One of the most famous Polish authors lived in Dresden at Nordstrasse 28 – now a joint German-Polish project has concerned itself with the residence

Marlen Hößelbarth

In a special exhibition, nine garden designs by students from the Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences and TU Dresden are presented to the public

“In total isolation – a small house in the Swiss style, surrounded by the dense green of trees and bushes. Away from the road. Between the road and the house – flowers.” This is how what is now Dresden’s Kraszewski Museum at Nordstrasse 28 was described during Jósef Ignacy Kraszewski’s (1812–1887) time. Kraszewski is one of Poland’s most famous authors and he lived here during his 20 years of exile. In 1873, he purchased this small villa surrounded by a garden, and lived here until 1879.

Letters to his family in Poland tell how he had fruit seeds sent from the garden of his childhood home in Romanów to Dresden to have them flourish in this foreign environment. Even an alder tree was brought from Romanów to Nordstrasse.

140 years later, eleven Landscape Architecture students from the Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences and TU Dresden have focused on the beautiful garden at the Kraszewski Museum as part of a German-Polish master’s project.

The aim of the student project is the development of ideas for a museum garden design, which does justice to both the listed ensemble and its current use. The museum directors would like to establish a literature garden. The surrounding area has changed a great deal since Kraszewski himself lived here. The museum now finds itself between the densely built-up, bustling outer edge of Dresden Neustadt and the quiet Preussischen Viertel quarter, directly on the little Priessnitz river. In 1960, the first bi-national Museum in Germany was opened in Kraszewski’s former residence. Alongside a permanent exhibition on the life and work of the Polish writer, special exhibitions are held in connection with the culture and histories of both countries. The museum sees itself as a space offering close interaction between German and Polish people and is now  – as it was then – a center for German-Polish exchange. The German-Polish master’s project, therefore, is entirely in keeping with the tradition of the institution.

In April, an intensive workshop took place at the museum and at TU Dresden over the course of a few days. The Polish students traveled to Dresden especially for this event. Presentations and tours on-site provided the participants with an introduction to the building and its garden as well as insights into the life and work of Kraszewski. The site offers insight into the author’s special connection to nature and gardens, as well as his longing for his homeland and the Polish landscape. The concluding presentation of the workshop was attended by Prof. Irena Niedzwiecka-Filipiak, Director of the Department of Landscape Architecture at the Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Prof. Marcus Köhler, Chair of History of Landscape Architecture and Preservation of Garden Monuments at TU Dresden and Joanna Magacz, Director of the Kraszewski Museum.

What has resulted are nine very different designs, which are to be presented to the public in a special exhibition at the Kraszewski Museum. The opening of the exhibition takes place on Thursday, July 19, 2019 at 6 p.m. at the Kraszewski Museum, Nordstraße 28. Those interested are warmly welcome. The exhibition can be viewed during the museum’s opening hours in the Museum Café on the 1^st floor from July 20, 2018 to January 31, 2019 (Wednesday to Sunday and on holidays, 1-6 p.m.). The exhibition will then move to Wrocław.

A collaborative project between TU Dresden (Chair of the History of Landscape Architecture and Preservation of Garden Monuments) and the Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences (Department of Landscape Architecture, Dr.-Ing. Justyna Jaworek-Jakubska) and the Museums of the City of Dresden (Kraszewski Museum).
http://stadtmuseum-dresden.de/kraszewski-museum-ausstel

This article was published in the Dresdner Universitätsjournal 12/2018 on June 26, 2018. You can download the whole newspaper as a PDF file for free here. Please contact doreen.liesch@tu-dresden.de to order the Universitätsjournal as a printed newpaper or as a PDF file. For more information, please visit: universitaetsjournal.de.