, industry and education, was easy to get to. It has a lot to offer in terms of history, museums, shopping malls, spas and great restaurants and is among the 4-5 cities of Poland one "has to" visit.