Photo courtesy of Grzegorz Madej’s private archive
Bielsko-Biała
a city steeped in musical culture
Three Questions for Dr. Grzegorz Madej—a researcher at the Historical Museum in Bielsko-Biała
Ewa Kotus: When the young Fryderyk Chopin was traveling to Vienna for the first time in July 1829, his stagecoach—which required a change of horses on its journey from Kraków—stopped in Bielsko, a beautiful city that was then the capital of a duchy belonging to the Sułkowski family, and an important cultural center in the borderlands of the Habsburg Monarchy. This event is celebrated by the Historical Museum in Bielsko- Biała, local cultural institutions, and the City Hall.
Courtesy of the Historical Museum in Bielsko-Biała.
Courtesy of the Historical Museum in Bielsko-Biała.
This year, Bielsko-Biała holds the prestigious title of Polish Capital of Culture 2026, awarded by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. No one was surprised by this special distinction, because the city of Bielsko-Biała has always been—and continues to be—associated with culture. Does this mean that you still feel that Fryderyk Chopin left a part of himself with you?
Grzegorz Madej: The Sułkowski Dukes’ Castle, which houses the main branch of the Historical Museum in Bielsko-Biała, serves today as a natural space for commemorating, among other things, the world of aristocratic and bourgeois salons, as well as the travel and music of the Chopin era. Here, the connection is strong not only in biographical terms but also in cultural and historical terms. For centuries, aristocratic estates have been important patrons of culture in the broadest sense, and in the early 19th century, they were also patrons of piano music. The Sułkowski family were representatives of the same Central European salon and musical culture of the era in which Chopin was growing up. This culture stemmed from their deep-rooted attachment to theater and music. Throughout their history, they repeatedly demonstrated strong ties to it. Just mention the family’s ancestor, Aleksander Józef, who, at the Dresden court of Augustus III of Saxony, was responsible, among other things, for the theater and opera and had his own orchestra.
Unknown artist; photograph by J. Kleinberger, Bielsko, early 20th century.
Courtesy of the Historical Museum in Bielsko-Biała.
His eldest son, August, was a co-founder of the first national theater in Warsaw, which could not have existed without musicians. Another of his sons, Franciszek, formed a court orchestra—first at his palace in Włoszakowice (Greater Poland) and later at the castle in Bielsko—with Marcin Kurpiński (father of the famous composer Karol) serving as the conductor of the first orchestra. He also established the city’s first theater in Bielsko.
Unknown artist, 1774. Lost painting. Photographic documentation: National Museum in Warsaw.
Courtesy of the Historical Museum in Bielsko-Biała.
Unknown artist; photograph by J. Kleinberger, Bielsko, early 20th century.
Courtesy of the Historical Museum in Bielsko-Biała.
Franciszek’s eldest son, Aleksander Józef (II), played the Cremona violin and viola, and owned his own music library consisting of sheet music by contemporary composers, including Mozart and Haydn. His younger brother, John of Nepomuk—who continued the ducal line in Bielsko—built a second theater building at the Bielsko castle. At the time Chopin made a brief visit to Bielsko, Jan Nepomucen’s younger son, Duke Maksymilian Sułkowski—then thirteen years old—was being raised at the castle; a dozen or so years later, he organized a famous expedition to South America —from Colombia and Venezuela, he brought back numerous natural specimens, including a collection of four hundred butterflies, some of which were unknown to science at the time. For this reason, one of the species newly discovered by Maksymilian was named Morpho sulkowskyi in his honor. Maksymilian’s older brother, Ludwik, continued the family’s theatrical traditions and maintained ties with musicians, including the composer Josef Heidenfelder. Meanwhile, his eldest son, Józef Maria—a talented pianist—owned three theaters in Austria, was married to the soprano Ida Jäger, and was a patron of the arts. The last of the Sułkowski dukes to live at the Bielsko Castle, Aleksander Ludwik had, among other things, a musical education and played four instruments proficiently—during his studies in Prague, he played first violin in a Bach concert.
Photograph by Atelier d’Ora (Arthur Benda), Vienna, after 1937.
Courtesy of the Historical Museum in Bielsko-Biała.
Today, our museum strives to carry on the castle’s long-standing cultural traditions and organizes numerous classical music concerts. The repertoire includes many compositions by Fryderyk Chopin, whose visit to Bielsko we remember with particular affection.
E.K. I understand that a piano concert in the salons of the Sułkowski Dukes’ Castle— which houses the main branch of the Historical Museum in Bielsko-Biała—can help us appreciate the grand setting that the aristocracy provided for Fryderyk Chopin’s concerts…
G.M. At this stage of research into the history of the Bielsko Castle and the ducal family, it is difficult for us to answer the question of whether Chopin’s works were performed here during the reign of the Sułkowski dukes. In their day, the residence was not open to the public, and as a result, no records of the repertoire have survived. Music was certainly played here by individual family members for their own enjoyment, for family events and holidays—such as the string concerts performed at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries by the aforementioned Aleksander Józef (II), or, some time later, piano recitals performed by Józef Maria and Aleksander Ludwik, who certainly had his own piano at the castle. As they were connected to the musical culture of the Habsburg Monarchy, their repertoire undoubtedly included works by the Strausses or Franz Liszt, and if it included Franz Liszt, then it stands to reason that it also included Frédéric Chopin.
– the ducal castle and the location of Fryderyk Chopin’s stay in 1829 are marked in blue –
Reproduction from: E. Otipka, Mnemosynon, R. E. Wagner Publishing House, Bielsko, 1927.
Courtesy of the Historical Museum in Bielsko-Biała.
Print by Eduard Klimek, Bielsko, 1865.
Courtesy of the Historical Museum in Bielsko-Biała
Colourized photograph, before 1898.
Courtesy of the Historical Museum in Bielsko-Biała.
Today, we carry on the cultural traditions of the ducal castle as the Historical Museum in Bielsko-Biała, a cultural institution of the Silesian Voivodeship Local Government. Today, a museum is not just a place for storing and displaying artifacts of material culture; it is something more—it is also a showcase for spiritual culture, of which music is undoubtedly an integral part. The sounds that were once reserved exclusively for the aristocracy are now available to the entire public. The works of Chopin, who stopped only briefly at the nearby old post station, are often heard here. I am convinced that if Fryderyk Chopin were passing through Bielsko-Biała today, he would certainly stop by our museum, the Sułkowski Dukes’ Castle, and give a magnificent concert in our Music Salon.
Photograph: Jolanta Witalińska.
Photo: Courtesy of the Historical Museum in Bielsko-Biała.
Photograph: Jolanta Witalińska.
Courtesy of the Historical Museum in Bielsko-Biała.
E.K. The numerous musical events in Bielsko-Biała underscore just how important music is to the city. Young people with professional musical training show off their high level of skill at the Chopin Competition. So for Bielsko-Biała, Chopin is not just a historical memory; it is a sophisticated—or perhaps better said, a very thoughtful—presentation of the quality of Fryderyk Chopin’s music in the present day.
Lithograph, 1909.
Courtesy of the Historical Museum in Bielsko-Biała.
proj. Alicja Migdał-Drost
Courtesy of the Historical Museum in Bielsko-Biała.
G.M. Bielsko-Biała is a city truly steeped in musical culture. It is home to the Stanisław Moniuszko State Music School Complex, whose graduates go on to achieve success in the world of music. In addition to the Museum, the city has numerous venues for both chamber and symphonic concerts: the Maria Koterbska Bielsko-Biała Cultural Center,
Cavatina Hall, the Redutowa Hall, and smaller venues located within the Municipal Cultural Center’s facilities. Bielsko-Biała is also home to two professional orchestras—La Nostra Banda and the Bielsko Chamber Orchestra—as well as a number of smaller concert ensembles. The city hosts the nationally recognized Henryk Mikołaj Górecki Festival of Polish Composers, named after Górecki, who served as its patron for many years. As an aside, I’d like to add that we’re a hub for jazz music, as evidenced by such famous events as the Bielsko Jazz Festival and the Tomasz Stańko Jazz Autumn. I think you’ll find it interesting to know that Selma Kurtz, an opera singer who lived at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, had ties to our city. Maria Koterbska and Urszula Dudziak also have their roots here, as does Zbigniew Preisner, on whose initiative the first edition of the Preisner Scoring Competition took place this past year (an international festival and competition for young film music composers, under the composer’s patronage).
second half of the 19th century.
Courtesy of the Historical Museum in Bielsko-Biała.
In conclusion, I would say that Chopin’s spirit, despite his brief stay in Bielsko, has remained here permanently. Let the outstanding pianists who hail from here—the late Jan Smeterlin and Artur Schnabel—as well as the younger generation of talented Chopin interpreters, such as Mateusz Dubiel and Eryk Parchański, and the rising talent in piano and composition, Jakub Derej, serve as emblematic testimony to this.
To wrap things up, I’d like to add that the townhouse on Bielsko’s market square—which once housed the post office where Fryderyk Chopin stayed—is currently undergoing renovation. There is a chance that the renovated building will include a space commemorating this outstanding Polish pianist.
E.K. Thank you for sharing this wonderful insight into Bielsko-Biała, a city so deeply shaped by Fryderyk Chopin’s musical legacy.
allowing visitors to experience the spirit of the era of the Sulkowski Dukes’ rule.
In the photograph: Dr Grzegorz Madej and Małgorzata Motyka-Madej,
Director of the Municipal Cultural Centre in Bielsko-Biała.
Photo courtesy of Grzegorz Madej’s private archive.
Translation: Wojciech Jaworek