The history and the present

As an introduction, a few words about the nearest surroundings. In front of the main entry gate is the "Ecce Homo" sanctuary, the place of burial of St. Brother Albert - Adam Chmielowski. For the frequenters of Tatry backstreets it will be another, after Kalatówki, meeting with the person of the former insurgent, and after donning the cassock - a fervent believer and a hermit. In the sanctuary, there was also buried Blessed Maria Jabłońska, beatified by Pope John Paul II. Beginning from August 2005, one of the buildings of the sanctuary became a place of rest and a "home" of Card. Franciszek Macharski. Previously, the sanctuary was for many years a destination of pilgrimages of the Cracow Bishop - Card. Karol Wojtyła. Indeed, a decent neighbourhood.

Right next to the church can be seen "Dworek Pocieszka", a place where kings Władysław IV and Jan Kazimierz stayed many times. This Renaissance building was seriously damaged during the Swedish Deluge and the Confederation of Bar. After it was rebuilt in the 19th century, such artists as Jacek Malczewski or bishop Jan Paweł Woronicz created their works here. On the track running nearby, nowadays called the Dobrego Pasterza Street, there still stand manors built in the 19th century. There have also survived the remains of a Galician butcher's shop and a house in which Jan Kaczara lived - the enchanted hackney driver of K.I. Gałczyński. A characteristic gem by the track is the St. John the Baptist chapel, founded in 1642 by the prior of Cracovian Cominicans, Jan Morski, with a 18th-century polychromy illustrating e.g. scenes from the life of the saint.

Since we have set firmly in the historical context, the facts illustrating the history of this building are just as interesting. On the basis of the existing structures and his estate, in Anno Domini nineteen twenty-six, the industrialist Juljan Bader and a private person Eleonora Goldmanowa intended to establish a company that would conquer the Republic o Poland with pastas made to original recipes from distant Italy. In the book records, there later repeat the names of Binders, Bergsteins, Habers, etc. - then esteemed citizens of the city of Cracow. The company, going through rises and falls, survived to the times of the II World War. Then, by the power of a Decree of the Governor-General of Occupied Poland, Hans Frank, property owned by Jews was confiscated for the German Reich, the liquidator being designated as the person of Wilhelm Franz Karl Kiessel. After the liberation, the people's authorities did not intend to reimburse the former owners in any way. The estate was taken over by the state treasury. It may is curious how the manner of acquisition was legally formulated after the land and mortgage register: "acquisition through the lack of interest by the state treasury". Local rubber industry plants operated here. In the year 1975, the title for exclusive use of the property was obtained by the state Enterprise STOMIL. Using the housing character of the buildings in the nearest surroundings, a special /military/ production plant was located here, in which was conducted work on new rubber formulas used in the production of parts for the army, of vital to the defence of the PRL and Comecon. Changes in the political system after 1989 caused a slow collapse and, finally, liquidation of the plant. As a result of actions taken by the original owners, the building was "wrenched" out from the insolvent's estate by a valid ruling of the court and returned to its rightful owners, from which it was acquired in 2004 by the present owners.

The post-war period of predatory exploitation left the biggest scars on the building's tissue. Nevertheless, during its restoration, attempt were made to restore its most important elements and returning the building to its former splendour.

You are welcome to judge the effects by yourselves.