50 or So Peculiar Facts About Poland
Most people think of vodka or the Pope when Poland is mentioned, but the country has so much more to it. Think: Bison; fire jumping; and the Enigma Machine. Very peculiar facts about Poland.
Check out our list of interesting Polish facts- some will surprise you.
Finding facts about Poland isn’t difficult; finding true and peculiar facts about Poland that aren’t copied and pasted is a bit tough. In the end, many of these Polish facts were surprising for us. In a good way. See if you agree?
Polish Stereotypes and Misconceptions
I’d like to get this out of the way first, because it seems there are a lot of preconceived notions about the Polish that simply aren’t true.
World War II is a sensitive subject in Poland, for good reason. They’ve gotten a bad reputation as somehow being involved or responsible for the concentration camps. No. The truth:
- Over 50,000+ Polish people gave their lives to save the lives of over 450,000+ Jewish people. More than any other country. Poland is also the highest number of people honored by the Riteous Among Nations.
- Out of the 11 million killed in concentration camps, 6 million were Polish.
- The reason Poland was even chosen in the first place for the concentration camps? It was the most religiously tolerant in Europe, and thus had the highest number of Jewish people.
- The concentration camps were German/Nazi. There was not a ‘Polish Concentration Camp.’ Propaganda in the aftermath of the war created the myth.
- Poland was the only country the Germans enforced the death penalty for aiding a Jew. Not just death for them, but their entire family. Yet still thousands of Polish helped.
Polish people are quite educated. Despite the huge amount of Polish jokes, get this: they rank #23 in literacy (the U.S. is #26, just to compare) and about 40% have a university degree (30% in the U.S.).
For some reason, there’s the silly idea that Polish people are short. The average: 5’9”.3 for men; one of the tallest Polish basketball players is 7’2”.
Vodka isn’t a Polish invention; the word ‘wodka’ was coined in Poland, but alcohol was actually invented by the Turks. The Russians adopted vodka as their national drink and have been debating with the Poles over it since. (It’s called ‘The Vodka War.’) (Seriously.)
Polish people drink less than many Euro countries. In fact, they come in at #14 or so. After: the French, Czechs, Germans and Danish.
‘Burek’ is not the most common dog’s name in Poland. It’s a general term for dogs. Like ‘Here, Fido!’ or ‘Here, Doggie!’
Polish people come off: cold. Reserved. Miserable. Angry. ‘They don’t smile.’ The same goes for: Czechs, Slovaks, Bulgarians and, I’d assume, Russians. It’s not because they’re not warm or friendly. It’s because:
- For the older generation, a kickback to Communism and masking emotions in public.
- Generally, in these cultures a smile equals a laugh. Which means smiling at a stranger could be the equivalent of laughing at them.
- Don’t smile if you don’t mean it. It’s also used to flirt and show romantic interest.
- Keep in mind: many Slavic cultures find Western greetings and smiles ‘false;’ why ask ‘How are you?’ if you don’t want to know-? Grin.
Bigos, a national Polish dish (‘Hunter’s Stew’), does not give off deadly gas after 3 days of cooking. In fact, you shouldn’t eat it until it’s been cooking for longer than 2 days. Traditionally, it lasted a week or more with extra ingredients added.
Polish Religion, Traditions & Superstitions
I was super disappointed to find out there’s no such thing as a ‘Pope Channel’ on Polish TV. There is, however, a Christian Channel (TV Trwam).
The largest sections in bookshops are about the Pope; Poland has a 45-foot statue of the Pope and the world’s tallest statue of Jesus; and 90% of Polish people identify themselves as Catholics.
But only about 10% consider themselves ‘practicing Catholics.’
(Marzanna is the goddess of death, nightmares and winter) It happens around March 21st and it celebrates the ‘death of winter.’ A straw doll (3-4 feet tall) is decorated with ribbons and thrown into a body of water, thus killing off the cold and welcoming spring.
(I’m just curious- who cleans up the straw dolls after-?)
It’s around June 21st and is sort of a Polish Valentine’s Day. Traditionally, the midsummer solstice was the romantic time of year. On the ‘Feast of St. John the Baptist’ day, men jump over bonfires.
On the same day, women hope for wreaths. Wreaths with candles on one side of the river are floated to the other side; if a woman has one come to her she’ll be lucky in love.
A lot of them echo the same of many countries (ladders, black cats, etc.) but there are a few uniquely Polish superstitions:
- A woman’s handbag on the floor = no money.
- Wearing red underwear to the ball before your final exams (and again- unlaundered- exam day) will bring you good luck.
- Weddings: don’t marry in a month without an ‘r’ in it (which includes 6 months out of the year); a bride puts her shoes on the sill the night before for good weather conditions; and brides shouldn’t see their reflection when they’re fully dressed.
- The more you eat at Christmas (typically 12 dishes- yikes-!) the happier you will be the next year.
Peculiar Facts about Polish Inventions and Famous People
The inventor of Esperanto, L.L. Zamenhof, was Polish. The word ‘esperanto’ translates into: ‘one who hopes.’
Casimir Zeglen, a Polish immigrant in Chicago (and a priest), designed the bulletproof vest in 1893. It was made of silk layers and a steel plate.
Catherine the Great was born in Stettin, Prussia, which is now Szczecin, Poland. She went on to rule Russia.
Jerzy Kosinski (one of my all-time favorite authors) was Polish. His book ‘Being There’ was later made into a film.
The ‘father of rocket science,’ Wernher von Braun, was born in what is now called Wyrzysk, Poland.
Frederic Chopin was born near Warsaw in Żelazowa Wola and made his fame in Paris.
So did Madame Marie Curie- the first woman to win the Nobel Prize (in 2 categories/2 sciences, no less) and the University of Paris’ first female professor.
Copernicus, the man who ‘stopped the sun and moved the earth,’ gave the world its first Heliocentric model of the solar system. Most don’t know he was a clergyman and very religious; he wasn’t trying to undermine Catholicism.
Jerzy Rozycki, Henryk Zygalski and Marian Rejewski were the Polish mathematicians behind the breaking of the German Enigma Machine code, helping the Allied war effort. It’s estimated that help ended the war 2 years earlier.
Random and Peculiar Facts about Poland
In September, Krakow has an annual Daschund Parade.
The Załuski Library in Warsaw was one of the world’s best, established in 1747.
Poland is known as ‘Lehistan’ by the Turks because of the 3 brother legend: Czech, Lech and Rus (founders of the Czech Republic, Poland and Russia).
Poland has a desert: the Bledow Desert. It’s an oddity in such a lush countryside.
People in Krakow can tell the time by listening for the sound of a bugle. It blows every hour, cut midway in honor of a bugle player who warned of a Tatar invasion and was hit in the throat with an arrow.
Gdansk many times gets confusing, since it’s also called the ‘Gulf of Danzig.’
Poland is super green: there are 23 National Parks and over 1,200 natural reserves. It’s also home to some rare European animals: the lynx; the bison; and the eagle.
Katowice is described as the ‘San Fran’ of Poland and is gay-friendly, which some might find strange in such a Catholic country. How cool is that?
Polish TV used to have (I think it’s changed now-?) a ‘lektor’ for voiceovers of foreign programs and films. That meant: one fella read all of the parts (male and female) with the original audio in the background.
Poland has had several serial killers. 3 shared the title of ‘vampire’ (as in the ‘Zagłębie Vampire’); one was a ‘Gentleman Killer;’ and the most interesting: the Skin Hunters. 4 medical people killed elderly patients to sell information to funeral home directors. Not kidding.
Warsaw’s symbol is a mermaid, according to a legend.
Łódź, Poland is slightly misnamed since it means ‘boat’ and the nearest shore is a 5-hour drive (according to a local).
‘Spoko’ is the slang term in Polish for ‘Take it easy’ or ‘Okay,’ which can help calm down most situations.
We hope you’ve enjoyed our peculiar and interesting facts about Poland.
If we’ve got anything wrong, or if you want to add something more, no worries- just let us know in the comments below!
It’s spoko. Grin.
jezier
Mary Woolstoncraft Shelley named her crazy doctor after a town in Poland in which some sect was stealing corpses from the local cemetery.
PCScorpio
I didn’t know she got the name from that, but yes, there is a town which was called Frankenstein in the earlier days, now it’s called Ząbkowice Śląskie – the name comes from ‘teeth’, actually.
Melony Candea
PC Scorpio, how disturbing is that-? Just the idea of teeth + horror means shivers. Ha.
Mel
Hermina
Great article !!!!
I can not stop reading all the comment , it has been an hour …. Learn something new about my beloved country thanks . But I did not stumble upon any info about Smingus dingus second day of Polish Easter . It’s lots of wet fun….. It’s “spoko” if it’s sunny and worm outside if not you are in biiiiiiig wet trouble. You can dig something out about Smingus dingus for sure , spoko.
Thanks again for a very entertaining Saturday night read.
Hermina
Polak
http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afera_grabarzy_z_Frankenstein
Narvienn
You’re absolutely right – Mary Shelley read an article about Frankenstein, Prussia, which is now known as Ząbkowice Śląskie, Poland :).
falconi
“I’m just curious- who cleans up the straw dolls after-?”
Nobody, because before we throw them into water (river), we set them on fire. 🙂
cs
Yeah, but it needs to be said that this tradition is disappearing in Poland. I remember only one such day, I was about 10yo.
Marianna
Me and my friends we do it every year 🙂 Our Marzanna doll is much smaller, about 50cm tall; we set it on fire – which sometimes can prove rather difficult, what with all the wind and snow and rain- and throw it into the sea :3 And we are just one of the many groups, big and small, who celebrate the First Day of Spring in such manner 🙂
But Kupala Night, oh, that’s the true celebration 😀 Bonfires till the sunrise.
Dennis
It’s becoming more popular again of course, now that the bishops have started criticising it for being a pagan thing. As is usual when the church criticises something, they end up making it more popular. 🙂
the guy
Alfred Tarki also was a Polish important person.
Hubert
1) Alfred Tarski ( logician, mathematician and philosopher)
but also:
2) Roman Polanski (film director)
3) Agnieszka Holand (film director)
4) Leszek Balcerowicz (economist)
5) Michał Kalecki (economist)
* Kalecki has been called “one of the most distinguished economists of the 20th century.” It is often claimed that he developed many of the same ideas as Keynes, before Keynes; however, since he published in Polish and French, he remains much less known to the English-speaking world.
6) Jan Jonston (philosopher)
7) Bolesław Prus (philosopher and writer)
8) Stanisław Wyspiański (playwright, painter and poet)
9) Czesław Miłosz (poet)
10) Ryszard Kapuściński (reporter, journalist, traveller, photographer, poet and writer)
11) Jacek Malczewski (painter)
12) Leon Schiller (theatre and film director)
13) Czesław Miłosz (Noble Prize poet and writer)
14) Jerzy Skolimowski (film director)
15) Andrzej Wajda (film director)
16) Stefan Banach (mathematician)
17) Pola Negri (actress)
18) Krzysztof Kieślowski (film director and screenwriter)
20) Janusz Kamiński (film director)
21) Stanisław August Poniatowski (King of Poland)
* during his reign he processed many reforms including the Constitution of 3 May 1791 (second constitution in the world, ratified 3 years after Constitution of the United States)
22) John III Sobieski (King of Poland)
* Popular among his subjects, he was an able military commander, most famous for the victory over the Turks in the 1683 Battle of Vienna.[2] Following his victories over the Ottoman Empire, he was called by the Turks the “Lion of Lechistan” and held as the saviour of European Christendom by the pope.
23) Wisława Szymborska (Noble Prize poet)
And many, many others 🙂
bambam
świetne propozycje. Tylko za Balcerowicza to bym się prędzej wstydziła niż nim chwaliła…
Nieven
Racja, racja 😀
Kasia
Max Factor & Helena Rubinstein
Polak
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerzy_Kukuczka
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrzej_Zawada
http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himalaizm
Polak
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight-thousander
Pay attention to the “First ascensionist (s) in winter”
Marysia Sobkow
Let’s not forget St. John Paul 2 , Koszczusko, and many sports figures
Anita
I would only add that the reason almost no one knows Marie Sklodowska-Curie was polish, is because her name is always written as just “Marie Curie”. She was born and raised in Poland, she just decided to marry french guy and that’s why she got french nationality as well.
polish
You should know that she left Poland only because at that time women were not allowed to study on university. She has heard that in France there is a way to attend university and she decided to leave.
John
Her last name (after husband) was Curie not Sklodowska-Curie. That is the fact.
Sklodowska – it was just her maiden name – that’s it.
I think she was upset that Poland didn’t give her much.
Tomasz
Poland was wiped off from world map at this time, hence it couldnt give her too much. She was educated by ‘flying universities’ illegal organizations (by Prussians and Russians occupiers) which travelled across state providing education in polish language. There were 2 more guys who were educated in such a way and provided inventions; of oil rafination, and screen refreshing method (which was later on used by TV constructor from Scotland). Sorry but I dont remember second names :/
Pawel001
BS – Look at her 1911 Nobel Prize diploma to check what surname she used after her husband death….
zaga
What does it mean ‘just a maiden name’? her hand written signature said M. Sklodowska Curie, which means that for her it was not ‘just a maiden name’ 😉
DonKlekote
I must say that’s a great article and very accurate observations. Congrats!
I have one thought though, Catherine the Great and Wernher von Braun were born in nowadays Poland but they had no connections with the Polish nation.
Oh! And the ‘lektor’ is still the thing in the TV 🙂 Maybe except in kids’ cartoons.
Best regards
Michal
I haven’t noticed any fact about Wrocław. 😛 It’s the most beautiful city in Poland and it’s called the Venice of the northern Europe. 🙂
cs
Michal, I love Poznan, although I come form Bytom near Katowice.
Polak
That’s right, this is your pearl of Polish. Foreign tourists only know Krakow and Warsaw but the most interesting and most beautiful city is just Wroclaw. Krakow accepting municipal rights cue from the Wroclaw. In general, the history of Wroclaw is very rich and extremely interesting.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wroc%C5%82aw
Konrad
it’s good that somebody think about us in this way 😉 Thanks!!
Monika from Poland
Hey, we still have lektor on TV 🙂
Aga
Thank you for this. Especially for the German concentration camps part. It should be known.
Greetings from Kraków, Poland 🙂
irma
I would also include stopping for a minute every year on August 1st to commemorate the Warsaw Uprising.
Melony Candea
There are many commemorations. Some of the affecting for us: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Day_of_Remembrance_for_Victims_of_Stalinism_and_Nazism
We were adopted by two Lithuanians, whom we both love. They taught us much. I lived in the CZ for ages, and heard multiple stories about different 'special' days. Much like your August 1st, which is so... meaningful. Of humans. Of oppression and fighting it. Just brilliant. Thank you for reminding us.Konrad
Hey. That’s pretty interesting, but there are few things you forgot. I’m Polish and I think you should mention that Maria SKŁODOWSKA-Curie was Polish, no only born in Poland. Same with Chopin – his last name was in Polish “Szopen” and he was just living in France for a long time. Also Copernicus – we call him just “Kopernik”.
And I didn’t know that Katowice are gay-friendly in any way. And why would this be something “cool”?
SuperYo
just an example of how “tolerant” Poland could be..
Karolina
Does it mean that in every other country in the world EVERYONE is tolerant?
Supadom
So if other countries are intolerant we should accept it as a norm?
Falkster
😀 Obviously not Konrad… 😉
Marcin
‘cos it is – having problems with LGBTI ???
John
Hey Dude,
F. Chopin’s father was French, so don’t change the reality. In your opinion all famous people were Polish. Copernicus was Polish? These territories were German at the time, so his name wasn’t Kopernik but Copernicus. You can guess what nationality he was…
Robert
Copernicus is not german name. It’s latin name. German name is Kopernikus. And he was polish, in 15 century nobody has nationality… 🙂 He was born in polish-german familly, but he was subject of a king (polish king) Zygmunt I Stary 🙂
lolalitka
Well, actually,Dude,Torun was in the reign of the Polish king at the time Kopernik was born,so technically,he was Polish and,indeed,F.Chopin’s father was French,living an working in poland and Fryderyk was born and raised in Poland,so he was indeed Polish..unless you want to claim all those people with English passports in the Uk,born and raised there are not British,just because their parents weren’t…
Olga Cecylia
Well, in Poland nationality comes from the parents, not from the land you’re born on, so if you’re born in Poland it doesn’t mean you’re Polish, especially when your father is French… So Chopin was French-Polish. How we call someone and how we write his/her name isn’t a proof of anything because Shakespeare and Voltaire are called Szekspir and Wolter here and they definitely were not Polish 🙂
zaga
Actually, he was French-Polish. His mother’s maiden name was Krzyżanowska and she was Polish. His father, even though born in France, lived in Poland since he was 16 years old 🙂
Joanna
You got the wreaths part all wrong.
Young women make them, light the candle and put them on a flowing water (typically – a river). Young men wait on the other side, somewhat downstream (they can’t see the girls) and try to catch them as a way of matchmaking. Sometimes a girl will describe her wreath in advance, to help her luck 🙂
Christmas: not exactly the more you eat the more luck. You get luck if you try all the dishes. And pretty much anything can count as a dish, e.g. a potato.
TV Trwam is not the only one, but the more known, because of it’s connection to a certain controversial priest. The other is TV Religia and is more broad.
Marzanna does not have to be big. And since she’s made of straw and paper – nobody cleans them, they cust decompose.
Anyway, the Marzanna and Sobótka customs are not widely practiced (but are well-known), so there is not a lot to clean up.
And a bonus: 30th November, st. Andrew’s day, is a day for all kinds of witchcraft, especially of the romantic kind. People melt candles and pour the wax through a hole in a key into a pot of cold water. Then they interpret the shades of the shapes to predict future. A group of young women will take their shoes off and lay them in a snake shape all around the room. The one, whose shoe gets to the door first is supposed to be the first to marry next year.
Anna
Thanks for the clarification, Konrad and Joanna, saves others the time of repeating.
Barb
Great observation Joanna. What about November 1 – All Saint? After 28 year abroad I miss it.
humo
November the 1th is favourit celebration day of my spanish coworkers. Although is a holiday, if they come to Poland to work in October or November, they always schedule to be here this day. And they love it 🙂
loki
It’s all true.
dziewion
Lektor is still most popular 🙂 all National and commercial chanels uses this type of translation, it helps us to lear english, thats a funny fact too
Daniel
As a foreigner living in Poland I find the Lektor very annoying. Can’t concentrate on either language. And with subtitles you’d learn English much better in my opinion.
Piotr
Daniel, try to watch any series or film in Spain – you’ll laugh loud, seeing Carrie from Sex and The City speaking Spanish! That’s properly annoying. Agree with the subtitles part though.
Krystian
Hello. Good article. One thing – Madame Marie Curie used also her polish surname Skłodowska. You should write Marie Curie-Sklodowska. It’s very important because many French think that she was a French because of her husband’s surname.
Agnieszka
Actually she insisted on calling her by husband’s name and didn’t use ‘Skłodowska’ at all. She signed all documents and writings as Curie. All this Skłodowska stuff well that comes from us, as we love to highligh Polish roots everywhere 😉
Pawel001
you are wrong – after Pierre’s death she used Sklodowska-Curie as her surname (check for example her 1911 Nobel Prize diploma…
Piotr Warych
Good job. Thank you very much. It is good to read positive and true things about my country. Too often Poland is described so unfair. Did you know that there is the project that Poland should pay the rent for concentration camps’ victims!? It’s unbelivable!
Przemyslaw
Hi,
It’s true “lektor” reads all sentences. But there are also dubbinged movies for kids.
I think many foreigners see polish ppl to drunk a lot. But this is not true. Some Poles just dont know when to stop and lost their humanity while drunk. Thats why we are know as “drunk nation’ 🙂
Maria Curie also had polish surname – Maria Skłodowska – Curie.
Don’t forget that polish inventor Kosecki created or rather “modded” mine detector:P http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_detector
And the funniest thing. I can’t find englishman who can say my name properly.
Polish is one of the hardest languages to learn due to it has male and female forms of almost everything: verbs, adjectives, numerals.
So there are difference when u say: “He’s third” and “She’s third” : “On jest trzeci” & “Ona jest trzecia”; “He’s smart” & “She’s smart” : “On jest mądry” & “Ona jest mądra”.
Some english think we are about to suffocate when speak polish.
BTW, it’s really nice to read such articles about my fatherland.
Cheers,
Przemek
Jurenio
Being Polish myself, i read your article with true interest. It is always a little adventure to see oneself in other people’s eyes, especially if those eyes watch from a distance of another culture 🙂
I am impressed with Your in-depth research, basically all the facts are true.
Only one subject needs some amendment – the fragment on showing emotions by Poles.
First. Even in the communist times we did not hide emotions. Poland was never ruled as harshly as East Germany or Romania, we had a relatively biggest margin of ‘freedom’ in the eastern block, so we were often called “The funniest barrack in the camp”.
Second. It is not true that in the Slavic world a smile means laughing of someone. It is rather so that if you meet a stranger and smiles, you may be perceived as being not serious, not selfconfident. But this is marginal and vanishes.
Finding the truth in this subject is a lost battle, as it is a matter of arguing and controversy among ourselves. On thing is certain though – we are a nation of complainers and there is no information good enough that we couldn’t read it in a dark and gloomy way.
irma
I was also surprised by the fact that somebody percieves us as cold or gloomy… We’re Slavs, we do smile a lot 🙂
But yes, we also complain much…
Melony Candea
I think it’s definitely Slavic: I don’t know you, so I don’t smile or say hello. Try telling an Italian (my hubby) or and American (me) that, and you’ll get strong responses. Doesn’t mean that they mean it, just that they do it. 🙂
Jurenio
A little correction. I meant “The jolliest barrack in the camp”.
Slawomir Wojcik
“Lektor” thing is still the same – one guy reading all parts – male and female. Confirmed info – I’m Polish:D
gshegosh
I’m Polish and didn’t know all the facts 🙂 Very nice read, thank you.
Melony Candea
You are most welcome, gshegosh. I’m glad you liked it. 🙂
Mel
Przemek
It hasn’t change – we still have “lektors” in most of our tv chanels 🙂
Melony Candea
Przemek, it seems to be annoying for many Polish. Strange that it’s an institution in your country, but if people like it they like it, eh?
Mel. 🙂
Marek
True, but it’s very good for old people, and some who don’t know english language. Now, in TV we can make a choice: lektor, original language or original language and subtitles (like on dvds or blu-ray discs) for most channel. In cinema only subtitles or dubbing (no lektor – thanks God). Melony great job.
Jadzia
“a bride puts her shoes on the sill the night before for good weather conditions” – I’m Polish but I’ve never heard about it, maybe it’s a regional supersition.
Melony Candea
Jadzia, it could be regional. I thought it was an interesting aspect of premarital superstitions- it kind of makes sense, historically. 🙂
Mel
cs
well, i think it’s a bit exaggerated when sticking the superstition label to the Poles. It’s more like a fun and peculiar tradition and certainly some of them are regional.
irma
I’m getting married this year and all that the others told me was to choose the month with “r”, have something blue, new, old and borrowed and that the groom should place a coin into my shoe 😉
Melony Candea
Congratulations, Irma! We were told the same, but I have to say our marriage was a lot less traditional. I had the old, borrowed and new but not the blue or the coin. Ha. Must’ve worked, we’re still going strong. 🙂 Good luck, good love. 🙂
Karolina
Well, almost everything is correct. In Poland we still have a lector on TV, which, I think, is better than dubbing, because You can hear the real voices of characters in movie 🙂 For me movies or tv shows read by male and female are quite funny 🙂
And name Łódź is not so missnamed. There are 18 rivers under Łódź, they are little and almost all hidden, but still they are very impotrant for an ecological point of view. In XIX century when City had its best years for development and the industrial revolution started, Łódź was chosen to be best place for factories of textile industries. Unfortunately the years of developing industry has changed riverbeds and destroy many of Lodz rivers. Under the Manufaktura which is biggest Shopping Centre in region (it was one of greatest factories) rivers have a big junction 🙂 i think over 11 of them have intersection there:)
Rasvjet
Hi, I enjoyed reading this. As a Pole, I’d like to comment on a few things you mentioned.
– “Burek” IS a common dog name. On some occassions, we do use it to denote a mutt (“Is that a purebred dog?” “Nah, just a plain Burek”), but basically it is a name 🙂
– Most Poles (including myself) will tell you Czechs are more joyful then we are and have better sense of humour.
– We do have this Catholic TV channel, but most Poles consider it really lame, manipulative and embarrassing to watch. The common belief is that only pious elder ladies watch it.
– You might find it interesting that the word “wódka” (as well as the Russian vodka) is a diminutive of “woda” – water.
– 12 dishes sounds huge, but in fact a bowl of walnuts or pickled mushrooms will be considered a dish and you only need to eat a single nut or mushie for it to count. In fact, each dish is meant to bring you luck in one month of the following year (hence, 12 dishes in total).
– Sadly, Poland is not as green as we’d like it to be – only less than 30% of the land is covered with forests. That being said, Poles do love nature and the current president had to exchange his rifle for a camera before he could be elected.
– Lektor is still the most common method of translating TV shows – only children’s shows are dubbed and it’s really rare to see subtitles on Polish TV. On the other hand. lektor disappeared completely from the cinema.
– It never occured to me that my hometown was so gay-friendly. I mean, I was aware that gay people were tolerated here more that in other parts of Poland, but I had no idea we were famous for that 🙂 Good to know ^^
Agnieszka
Hi!
Your article is great, I don’t agree with some facts but I think it’s because they are regional and only apply to certain regions.
That thing with “lektor” still exists. Every young person hates it but my mom won’t watch a movie without it (she’s ok with dubbing, but only kids’ films get dubbed here, and she’s too lazy for subs). So yeah, that’s why I don’t watch TV!
Melony Candea
Agnieszka, if you want to speak about laziness: most Americans won’t watch a film with subtitles. Seriously. Me? I prefer them. I like to hear the actors’ timbres, the emotion. Call me a huge fan of subtitles. Ha. I’m sorry if there are some facts that are wrong, but don’t hesitate to let me know if any bother you. I’ll edit.
Readers make the writer.
Mel. 🙂
irma
Mel, I would also add the fact that between the ball and the exam (studniówka-matura) you shouldn’t have your hair cut! 😉 and that means a hundred days.
Melony Candea
Irma, that is something that is really Eastern European- and so very cool. Unique. Thank you.
Maciej
Absolutely loved it. I remember searching for a brief summary of interesting Polish facts to show to my friends from the U.S., Colombia and Japan during a student exchange. I wish I’d known about this article at the time!
Melony Candea
Maciej, I wish I’d written it ages ago so you could have found it. Ha. I’m really glad you enjoyed it- I really enjoyed finding these things out about such a quiet country.
Mel
Wojtek
The Constitution of May 3, 1791 (Polish: Konstytucja 3 maja) was adopted by the Great Sejm (parliament) of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and was the first constitution of its type in Europe and second-oldest codified national constitution after the 1789 U.S. Constitution. 🙂 Spoko
Melony Candea
Heya Wojtek, I did know that but I wasn’t sure it’d be interesting for Polish people to be compared to the U.S. (I’m American). I wanted to try to capture the best of the Polish I could find. You guys have been brilliant in giving me extras, so I’ll add yours to our list tomorrow. 🙂
Mel
Robert
Yes the constitution was definitely inspired by the US. Several Poles fought in the American revolution, some returned, but Poland itself was inspired. General Pulaski is a hero of the American Revolution, considered to be the father of the American cavalry, he died in combat in Georgia. I think every city in Georgia has a Pulaski street or a school, or it seemed that way the last time I was there. Strange thing I barely heard of him before I moved to the States.
You heard about Koscioszko already. But he returned, was one of the main leaders of reforms, including the Constitution. After we passed it were were invaded by Russia and he led the revolt against those bastards. Now he is one of our most important historical figures. He was a good friend of many of America’s founding fathers and advocated against slavery, they obviously owned slaves so that failed. I heard rumours that he was given lands in America, for his service, and slaves, whom he immediately freed. But have not been able to verify it. I heard a lecture once and someone mentioned that bit.
Before the Constitution Poland was a quasi democratic monarchy. It had a Sejm (parliament) which would vote for a king. After the Jagielonians died out we begun to vote for our kings. Of course only the szlachta (nobility) was allowed to vote. No Jews or peasants. But we had more noble families than anywhere else. A szlachcic could be a homeless mercenary, as long as he had a name then his vote counted as much as a princes’ vote would (or however much he would take to vote for someone’s candidate). But it was a terrible system, we had no national army to defend ourselves. Kings had to beg for money to run the country or to defend it. We were surrounded by absolute monarchies which had standing armies and obviously, those kings did whatever the hell they wanted, and what they wanted, was to regularly invade Poland in the XVIIIth century. If you are a history buff then I recommend Norman Davies. A Welsh historian educated in Krakow (PHD) he wrote many books about Poland and is a wonderful writer. His books were even used as history textbooks in some schools in Poland. Which says a lot, we are a proud people.
Nikola
It’s not true, that Katowice is gay-friendly place. We hate them. They live there because there is many people and they can hide.
Keirek
Speak for yourself. You may be intorelant and may have intorelant family and friends. But most people I know (and I’m from Katowice and was born there) are tolerant and don’t have a problem with gay people. For example: Two gay men were studying with me on the same faculty. We had 120 different people there and they were never harassed by anyone and most of us like them and still have contact with them. And I don’t believe that so many gay people live in Katowice. now I’m living in Warsaw and I think that percentage of gay people here is higher than in Katowice
Supadom
I’ve heard ISIS are looking for gay haters. Have you thought of joining?
kijcze
Funny fact Łódź in fact have a lot of water. There is 18 rivers and streams, but… they are all underground.
Melony Candea
Kijcze, if they’re underground are boats still used-? Grin.
Mel
K
Do poprawki:
W sumie, liczba Polakow, którzy zginęli w wyniku II Wojny Światowej to około 6 milionów Polaków (z czego połowa to Polscy Żydzi) – nie tylko w obozach koncentracyjnych!
Bigosu nikt nie gotuje dwa dni… Ale rzeczywiście na drugi dzien smakuje lepiej.
Kasia
Ja gotuję Bigos co najmniej 4 dni według przepisu babci 🙂
I cook bigos at least 4 days, as my grandmother taught me 🙂
Melony Candea
Kasia, only 4 days? Ha. Fantastic. I’m sure the recipe is tasty (I’ve only had Bigos at Christmas, and it was yummy). Any special secrets to making your family’s?
Mel
Anna
You don’t have to cook it an entire day. You cook it for an hour or two on low heat, then cool it off & let it rest in the fridge. Then you do the same the next day, and the next, etc. My dad wouldn’t serve his bigos till day 7. Yum!!!!
irma
Me too, but, to be precise, I fry it constantly stirring in the meantime.
Kuba
Katowice gay-friendly? Silesia is probably one of the least tolerant areas of Poland 😀 They’re a national minority and they’re very traditional, especially in Katowice and neighbouring cities (it’s the only real megalopolis in Poland, BTW, with several cities put so tightly together that they seem as one, a heavy industry area). I’d expect Sosnowiec, which is at a cultural war with Katowice, to be much more tolerant, since it’s culturally Polish instead of Silesian (and like Szczecin consists of mainly descendants of the people who were forced by Russians to move out from Lituania, Belarus and Ukraine after WWII, so the society there was moulded from scratch on modern values, cut off from old traditional mentality) and belongs to the same megalopolis.
Genetrally, the more north-west, the more ‘progressive’ the society is, with the most ‘western’ mentality in Szczecin (an atheist city, BTW). And the more south-east, the more traditional mentallity of people (Warsaw, as a capital, is an exception and is probably as progressive as Szczecin, a progressive “island” in the traditional “sea”) – this phenomenon is linked to the mentioned fact of the north-western parts being populated with the people forced to move from other areas (creating a very succesful melting pot instead of a salad bowl!) and that they are very close to the German border in the west (which has its impact on the culture) and the sea in the notrh (the societies heavily influenced with sailors who travel all over world and bring things and ideas!), and obviously Warsaw as a capital is a big centre of the international culture and a melting pot of the constant immigration from all over the country, with people quickly assimilating to the “moderness” seeking a better standard of living.
Oh, and Burek is not a general term for a dog. It’s a stereotypical name for a dog, along with Azor and Fafik. It is true that I don’t know a single dog with those names, because nobody wants to give their pets such a beat name. But those are still names, just stereotypical ones that act almost as if synonyms of the term “pet dog”. I know a cat named Burek though, sort of a joke 😉
And being Polish, I don’t know most of the steretype mentioned in the article 😀
– never heard of the handbag thing
– the red underwear thing is true BUT it can obviously be clean, come on! That would be disguisting
– never heard of the thing with weddings and the months with ‘r’ in the name and other wedding superstitions either
– there is a tradition that you SHOULD prepare 12 dishes at a Christmas table (each reperesenting a month) and you SHOULD at least take a taste of each of them (a spoonful is enough), but there is no stereotype attached. Just a tradition relating to the symbolism of months.
Yet, there are some very important cutoms (that originate in the superstition of bringing bad luck, however nobody believes it anymore… it;s jsut a matter of good upbringing nowadays) that people from other countries very often don’t know and it can cause a faux pas:
– When there are 4 or more people shaking hands you NEVER cross them, you wait for your turn to greet with everyone separately
– you never shake someone’s hand wearing a glove (it’s very rude and offensive, saying that you are disguisted to touch the person)
– you never shake person’s hand through a door, both people have to be either outside, or inside
I’ve lived in Szczecin my entire life BTW.
Cheers! 🙂
Daniel
The handbag thing is true. Maybe it’s a regional thing though. Since you’re from the northwest and I live in the south. However, I’ve been warned many times not to put ladies handbags on the floor, because the money would “disappear” otherwise (I’ve lived here for 6 years as a foreigner).
Melony Candea
Hey Kuba. First, I want to say wow and thank you for such an in-depth and thoughtful reply. I’ll try to do you the same. 🙂
Katowice: one of many links I found, not really others in Poland: http://www.cruisinggays.com/katowice/c/bars/ My husband and I have many people who are straight and married; many gay; many single. I don’t search out gay places- the reason I found it interesting is being in such a Catholic country that’s open minded. That seemed nice.
Burek, as I mentioned, is like “Fido” in English. A general name for a general dog. And no one names dogs Fido, either. Ha.
I got the unwashed red undies from a student site (not saying it’s reputable as a source, grin).
I love the idea of tasting 12 dishes for each month- not necessarily eating platefuls- and I really like it.
If you don’t mind, I’d love to add the extra superstitions to our list. So cool.
Mel
irma
That reminds me:
– in my home we were always making the “cross” sing on the loaf of bread before cutting in
– my mum likes “predicting” weather according to the days between Christmas and the 6th of January (12 days=12 months).
– most of the houses are marked K+M+B and the current year (on the front door) with chalk we get from the church on January 6th.
– our first name had to be a name of a benedicted or canonised person. It not, then such a baby was given a second name (saint). It’s changing nowadays, but for sure we cannot name a baby “Apple” or anything like that. Also, almost every female name finishes with “a”.
– we celebrate Name Days (the majority of my foreign friends find it ackward that we can provide them with the dates when such and such name is celebrated).
AveSatan
Actually, it’s not that 90% of Poles identify themselves as Catholics. The number is extremely exaggerated by the Catholic church. The thing is – according to Roman Catholic Church – about 90% of Poles have been baptised – and that’s totally different thing. Catholic church claims you can’t just leave their church (once catholic – forever catholic) and there is no procedure for leaving it officially, so the church operates that ridiculous number to gain political power.
Also – Poles may not have pope tv, but they have enormous number of pope statues – at the moment it’s over 600 (and counting).
It’s not a good idea to ever call Maria Skłodowska-Curie Marie Curie in front of the Pole. Ever. They’ve got an ongoing argument with the rest of the world about it – and for a good reason, may I tell you this. Although she had never forgone of her surname, she’s somehow referred to as Marie Curie and regarded as French. Even educated people happen to not know she was Polish.
I guess no one cleans all those dolls afterwards – it’s supposed to swim right down to the sea, but the reality is – it just rots before it reaches the sea, which is quite understandable – come one, it’s just straw and paper, all biodegradable!
Melony Candea
Hi AveSatan, numbers can always be tweaked. I wouldn’t be surprised at the upping of numbers by the church. No clue there were so many statues (600-? Crikey!) I always knew Marie was Polish, not French, but I think you’re right to specify. I’ll correct it tomorrow. 🙂
And apparently Polish firemen clean up the dolls. Interesting, eh?
Mel
Mrugacz
The number of believers is exaggerated by the Catholic church because of the subventions they get from the government for every believer.
@AveSatan there is a procedure that allows you to leave the church officially, just not everyone knows about it. It’s called apostazja, but it can take years and they make lots of problems when you try to do so. There were few cases when people formally done that and yet still were listed as believers.
Przemek
Hi!
That’s a really nice article. One little fact about bigos. Now it’s polish national dish, but, as far, as I know, it was invented by Krzyżacy (Teutonic Knights) knightly order. They not only use it as food, that can stored for a long period of time for army purposes, but they also sell it in big barrels. That way it gets from Prusy (Prussia) to Poland in early medieval ages.
Best regards,
Przemek
Melony Candea
Hey Przemek, holy cow- the Teutonics?! How cool is that. I am a huge history buff- and it makes so much sense, no? The food was long lasting. Must check into it more… thanks for the lead. 🙂
Mel
Lopez
It’s spoko reportaż. Greetings z Poland.
Melony Candea
Lopez, dziękuję! Glad you liked it.
Mel. 🙂
Veetor
Adding the only winged cavalry (husaria) in the world which was victorious many times over much more numerous enemies, that would be all 😉 Nice set of facts.
Tom
It’s quite probable it wasn’t winged at all. Wings were invented after original cavalery ceased to exist as a kind of a myth. But the victories and their power wasn’t a myth. They won battles where they were outnumbered 100 to 1!
Melony Candea
Hi Tom, the Polish have always been renowned for their bravery. I can’t recall reading one tome of history that didn’t mention it. They are pretty (quietly) amazing, no?
Veetor
Tom, I don’t know from where you have this information but I ensure you: wings attached to the armour is a historic fact. If you want, you can visit few museums in Poland where you can see typical husaria’s winged armour sets. Besides, it’s in every historic manual and book provided by a common system of education, so it’s strange you cosider it as a probable myth. believe me, there’s no myth at all.
Hersir
@Tom – Winged armor a myth?! Check photos of husar armors – exhibits from any museum. I’m astonished that a confirmed thing can be still treated as a myth.
Polak
Hussars had wings. It’s not a myth. Disputes concern mounting wings. There are two versions, according to one wing were fixed to the armor, the other was attached to the saddle.
Melony Candea
Hi Veetor, seems the ‘winged cavalry’ is more well known, less advertised. I’ll certainly add it to our page. Thank you for giving us the info. 🙂
Mel
Hersir
Thank you very much. It’s a really cool military unit, very unique and stylish (!) if we speak about European history, especially about their role in the battle of Vienna in 1683. And it’s a great thing you write about Poland. It’s one of those still undiscovered by people from around the world toursitic countries, yet very diverse and beautiful. Keep up the good work!
Darek Starzynski
Gdansk or Danzig is a city by the Baltic Sea. The former is a Polish name, the latter – German. ‘Gulf of Gdansk’, or rather ‘Gdansk Bay’ (or ‘Danzig Bay’) is – as the name implies – just a bay.
Throughout history Gdansk was quite wealthy and changed hands many times between Poles and Germans, couple times it was even declared a ‘Free City’ (sort of like an independent state). On perhaps the most notable instance the III German Reich, under Adolf Hitler rule, made a ridiculous claim for Gdansk despite it being surrounded by territories under firm Polish control. They even proposed to build a special ex-territorial highway connecting the city with Berlin. The refusal to comply was an official pretext for German invasion of Poland, which started the II World War.
‘Lektor’ voice-overs are unfortunately still prevalent in Polish television. The rationale is that full dubs are too expensive and the TV viewers are not used to subtitles. On the other hand in cinemas virtually all foreign films are translated with subtitles only, so while visiting you can go enjoy latest Hollywood flicks with original voices.
And to a list of most famous Poles I’d add two:
Lech Walesa, obviously – a simple electric technician, who led industrial workers’ protests against communist Polish government in the ’80 and overthrown it, starting the chain reaction of events which eventually led to the fall of whole Soviet Union.
And Ignacy Lukasiewicz – a 19th century chemist who was an oil industry pioneer. He invented a kerosene lamp (which quickly replaced candles as a primary pre-electric light source), he build some of the first modern oil wells and the first large scale refinery. Unfortunately there was never much crude oil under Polish soil, so he didn’t get a chance to build a real oil empire like his successors in other parts of the world (still managed to get quite wealthy for the time though).
Melony Candea
Hi Darek. First: thanks for the Gdansk thingamajobbies; we both really loved that place. Second: totally dig the 2 that we should add to the list for famous Polish people. Well chosen, I’ll add them tomorrow. 🙂
Mel
piotr
about catherine: it’s szczecin, poland, not szczecin, russia
Melony Candea
Hi Piotr, crikey, did I add the wrong link or words? Will defo double-check. Thanks for the heads up. 🙂
Mel
Ewa
Hi,
we still have a “lektor” in our TV! I am not sure it’ll ever change;)
Very nice article!
BR,
Ewa
Melony Candea
Ewa, so glad you enjoyed it! I think your ‘lektor’ will be around for awhile; they’re kind of cultural icons now, right? And good on them. 🙂
Mel
Bartosz
Hi Melony, great post. I just want to correct one thing, Catherine the Great was 100% German as Stettin was a German city back then, so she didn’t have any Polish roots (yet before she became an empress she was a lover to a Polish ambassador, Stanisław Poniatowski who later became a last king of Poland). As to famous and interesting Poles, check Ignacy Łukasiewicz, who is the father of modern oil industry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignacy_%C5%81ukasiewicz) or Tadeusz Kościuszko who created famous West Point Academy.
Best
Bartosz
Melony Candea
Hi Bartosz, I love fellow history-lovers. Thank you for the correction, I’ll edit tomorrow. And I’ll definitely check out Ignacy to add in our famous list. Tadeusz I knew about, but I wasn’t sure to include him because of the military link. I’ll rethink it.
Again, thanks much for the feedback.
Mel
Bartek
“Polish TV used to have (I think it’s changed now-?) a ‘lektor’ for voiceovers of foreign programs and films.”
Nothing has changed. Foreign programs still have voiceovers! 🙂
Melony Candea
Bartek, what’s interesting is that everyone seems to dislike the voiceovers but don’t do anything to change it. Then again, I come from a country that had an 8-year president no one voted for… I’ll just be a little quiet now, eh? Ha.
Mel
Azi
Who cleans the straw dolls on Marzanna Day? Those are organized events, Marzannas are burned and threw into rivers. Then someone (usually firefighters) wait further down the stream to catch these dolls and get them out. So don’t worry, our rivers are exceptionally clean 😀
Tom
It’s forbidden in Poland to make Marzanna out of textiles or syntetic materials. So most of them just decay.
Melony Candea
Heya Tom, that actually makes sense to create them out of natural materials. Someone else on here mentioned burning it first, and another that it’s part of a yearly fireman’s duty to clean them up. 🙂
M.
Melony Candea
Hi Azi, I’ve seen how clean your rivers are- thus my confusion. Grin. Love that you took the time to let me know how it works with the Marzanna Dolls. Very cool of you.
Mel
natalia
we still have ‘lector’. almost everyone hates dubbing until it’s not an animated movie. it is just so frustrating when you can see actor’s lips moving in a different way they suppose to!
Melony Candea
Natalia, it’s the same with bad American dubbing. Only no background sound- I honestly can’t say which is worse. Ha. Maybe both are equally bad-?
Mel
Tatiana Talbi
Beautifully written. Thank you. We have wolfes, elks -some with unique DNA in Biebrza. and we have bears! just 2 or 3 in Tatra mountains.
Tom
it’s more then 100th of them and only in Karpatian mountains – not Tatra.
Melony Candea
Tom, did I get the mountain range wrong-? I’ll defo edit if needed. Oops and sorry, eh?
Mel
Robert
Karpaty are the main chain which run through several countries, of which Tatry are a smaller part (south Poland, Zakopane and near area). And I think a lot of the wolves are in Bieszczady in the south east of Poland, that area is less populated and has a lot of forests. And of course in other National Parks.
Saw elsewhere that you like our little country, Montana is not too shabby either, though I only saw a little of it.
And yes, for Christmas Eve dinner (supper really) 12 dishes is the norm, not counting some salads. No meat on that night. I have been gone for 30 years, my in laws a little less than that, and my mother in law still serves 12 dishes minimum, mostly all hand made stuff like Pierogi (about 5 different kinds), fish dishes and other delicious stuff. Getting up from the table is no mean feat after that.
As for sernik, find the kind with raisins, not the soft pureed French crap, it looks like Szarlotka (apple cake, also delicious) and it’s the best thing in the world. Nothing sophisticated, but oh so good. It’s almost like a pie but more open, has a cake layer on the bottom, about a centimeter or a bit more, and striped thin layers of cake on top of it. Damn, now I want some, and my mother in law just went to Poland so I will have to wait a few weeks, no one else knows how to do it properly.
Something like this: http://www.mojeciasto.pl/assets/Uploads/img_2974_wytfz.jpg
Melony Candea
Tatiana, you are most welcome. I got so tired of the same (untrue) tripe thrown around about Poland. I tried to dig deeper. I love your wildlife- reminds me of home (Montana)- and you all are so lucky to live in such a beautiful place.
Mel
Polak
In Poland, there dozens of bears. They live only in the Tatra and the Beskids.
Leszek
We still do have ‘lektor’ – and I still think it’s better than full dubbing. I hate dubbed movies in German 🙂
Melony Candea
Hi Leszek, fair enough I think. Everyone has personal preferences. I like subtitles better than 1/2 dub, but I do hate really bad dubbing. Think: Ninja films and delayed sound. Ouch. Ha.
Mel
Laura
There are still “lektors” for voiceovers! 🙂 Though, on some channels you can choose an original audio and subtitles (that is how you would watch it at the cinema. Only cartoons and children movies have dubbing).
Melony Candea
Hi Laura, I know it’s normal for you guys- we just find it a bit odd to hear a man say “I love you” and a woman say “I love you, too!” in the same manly voice. 🙂
I love the original audio option- I prefer reading subtitles to dubbing unless it’s a terribly bad Spanish soap opera. Ha.
Mel
Mrugacz
You can still hear actors’ voices so one manly voice over them is not a problem, but now that I think about it I don’t remember ever hearing lady lektor. O.o
Besides it’s much better than dubbing, because you still hear original voices, emotions in them, background sounds.
Tomek
There still IS a ‘lektor’ in our TV. Moreover i concider it obvious that sth like this occures in TV andi couldn’t have imagined that they were only in Polish TV 😀
But to conclude: Spoko!
Melony Candea
Hey Tomek, I found it super strange watching the Simpsons with one voice for everyone. Ha. We have to love our cultures, don’t we? Just brilliant. 🙂
Mel
Monika
,,Polish TV used to have (I think it’s changed now-?) a ‘lektor’ for voiceovers of foreign programs and films. That meant: one fella read all of the parts (male and female) with the original audio in the background.” – no, nothing’s changed. Polish TV still has a >lektor< 😀
,,The more you eat at Christmas (typically 12 dishes- yikes-!) the happier you will be the next year." – LOL, honestly – I didn't know about it 😀 What I know is: You HAVE to eat all 12 dishes IF you want to open the presents 😉 (but you needn't eat much, you can try just a little)
Greeting from PL 😉
Melony Candea
Hi Monika, greetings from Warsaw at the moment! I love the idea of tasting 12 dishes for every month. It’s a little romantic, no? I do find the Lektor strange, though. Huge grin.
Mel
Jarek
Hi.
Very fun to read and surprisingly accurate. One clarification: the woman handbag thing is a fairly new thing and it’s more like a joke than actual superstition. It comes from a fact that it’s easier for money to run(escape) from the bag when it’s placed on a floor than when it’s hanging high. It’s women joke/superstition so don’t try to look for too much logic in it ];-> Oh, and polish dubbing of movies, especially cartoons and animations like “Ice Age” is considered one of the best in the world, and for good reason (we have some great actors). The Witcher FTW!
Cheers.
Melony Candea
Hi Jarek, first things first: thank you so much for the compliment (surprisingly accurate). It’s nice to hear. 🙂 And to clarify, I’m sure that the dubbing for animated films is fantastic- it’s the dubbing with the sound in the background that I was commenting on. I might be wrong, but I thought it was uniquely Polish-?
Robert
It’s not unique to us. I believe many countries do that, it’s much cheaper than dubbing a film. And in the old days there were still people who could not read as well (older pre war crowd), so subtitles were out of the question. Although in cinemas, if I remember correctly, we also had subtitled movies. Russia still does subtitles.
Funny thing, whenever Russians made war films they used foreign actors who spoke the actual languages of the soldiers filmed (instead of stupid accents like in the West). So if a movie made it to Poland, then you had a German speaking whatever dialogue he had, over him you had a Russian “Lektor” and over him a Polish Lektor….. I kid you not. Even recently saw a 1970’s WWII Soviet epic with a Polish Lektor and that is exactly how it went. If they were showing Churchill then you had Polish over Russian which was over English. So yes, some of those Polish jokes may be true.
Robert
It meant to say “Russia still does ‘Lektors'” at the end of the first paragraph, not subtitles.
Tom
Vodka (wódka) as a word whas been used first by Poles in XIV century. So marketing rights for the name “vodka” are polish (Russians stole this name and don’t want to pay for it). In Poznan also was the first production of clean (as we know it today) vodka – double or triple filtered. And it was Poland that made vodka famous and known in the world (I’m not sure if it’s something to be proud of though 😉 )
Melony Candea
Tom, I think that Żubrówka is something to be proud of, just not in excess. Ha. It’s dangerously delicious.
Mel
Monika
If you like Zubrowka, then you should also know the legend, that each blade of grass you can find in each bottle was “christened” by bison…
…yes, I mean pissed on 😉
Melony Candea
Monika, I heard something about that. I was hoping it was just an urban myth… great vodka, though. Ha. Mel
Oofol
I learned a lot about my country here:)
– You forgot about the Pope (I’m not catholic but that’s important I think)
– Poland’s national sport is football, but we are the worst in the world in it and no one cares of the other sports we are getting gold in;)
– Sernik. If you don’t know it – google it
– most recent – CD Project Red – Wiedzmin which is the best RPG ever comparing the budget and the final games;)
and loads more;p
Thanks!!
Oofol
Melony Candea
Hey Oofol, I so did not forget about the Pope-! I did mention the largest statue of him, after all. 😉 Sernik I will Google (and probably add to the article, if you don’t mind). Thanks so much for helping us with more inside-Poland info. Really nice of you.
Mel
P.S. I love cheesecake-!!
PCScorpio
I live in Katowice and I’d call it anything but ‘gay-friendly’; seek for that in Warsaw, possibly. Silesia is known for its conservatism.
Many people already wrote about lector (we still have him, usually only the children films are dubbed) and other things.
And TV Trwam advertises itself as a Christian channel, but actually it’s just the TV part of a media company of father Rydzyk, which represents just the most fanatical/right-wing/maniac outskirts of Catholicism, not even agreeing to the whole of Pope’s teaching. Angry old ladies and possibly football hooligans, that’s the TV Trwam crowd :]
Apart from that, it’s a really great article!
Melony Candea
Hi PC Scorpio (I’m a fellow Scorpio, if that’s where your nom comes from :), I heard from someone who visited Katowice and checked out several sites like: http://www.inyourpocket.com/poland/Katowice/Bars-and-Clubs/Gay-and-Lesbian.
Thanks much (really) for the inside scoop on TV Trwam- we had no clue. We don’t want to upset the old ladies and hooligans with an extreme edit, but I’ll see what I can do. Grin.
Thank you for the compliment, I’m super glad you liked it.
Mel
rafal
Mel,
unfortunately there’s still a gap between us and the rest of Europe when it comes to tolerance…
we need some more time… and we’ll get there – no doubts about it…
Rafal
Polak
Very well, that in Poland there is no tolerance for deviance. Not everything European or American is good.
Tolerance is the virtue of people without convictions
Ania
I believe that 50% of Poles attend church regularly, so it wouldn’t be just 10 %:
58% say they are active practicing Catholics, according to a survey done by the Centre for Public Opinion Research.[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Catholicism_in_Poland#cite_note-2)
I know it’s Wikipedia, but it’s based on information from a solid research centre.
Melony Candea
Hi Ania, fair enough. 🙂 There is definitely strong Christianity/Catholicism here that is part of the Polish spirit and identity. In a good way, I think, as the sense of morality and justice is quite strong. You kids are cool. Grin.
Ewa
No way. I don’t go church, my boyfriend neither. My dad doesn’t go, and my brother neither. Only my mom is doing this.
I have no friends who are going to church!
Robert
I don’t know what the numbers are, but there is no way 50% are regularly attending church.
The religious, no matter how little faith they have, tend to exaggerate their church attendance and religious involvement. If the figures were representative then churches would be all full in Poland. Or in the States, for that matter, which is where the exaggeration was found. And it is by a considerable amount. It turned out that religious people think being religious makes one a better person, therefore they present themselves as practicing anything. The figure could be anywhere between the 10% you posted and what Wikipedia claims.
We didn’t have 50% even under the commies, when it was frowned upon (so many did it out of spite and patriotism). Now it’s less than that.
Darko
Regarding the no-smiling thing… in some cultures it’s a sign of mental instability to grin for no apparent reason. 🙂
Check this article: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2955922/
“The Polish reserve towards smiling has been quite well documented (Szarota 2006). According to Wierzbicka (1994), one of the core values of the Polish culture is szczerość (roughly, sincerity).”
This article highlights Russian attitudes toward smiling, but there are some similarities in Polish culture as well: http://www.theapricity.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-26808.html
Piotrek
Worth to mention is the inventor of kerosene lamp Ignacy Łukasiewicz 🙂 he was also responsible for building first oil refinery in the world in 1856 🙂
Maestros United
Someone forgot to mention that the Poles are right behind Arabs in being anti-Semitic.
Patric
And Polish citizens have the world’s highest count of individuals[1] who have been recognized as Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem as non-Jews who saved Jews from extermination during the Holocaust.
dorota
now we can’t throw a body of Marzanna of water – there is interdict for this. now we burn it 😉
Kathy
You forgot to mention the Polish-born Nobel laureate for literature Isaac Bashevis Singer who is one of the world’s greatest novelists and story tellers. He was also a vegetarian who equated the treatment of animals in the modern, industrialized meat industry with the Nazi’s cruelty. One of his character’s described the treatment of animals by humans as “an eternal Treblinka.
Arri
Why does everyone calls us “Polish” or “the Polish”, it’s sound all wrong. We are “Poles”.
Dominika
Also good to know: The world oldest movie theater is in Szczecin (Stettin), West Pomerania, Poland 🙂 “Pionier 1909 Cinema”
Piotr
unlaundered underwear? I hear it for the first time and the idea is disgusting to me. red underwear and borrowed handkerchief ( again, CLEAN!) are two attributes you should have on you when going for an exam.
ziolokos
Paweł Edmund Strzelecki
Maciej
Very interesting article! Just to make one thing clear: Łódź has some dozen rivers flowing through. The problem is just that they’re not navigable anymore. But the nearest navigable river is only some one hour’s drive.
Maciej
Sorry, didn’t notice the numerous comments already mentioning this :).
Beats
What about Śmingus Dyngus?:-)) the “best” part of Easter!;)
Marcin
Thank you for this article Melony!
As you can see from the number of comments we are very devoted to our history and culture. I think you must be tired of reading them but I’d like to mention about something more (sigh!).
There are (or were) other worldwide known Poles such as:
– 5 Polish Nobel laureates in Literature: Henryk Sienkiewicz, Władysław Reymont, Wisława Szymborska (I absolutely love her!), Isaac Bashevis Singer and Czesław Miłosz
– film music composers: Leopold Stokowski, Bronisław Kaper, Jan Kaczmarek (all three of them are Oscar winners), Wojciech Kilar, Krzysztof Komeda (Rosemary’s Baby – Lullaby <3), Władysław Szpilman
– film directors: Oscar winners Andrzej Wajda and Roman Polański, Agnieszka Holland
– cinematographers: two times Oscar winner Janusz Kamiński, Paweł Edelman, Sławomir Idziak, Andrzej Sekuła
– founder of Max Factor – Maks Faktorowicz
– founder of Inglot – Wojciech Inglot
– Irena Szewińska – she participated in five Olympic Games, winning seven medals, three of them gold. She also broke six world records and is the only athlete (male or female) to have held a world record in the 100 m, 200 m and the 400 m events (copied straight from Wikipedia)
Maybe these people aren't very popular and you don't have to mention them in your article (most of the people won't find it interesting), but I hope that someone will read my comment and will find it interesting. I especially recommend the works of Wisława Szymborska!
Best regards,
Marcin
Piotr
When it comes to famous Poles what about Nicolaus Copernicus? I’d say he’s the far most recognizable all over the world.
Polak
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wroc%C5%82aw%E2%80%93Copernicus_Airport 😀
Beran
Hello!
I am a true Poland lover from Turkey. I’ve been interested in Poland for years now. I totally love this article. However, there are some things I want to talk about. Just like they want Curie to be called “Maria Skłodowska-Curie”, they prefer to call Chopin “Fryderyk Chopin”, because he was born in Poland and moved to France as we all know, and there his name became Frederic because it’s French.
The other thing is that “Lehistan” thing, which I find interesting because I am from Turkey. Today we call Poland “Polonya” but during the times of the Ottoman Empire we called it Lehistan. However, since Poland got its independence 123 years after the partitions in 1918, Turks started to call the country “Polonya” (because there was huge French influence in Turkey, so the word comes from the French word “Pologne”). But although we call it Polonya today, Polish language in Turkish is “Lehçe” and the people from Poland are “Leh”, plural “Lehler”, which is a bit confusing. But that’s how it is. 🙂
* I have one more thing to tell since we are all interested in historical stuff here. Ottoman Empire was the only country that did not recognize the partitions of Poland in 1795, many Polish people know this. However, there is something they don’t know. After the Ottoman Empire collapsed and the Republic of Turkey was founded, Poland was the first country to recognize Turkey. I find this very cool.
Thanks for these wonderful facts!
łiiii
This thing about Katowice being gay-friendly and polish “San Fran”, i’ve never heard about it, i wonder where did it come from. ( I mean the “San Fran” part). The only thing i would add to this article is something about Wrocław (It was mentioned earlier in some comment). From what i’ve heard for most of people this is the most beautiful city in Poland. I have no idea what should be written about it but it should be mentioned 🙂
loved the article !
peter
yes i’d have to agree about the comment of katowice being the san fan of poland.
it would be poznan if anything 😉
Polak
When it comes to Katowice is homopropaganda.
Wrocław
http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalendarium_historii_Wroc%C5%82awia
Amirgse
@Maestros United
To be honest, in the light of being so falsely accused on international forum of antisemitism by many, I’m not surprise this feeling has taking stronger root with each passing year in Poland. Yet, if you think on semantics, a Semite is a very wide term that describes not only Jews and I believe it to be WRONGLY used all-over.
@the author of the article
I was surprised to see no mention of Hetman Stefan Czarniecki. Apart from appearing in Polish Anthem, he is known for many things (bad and good alike) e.g. he beats Vlad Tepes (aka. Dracula) in number of men impaled, at the same time he was the one who managed to save this country numerous times (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefan_Czarniecki). And I see no mention of another, often missed point, of the Battle of Vienna which from tactical point was pretty much won by polish king Sobieski (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vienna) shielding Europe from inflow of Turks. During my studies I have been asked why this victory is so commonly assigned to Austrians? Simple fact is that at the same time period when the battle took place Polish Commonwealth had a long lasting good relations with the Turks and non-aggression pact, so for the sake of keeping the deal up polish diplomacy was downplaying the involvement. This did pay off later on during the 125 years of being under foreign rule (Russian, German and Austrian) as Turkey was the only country to maintain an embassy of the Polish state, thus (in the light of old international custom) keeping the country alive.
Robert
Hello, thank you for your valiant effort.
However you gave us too much credit. While the Szczecin area is now Polish, Catherine was a German princess and the territory belonged to the Krauts for a long time. We didn’t get it till Stalin gave it to us as reparations for stealing Wilno and Lwow.
Werner von Braun was also as German as could be. I know you don’t call them Polish, but some people could be misled.
Poland was a fairly plural society until the partitions at the end of the 18th century, and historically more tolerant (not saying much) than most when it came to race or religion, but obviously far from perfect. Until the partitions Poland was quite a large nation, ruined by long wars.
Even after it regained its independence Poland was still fairly plural with about 1/3 of the population ethnically not Poles and not Papists.
Hitler, and later Stalin made sure we became a bunch of boring papists. The latter moved the borders and pretty much relocated all of our minorities. Poland used to have vibrant communities of Germans, Russians, Ukrainians, Tatars, Jews, Lithuanians, Latvians, even Dutch and Scots. Hitler murdered most of our Jews, for which Poland suffers to this day, as Polish Jews contributed greatly to Polish culture. We lost 3 million Jews, with only at most 40,000 left now. From what was once the biggest Jewish population anywhere.
If you want more facts then you could write about the Polish underground. We had a govt in exile in London (multi party), under which we formed an underground army and many levels of a functioning underground nation. An education system under which thousands were able to finish high school and university degrees. As untermenschen we were allowed only rudimentary education. We had legal system, of course, streamlined because of war. But when someone was accused of working with the Nazis, they were tried under an underground military tribunal, and if convicted, were legally executed under the authority of the Polish govt in exile. Armia Krajowa was a well organized force with a top down structure like in any military. Of course there were other partisan groups, from the far right to even the commies, after 1941. And the AK was able to conduct major military operation later in the war, sometimes liberating whole cities before the Red Army arrived.
Of course while we were losing our Jewish citizens, both Hitler and Stalin systematically tried to eliminate the Polish cultural and intellectual elite. The best and the brightest perished in WWII, from the partisan groups in which the future leaders of Poland perished, to the concentration camps in which man of our university professors were murdered. Many were forced to flee to, or stay in the West. Those who fell under Stalin’s rule were persecuted for long after the war ended.
I hope I am not repeating anything others have said, but this has attracted a lot of comments so I did not read them all. Again, thanks for the valiant, and amusing, effort.
Oops, just scrolled up and saw something which needed correcting.
It is correct that about 6 million polish citizens were killed in WWII, but not all of them perished in the camps. Many died fighting the Nazis on battlefields in Poland, Africa, Italy, France, Germany, the USSR, over British skies, on the seas, in the rubble of Warsaw, in the Ghettos… I can’t recall the exact number of those who perished in the camps, but it was much less than 6 million.
Which also reminds me, Poland’s contribution in WWII on the Allied side was bettered only by the Big Three, UK, US and USSR. We contributed more fighting men than the French and certainly fought for much longer and in more places.
Of course there are many more facts about us, but then this would turn into a book.
Again, thank you very much. 🙂
Robert.
pompiak
Ernest Malinowski was polish constructor and builder of highest railway Ferrocarril Central Andino in the Peruvian Andes.
Pawel
Hi,
please add some more information about II war , generally about polish squadron 303 and rest of 2000 Polish Pilots fight during second war in England
paweł
Grze
Pola Negri
JP2
Lech Wałęsa
Zbigniew Brzeziński
Tadeusz Kościuszko
Ryszard Kukliński
Jan III Sobieski
Barbara Trzetrzelewska
Jan Heweliusz
Andrzej Gołota
A.P. Kaczmarek
justyna
Hi, I’m Polish and it was a pleasure to read about Polish traditions from American perspective 🙂 I would say most of them are true. “Lektor” in Plish Tv is still a common thing- but it seems so normal to me that I wouldn’t think it may interest somebody 😉 As far as Zabkowice Slaskie is concerned- I live quite near the town and I kon that Mary Shelley read once a story (and thus got inspired to write her story) of an undertaker who robbed graves (with a couple of his fellows) and it caused a deadly disease to be spread around the town and many people died. After some time the undertaker was caught and executed. The name of the town back then was Frankenstein because it is just near the German border (and then it was a German town in fact), then it changed to Ząbkowice when it became Polish – and as somebody has already noticed , the name has to do with “teeth”. I think it’s an intriguing story.
I would add Joseph Conrad – Jozef Konrad Korzeniowski – the great writer who shortened his name after moving to the USA.
Greetings from Poland 🙂
allerune
Vodka – I disagree, and Wikipedia confirms :
“The word “vodka” was recorded for the first time in 1405 in Akta Grodzkie,[7] the court documents from the Palatinate of Sandomierz in Poland.[7] At the time, the word vodka (wódka) referred to chemical compounds such as medicines and cosmetics’ cleansers, while the popular beverage was called gorzałka (from the Old Polish gorzeć meaning “to burn”), which is also the source of Ukrainian horilka (горілка). The word vodka written in Cyrillic appeared first in 1533, in relation to a medicinal drink brought from Poland to Russia by the merchants of Kievan Rus’.[7]”
Copernicus – Polish wasn’t his first language, he studied in Cracow so he knew Polish but his ancestors were in most part Prussian/Germanic
Culture – I agree, but there is more. People don’t smile at strangers on the street and don’t say “sorry” all the time just because they are passing you in the hands reach. On the other hand, standing in the queue, traveling in the same train compartment, people are starting to get really friendly. It comes from the times where people used to wait multiple days in the queue when some very rare product was going to be delivered to the store (in communism people could afford stuff – but there was not enough stuff for everyone)
Things you might add 🙂
Kosciuszko was Polish – his statue is around 500 meters from the White House 🙂
The battle of Warsaw 1920 – After soviet revolution the Red Army started marching to conquer Europe and impose communism everywhere, no one was prepared for that fight, especially not Poland which just regained independence after 123 years. Somehow, the miracle happened and we managed to defeat Russians. This battle is considered one of the decisive battles in history!
When visiting a hippy store in San Francisco the guy behind the counter asked where I was from. I said Poland – he responded that Beksinski is one of his favourite painters, I was really surprised that he knew Beksinski. If anyone likes creepy modern art – I recommend him too!
Jo
Hi, Thanks a lot for your article. I would also add few words about Pola Negri, Andrzej Gołota and Słowiński Park Narodowy with moving dunes, what is unique in Europe. I also think, that we are very patriotic but also sarcastic and very often make lots of jokes and laugh at our national vices.
Martyna
I’m supriced that no one mention about 1st of november.all Polish People go in cementeries and pray over the graves for souls of their family and friends. We put Candles and flowers on graves and in that they cementeries Look beautifull
peter
oh the cemeteries are so beautiful around this time!
but all saints day is not uniquely polish!
Scyzor
Interesting blog post. Shared link among my American friends 🙂
Piotr
few words to comment World War issue:
The great Polish marshal Piłsudski was an idol of Adolf Hitler and after his death, Hitler put his picture on the wall and honor him for few hours. when he planned invasion on Europe. he want to attack countries on German west borders so therefore he ask Poland to join him and to be “backs protection” from Russia. Polish government reject the offer and choose offer of French-English union which decide to sacrifice Poland to Germany to have few more months to prepare for war. They agree this before they ask Poland to join “union against Hitler”. This make Hitler so angry on Polish so he ask Russia and agree with them to attack Poland from two sides. So one more time (4th time in 150 years) Poland was occupied by Germans and Russians (not only Germans). Russians were angry on Polish for winning with them just about 20 years earlier so it was easy for Hitler to get Russians it to his plans. This is main reason why Hitler attack Poland. He changed plans because Polish are proud nation so if Hitler would attack France, Poland will keep promises and attack Germany…. sorry for my English… 🙂
Michal
Madame Marie Curie – NO, she never took surname after her french husband. Her full name was Maria Sklodowska, eventually Maria Sklodowska-Curie, but never Maria Curie-Sklodowska or Maria Curie.
Anna
I have enjoyed this post a lot. I was born in Poland but moved to Canada when I was 12 years old. I had many kids tell me I must be stupid since I am polish while I thought they were crazy because the things we were doing in school in Canada I have done 2 or 3 years before in Poland.
The things you guys forgot are:
Smingus Dingus, that is a fun tradition.
Poland also has wolves, as well all the bisons and wolves in Europe have been taken from Poland because everyone else has killed theirs.
Irena Sendler has saved 2500 Jewish children. There have been some movies made about her recently.
Poland was the country which started the movement of separation from Russia.
Zuzanna
This is amazing! Thank you for that.
I think you should also mention Joseph Conrad (born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski), Stanisław Lem, Korczak Ziółkowski (the designer and sculptor of Crazy Horse Memorial), Polish Pilots in the Battle of Britain and Wojtek bear (great story, well known in the UK).
Zuzanna
Józef Retinger (a founder of the European Movement that would lead to the founding of the European Union; he was also involved in founding the Bilderberg Group) and Christine Granville (born Krystyna Skarbek) – she was a british spy during WWII, and after the war – Ian Fleming’s lover, probably an inspiration for the Vesper character from Casino Royale.
Francisco
incredible history of Poland! great country I hope I will visit one day, greeting from Chile
peter
well done!
i think the percentage of actual practicing catholics in poland is more than 10%
interesting note – poznan contains the last imperial palace to be built in all of europe :))
Daria
Hey, you’ve picked some really interesting facts 🙂
I’m glad that you’ve cleared WWII things up, because some misconceptions are truly hurtful to us…
And about the rest: I’m not really sure if the biggest bookshop section is about the Pope, and I was always told you should (!) get married in a month with an “r”. Danzig is a German name of Gdansk (town after which a gulf is named).
And another interesting fact that needs clarification: Polish Calvary never charged German tanks – it is also a propaganda, unfortunately repeated by many including Polish director Andrzej Wajda in his film “Lotna”, but still untrue. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charge_at_Krojanty – for more information
John
And they have great musician:
Michal Lorenc
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Michal+Lorenc
Paulina
Another superstition is when you drop a piece of cuttery on a floor by accident it means that there will be an unexpected visit. A knife – a man, a spoon – a woman.
Chris
polish famous people, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefan_Banach it is a joke not to put it in or know everything about a person
Cezary
Nothing has changed about ‘lektor’ in Polish TV. We love it.
maria
As to the wreaths, probably somebody mentioned it already, but girls are not hoping for them, girls are floating them, and boys are catching them downstream. And wreath is a symbol of virginity, which should give you the idea what that festival, obviously pre-christian, was originally about. To make it short, it’s a very special night of the year (shortest one!) whan magic goes wild, miracle happen and social norms are suspended. In other word it was one wild party 😉
doda
In Chorzow city centre,near Katowice, there is a looping path,like promenade,that used to be called Hitler stressed,now,after we have our independence,it’s simply called the freedom way….
Piotr
“Polish TV used to have (I think it’s changed now-?) a ‘lektor’ for voiceovers of foreign programs and films. That meant: one fella read all of the parts (male and female) with the original audio in the background.”
It did not change at all. 🙂 Actually, I am so used to it, I feel strange when I watch the movie with “full” dubbing.
Mops
Same as Lithuanian:
Don’t whistle indoors. It’s bad luck to whistle inside, since it’s believed to call evil little devils.
Want to get married? Don’t sit at a corner. Apparently only true for unwed ladies, sitting at the corner of a table makes you unmarriageable.
Bread & Salt. Combined, they’re considered good luck. To welcome ‘Witać chlebem i solą’ especially Newlyweds.
Ewa
Hi Mel,
Thank you so much for this article, it was written with true interest and desire to compliment a complicated ( at least) country and nation, history facts and culture. Very well, indeed !
I would like to mention that Poland has 14 UNESCO World Heritage Sites that make great additions to your tour of Poland. Many are located in or near major metropolitan areas and can enrich ones understanding of, and appreciation for, this country.
1. Krakow
Krakow’s historic center exhibits hundreds of years of Polish history. Krakow miraculously escaped much of the damage that ravaged so many other Polish cities, so many of its sights are original, including Wawel Castle and its square.
2. Wieliczka Salt Mines
An extremely popular day trip from Krakow, the Wieliczka Salt Mines offer a glimpse into hundreds of years of salt mining history. The biggest draw of the mines is the sculptures and rooms carved from salt. There is a St.Kinga’s Cathedral carved entirely from salt rock. Whatever you lick is from salt !
3. Auschwitz-Birkenau
The death camps of Auschwitz and Birkenau are now a part of a museum located near Krakow that is also a memorial to victims who perished there.
4. Malbork Castle
Malbork Castle, near Gdansk, is a Teutonic Knight’s Castle that is now a museum. The castle’s exhibits illustrate medieval life as it was lived there and is popular with adults and children alike.
5. Warsaw
Warsaw’s historic center was almost completely destroyed over the course of WWII, but resourcefulness and determination helped to rebuild it to former glory. Warsaw’s Old Town, carefully reconstructed, is a testament to community spirit and resolve.
6. Torun
Torun is the birthplace of Nicholas Copenicus ( Mikołaja Kopernik) and many sites in this medieval town are associated with the famous astronomer. Museums, the ruins of a castle, and other sites make Torun a potential side trip from Gdansk.
7. Wroclaw
The World Heritage Site in Wroclaw is its Centennial Hall, which is recognized for its innovative architectural design. Those who visit Wroclaw may find it convenient to visit the nearby Peace Churches in Jawor and Swidnica.
8. Zamosc
The Old City of Zamosc has been made a World Heritage Site because it is an example of Renaissance urban planning that remains virtually intact due to a fortification system that protected the town from invaders.
9. Wooden Churches of Southern Little Poland
The Wooden Churches of Southern Little Poland (Malapolska Province) are examples of medieval wooden religious architecture that exist today in small villages in the southeastern part of the country. The architecture is notable for its construction and design, and preserved polycrhome paintings on the interiors of the churches are also significant.
10. Park Muzakowski
Straddling the Polish-German border, Park Muzakowski (also known as Muskauer Park) is a shared World Heritage Site. Its landscape designer sought to “paint with nature,” and his style diverged from the style of landscape architecture that had been seen in Europe up until that time. Buildings on the premises can also be visited – one has been converted into a museum to tell the story of Prince Muskauer and his park.
11. Kalwaria Zebrzydowska
Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, which is located in a town of the same name, is a religious complex that attracts pilgrims 400 years after its establishment. Constructed in the Mannerist style, it symbolically reinterprets events in the Passion of Christ using the natural layout of the land.
12. Bialowieza Forest
Bialowieza Forest is also a shared World Heritage Site – some of this primeval forest exists in the neighboring country of Belarus. Bialowieza Forest protects endangered species like the European bison and serves as an outpost for scientific research.
13. Churches of Peace in Jawor and Swidnica
These Lutheran churches, built in the 17th century, remain the largest timber-frame religious buildings and are preserved in two Polish towns. The churches have the capacity to hold thousands of worshipers each and their design exhibits certain constraints put on their construction.
14. Wooden Tserkvas of the Carpathian Region in Poland and Ukraine( shared site)
Situated in the eastern fringe of Central Europe, the transnational property numbers a selection of sixteen tserkvas (churches). They were built of horizontal wooden logs between the 16th and 19th centuries by communities of Orthodox and Greek Catholic faiths. The tserkvas bear testimony to a distinct building tradition rooted in Orthodox ecclesiastic design interwoven with elements of local tradition, and symbolic references to their communities’ cosmogony.
There is four more on tentative list:
– Gdańsk- Town of Memory and Freedom
– The Augustów Canal
– The Dunajec River Gorge in the Pieniny Mountains
– Tarnowskie Gory Lead-Silver Mine and its Underground Water Management System
I believe that since your Peculiar list was meant mostly for Westerners and North Americans this fact will add some interest to their travels, because more and more are visiting Poland 🙂
Appreciate your input about my country, it’s a great work !
Best Regards,
Ewa
P.S. There is one Polish superstition I still continue religiously : on the New Years Eve one has to wear brand new underpants and have cash in the pocket (or in the bra , as in my case) for good luck and prosperity in New Year 🙂
cissic
This warriors from pic are Dobrynya Nikitich, Ilya Muromets and Alyosha Popovich 😉
Agz
So, to say at first – fantastic article 🙂
I have two comments for this, nothing bad though!
As this is article about Poland and you mention Marie Curie, I believe you should really use her full name – Marie Skłodowska-Curie (ok, you’re allowed to skip the ł for an l).
I was actually not sure, whether Poles call her like that purely from national proud, so I tried to google up what was her real name after marriage, and although I did not find any reference to her legal status nor to which name she used to publish her works, the nobel prize contains her full name, and that is an argument enough for me: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dyplom_Sklodowska-Curie.jpg
Her page on Wiki contains discussion, in which argument is: “She is overwhelmingly better known by the French version of her name” which is a bit of an absurd to me. We are talking about encyclopaedia after all, it should contain the REAL name for main article, and other can be used as reference. As long as she was using her full name, I think it’s ok we, Poles, fight to get it out there too. Every nation likes to be proud of achievements of their people (even though, sadly, Maria was refused any possibilities in her home country, but that is another story). So, give us back Maria Skłodowska-Curie! Chopin, while many people seem to forget he was Polish as well and turn him into French, was at least actually using his French name in the world of music.
Anyway. On the lighter note – YES, we still do have commentaries in the movies on the tv. Yay, it’s really weird for people who don’t know it 🙂 We’re not the only country though. Mind, Polish market is a small and poor one, we cannot afford making dubbing on movies, while people are just not used to reading subtitles. This commentary is not a bad thing, when you’re used to it. The voice has to be the most devoted from emotion an pace, so you hear the words, but you don’t pay attention to it at all, while you still hear the actual energy and tone from the original voice. It kinda works, though if you want to learn foreign language – forget about it. There is just too much mess around it 🙂
Kowal
My Dad lives in Raciborz (neat the Czech border) and I love visiting him. One item wasn’t mentioned were herbs. I love it that each city has it’s own mascot. 🙂 Wonderful stories still to be told. 🙂 Tadeusz Kosciuszko fought in the American Revolutionary War. My brother’s name is Thaddeus which is an Americanized version of Tadeusz. 🙂
jarek
hi all
Polish are very proud from all biggest things and peoples which comes from Poland. lots of famous peoples are born in Poland but the had to emigrated to fund theirs innovations. Poland was always in the middle of the wars between east and west of Europe and Muslim’s. we are proud from ours well knows peoples and very angry for nations those try to steals our inventions and people who emigrated to found theirs inventions. according to researches Poland is quite green. 30.5 % of Poland is covered by forests. In UK is only 12% of the country is green. every one knows about robin hood and Sherwood Forest which no longer exists. Britain is plain without nature. that’s why I like Poland but leave in UK (economic reasons). only Scandinavia is prettier (I love Norway).
links:
http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-kingdom/forest-area-percent-of-land-area-wb-data.html
http://www.bdl.lasy.gov.pl/portal/lasy-na-swiecie-cd
Melony Candea
Hey Jarek, totally understand moving- yet being proud of home- to earn a living. It must be difficult sometimes. Polish minds and inventions are credited well, for most of them. You kids really were creative and innovative. It is true that some things were stolen, ideas manipulated and credit not given. You’re right. The same is true for many countries. Yet you come from a brilliant, strong culture that continues it’s strength around the world. Yet another reason to be proud, no? 🙂
Brygida
I woul add that Poland has been mistaken for being a country in Eastern Europe, where actualy is in Central Europe. Same as Czechs and Slovakia.
Melony Candea
Hi Brygida, I understand your complaint. I lived in the CZ for ages. But the way the world sees things is that Central Europe is pretty much France and Germany. Everything else is ‘Eastern,’ which is why the terminology exists. Not because it’s real, but because most people (unlike you) really don’t know. 🙂
Iwona
Why would Kosinski be a favorite author of anyone who admires Poland? His portrayal of Poles is very unflattering.
Melony Candea
Have you read ‘Being There?’ I think it is one of the most insightful and emotional books I’ve read. With a huge dose of Polish poetry, because he couldn’t write any other way. It’s very clear how much he loves Poland, despite what he went through there. It was his home.
Supadom
Pawel Pawlikowski is worth mentioning too, I think. Thanks for the piece. Good effort.
Karl
Toilets were also invented in Poland. Henri Valois had brought them to France and from there they went to England 😀
Oliwia
Actually, the ‘lektors’ are still widely ongoing in a variety of channels here in Poland! They hit onky voice over movies, but also normal TV shows from other countries.
We haven’t changed that yet. It’s quite cool.
Melony Candea
Oliwia, it is a pretty unique Polish thing. 🙂 I didn’t realize it’s for foreign TV shows, too. Ha.