A table from the historical furnishings of the Imperial Castle in Poznan was found among the furniture from the resources of the former Collegium Iuridicum of the Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan. By the decision of the AMU Rector, Prof. Bogumiła Kaniewska, the furniture will return to the Zamek Cultural Centre. The deed of donation was presented on 5 December 2024. - ‘It is a good practice: an old piece of furniture, which as a result of historical turbulence was placed in a different venue than the one it came from, is coming back,’ rejoiced Prof. Piotr Korduba, Head of the AMU Institute of Art History, who contributed to the ‘discovery’ of the furniture in a joint effort with Prof. Tomasz Nieborak, Dean of the AMU Faculty of Law and Administration.
At the event, the Rector was represented by Prof. Zbyszko Melosik, Vice-Rector for Community Relations. - ‘The history of material culture, which also refers to the history of everyday objects, is a crucial part of the history of people and societies,’ says the Vice-Rector. - ‘It is not only the story of things, but also of the ideas, values, intellectual conceptualisations and, of course, emotions associated with them. It is the history of human life. Each object crystallises the main cultural motifs of its time. And in a historical context, it is part of the collective memory of a nation or society,' adds Prof Zbyszko Melosik.
- ‘Because of its origins, we consider the table to be a witness to history, in which the difficult fate of the 20th century was reflected, an element of the common, difficult German-Polish cultural heritage, which is the subject of historical and art-historical research at the Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan, and which Zamek Cultural Centre also confronts daily,’ emphasises Prof. Piotr Korduba.
- A German historian, a friend of our university, Kark Schlögel, author of the volume ‘In Space We Read Time’, published in Polish as part of the Poznan German Library, rightly indicates that space plays a pivotal role in understanding historical processes. History is a process that unfolds not only in time but also in space,’ says Prof. Tomasz Nieborak. - ‘And space - also the space of the Poznan Castle, including the historical furniture collected there - forms a kind of palimpsest over time, i.e. a multi-layered document, in which various historical periods have left their traces. Both architectural and symbolic,’ adds the Dean of the AMU Faculty of Law and Administration.
- The discovered table is an eye-catching historical element for the Castle, undoubtedly linked to its turbulent past. We appreciate the object's uniqueness, which will find its place in the space of the ZAMEK Cultural Centre. We are following the path where historical objects turn into living witnesses of history, linking the past with the present. It will be used during various events such as meetings and lectures. It will not only serve a practical purpose but it will also allow the multifaceted fate of the Castle to be told in the 20th century. Like the table from the times of Wilhelm II, now located in the Balcony Hall, the new object will not only enrich the space of the Castle but will also contribute to building reflection on the history written in its pages,’ says Anna Hryniewiecka, Director of the ZAMEK Culture Centre in Poznań.
The table was found this spring, during the selection of furniture from the former Collegium Iuridicum for the future headquarters of the Institute of Art History. It was a response to the institute's earlier ‘Let's save our design’ campaign to secure and continue to use curious furnishings and objects remaining at the University, which are also excellent examples of 20th-century Polish design. In the former staff office of the Department of International Law and International Organisations, Prof. Piotr Korduba recognised a monumental table as possibly dating from the former furnishings of the Imperial Castle.
