Prof. MAREK KWIATKOWSKI

Damian A. Zaczek: Can you imagine Warsaw without Łazienki?
MAREK KWIATKOWSKI: No. Warsaw means Łazienki and Łazienki means Warsaw. This is particularly true since the history of the city began in the park. On the hill above the Old Orangery was the Jazdowski castle, a site that is connected with the first historical mention of Łazienki in 1262.

Can you see yourself anywhere else – outside of Łazienki?
No. I have been associated with Łazienki since before the war, since my childhood when I used to run through the park. After the war I visited the park while skipping school and kissed girls on the park benches. At that time I had already decided to stay involved with this place. Now I am the director of Łazienki and I also live in the park. I have been here for more than 45 years realizing long-term and step-by-step plans. Fate has been kind to me and I have realized many of my intentions. I don’t belong to any political grouping or public association. I’m a loner among the crowds, which is both comfortable and very difficult.

Is Łazienki simply a park for Varsovians?
No. Łazienki is a symbol of historical and national events. It is connected with much of Poland’s history, and not only that of the 18th century when King Stanisław August Poniatowski gathered the greatest minds of the Republic in the park – everyone remembers the Thursday meetings with the king, during which the State’s affairs and cultural issues and so on were dealt with. That was a time when Łazienki pulsed with cultural life and was home to three theaters. In the 19^th century Łazienki became even more closely connected with Polish history because the national uprising in 1830 began right in the park. We cultivate that history in Łazienki even today. The Warsaw public could not imagine their city without Łazienki.

Łazienki have therefore played an educational and cultural role…
…and patriotic. In our park visitors are not allowed to do things that are permitted in other parks. We try to make sure that visitors don’t play sports and behave in accordance with the spirit of the site by not screaming, carrying transistor radios, walking on the grass or chasing animals – in other words we want them to show respect because this is a royal residence. Łazienki is connected with various historical figures, who are remembered through, if nothing else, the erection of monuments. The park is home to busts of men such as Piotr Wysocki, Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski, Józef Bem, Stanisław Ignacy Wyspiański, Maurycy Mochnacki, which I financed personally, as well as Mickiewicz and Chopin. In other words, we try to provide the public with impulses for intellectual pride in the past, the country’s tradition and national identity.

You mentioned the animals that live in the park. How many species and representatives of each species are there?
Łazienki is a park-museum, a historic site that is enchanted and has retained its atmosphere. We make sure that Łazienki is not deformed in the spirit of modernity. We want the park to be authentically historic so the monuments located in the complex are cleaned and restored on a regular basis. Łazienki is also a nature reserve and a place of relaxation. Many animals make their home in the park, including more than 40 peacocks, swans, crows, rooks and squirrels. There are even deer and horses. These animals live well in the park. The park also has guard dogs and a cemetery was built for our dogs near the Old Orangery. This is the first dog cemetery in Poland.

Do you envy the directors of other European parks?
I do not envy anyone anything. I believe that of all the European gardens that were at one time royal residences and are now located in the center of large metropolises, only Łazienki has retained is former, original character. Those European parks have become simply city squares. I feel sorry for their directors because their gardens are so poor. They should visit Łazienki and learn how to renovate and maintain such a garden. I suppose that if they saw our Łazienki, they would envy us.

Is Łazienki comparable to any other European park?
No, not at all. All of them are pathetic. Hyde park? What kind of park is it? Everyone walks on the grass, which is horrible and there are no bushes – just a few trees here and there. The park is merely a forum for political declarations. People lay on the lawns. In France visitors can’t even sit down because there is a fee. Buloński forest near Paris? It is just like our Bielański forest. This isn’t a garden. As long as I am the director of Łazienki, the park will not lose its character. However, we never know what the future holds. I am afraid that skyscrapers may be erected around the park someday, like those surrounding Central Park.

Do you have the necessary funds to maintain the park?
The park requires constant care and a steady stream of financial contributions. There is never too much money. There are too few flowers and we are short two toilets. However, as long as I am alive, I will not allow the paths to be lighted because of the animals living in the park.

How do visitors to Łazienki behave?
Łazienki reveals another of Poland. Unfortunately, this is bad news: the nation’s cultural standard is declining. If left unmentioned by the guards, a whole range of inappropriate behaviors crop up. Some want to turn the lawns into a beach and heavy-set men lay down on the benches. When they are told to go to Bielański forest, they get offended.

Are children not allowed to feed the squirrels on the lawns?
They can but parents should be careful. It is generally a good idea to be cautious when feeding wild animals. The squirrels are dangerous because they can bite. Later mothers ask if the squirrels have been vaccinated for rabies. God forbid something should happen and then I would have to go squirrel hunting. Moreover, teachers with cigarettes hanging out of their mouths visit the park with the obnoxious future of the nation. Children run on the lawns, chase the peacocks and yell. Their mothers are busy gossiping while all this is going on. Peacocks can also be dangerous, particularly during the spring, and can peck out an eye. Then the whole nation will be upset with me for introducing peacocks to Łazienki. They were brought here because they are a joy to watch. I prefer to watch animals than men with beer bellies on the lawns or benches.

What are your plans for the future?
First and foremost we have to finish the renovation work currently underway, most urgently the Egyptian Temple. In addition, we would like to connect the northern areas of Łazienki with the rest of the park, which is now divided by Łazienkowska Expressway. Right now sport equipment can be used nearly to the Sobieski monument on Agricola. That is nonsense. The fantastic spaciousness of northern Łazienki and the Piaseczyński Canal, if connected to the Wisła, would guarantee the park’s beauty. I have been fighting for this for several decades. I am afraid that these areas will become subject to land speculation and home to investments that will destroy the whole concept.

Near the Piaseczyński Canal there are plans to establish a national stadium…
That is nonsense. Are the authorities helpless? Do they have to agree? That stadium should be shifted father away by about 100 meters – there is room. Our decision makers lack at the very least a little Warsaw patriotism. They don’t have a sense of the city and are either stupid or mean. Why don’t they just listen to those who know what they are talking about.

Thank you.