History of The Royal Castle in Warsaw - in Partitioned Poland and The Second Republic

In Partitioned Poland and The Second Republic

Between 19–20 December 1806 and 1–30 January 1807, Napoleon Bonaparte, the French emperor, spent his time at the Castle. Here in 1807 he made the decision to form a Warsaw duchy, which was to be ruled by the Saxon prince Frederick August I, using the Royal castle as his residence. Prince Józef Poniatowski, Commander-in-Chief of the Polish Army and Marshal of France, resided in the Copper-Roof Palace joined to the Castle. After the creation of the constitutional Kingdom of Poland (1815) its parliaments met here at the Castle. As Kings of Poland, the Russian Tsars Alexander I and Nicholas I also resided in the castle when they stayed in Warsaw. During the November Uprising, on 25 January 1831, the Sejm debating in the castle dethroned Tsar of Russia Nicholas I as the Polish king.

In 1836, after abolishing the division into voivodeships in the Congress Poland, they were replaced by the guberniyas. In that time, the Royal Castle became the residence of tsar's governor Ivan Paskievich. Paskievich charged Ludvik Corio–Russian Colonel and architect – with designing new elevation and facades (the west, south and east parts). However, Russian authorities were not satisfied with the new designs and Corio was told to prepare another project – one that would refer to Kubicki's solutions (and his co-workers Lelewel and Thomas). Finally, Corio rebuilt all elevations and facades in the neoclassical style, but the Saxon Elevation was left the same. After the death of Paskievich in 1856, all of the next governors resided in the Royal Castle's Chamberlain's Room. The Russian officials occupied rooms on both floors of the west and north wings of the castle. The governors were heavily guarded by the Russian army. Unfortunately, the living space that was assigned to these soldiers was the Parliamentary Hall, Library and barracks under the Castle. As a result the object was left devastated.

After the January Uprising in 1863, the Russian army totally destroyed the Royal garden on the Vistula side (which was transformed into the military parade square), building a few barracks made of brick for stables and Cossacks’ barracks. In 1862-1863 some maintenance work was held in the Royal Castle under the supervision of Jerzy Orłowicz, Ludwik Gosławski and Potolov. In 1890 the Saxon Elevation was rebuilt under the supervision of a builder January Kiślański, when the arcades of both viewing galleries, dated back to August III period, were deformed. The last repair works, which cost 28 000 rubles, during the reign of Russia, were in 1902 in the rooms which had been occupied by the Russian army.

During the First World War it was the residence of the German military governor. After Poland regained her independence in 1918, the Castle became the residence of the President of Poland. It was lovingly restored under the guidance of Kazimierz Skórewicz (1920-1928) and Adolf Szyszko-Bohusz (till 1939). Under the terms of the Peace Treaty signed with Soviet Russia at Riga in 1920, works of art and other precious things, including all the castle furnishings, which had been taken away to Russia, were brought back to Poland. As a result, it was possible to restore the historic rooms to their appearance in the reign of Stanisław August Poniatowski.