Postcard

This postcard was published in the 1940s by Genowefa Kęskiewiczowa’s bookshop. The bookshop and the library were established in 1927 by Aleksander Chmiel. In 1934 Jana Kazimierz Kęskiewicz took over as its manager and became their owner in 1943. During the occupation, the bookshop functioned as a centre for political information and a supplier of textbooks to students of clandestine classes. The bookshop published several postcards with views of Łańcut in characteristic sepia tones. The postcard depicts the building of the municipal court , designed by Antoni Dąbrowski, builder of the Łańcut estate. The building was erected on Grunwaldzka Street in 1910 and can also be seen in the following shot – a view of the city from the north. In the foreground, one can see the area of the so-called Księże Pola – arable fields used by the parish from the city’s foundation, until the 20th century. Other places shown on the postcard are the Romantic Castle, which belongs to the castle and park complex, as well as the building of the starosty administration. The castle was erected in 1807 for Princess Izabella Lubomirska, née Czartoryska. It was designed by Chrystian Piotr Aigner and built by Fryderyk Bauman, the author of the stucco decorations. It was built by the so-called Imperial Road, probably replacing a former watchtower, which guarded the city. The seat of the starost, erected at the beginning of the 19th century, was also located by the government road. Before it was taken over by the state authorities in the mid-19th century, the building served as a post office, and later it also housed a court and a tax office. Joanna Kluz