The Sybil Temple, the first Polish historical museum founded in 1801 by Princess Izabela Czartoryska, carried a specific ideological message. According to the motto on the front of the round, columned building, it testified to the past greatness and power of a state that had disappeared from the map of Europe, divided by greedy neighbors, but still retained the hope for a future revival. Poland’s past was royal, and its history was shaped by the reigns of monarchs, though the state itself was called the Commonwealth [Rzeczpospolita, i.e. republic]. The greatest reverence was given to crowns, scepters and orbs, the coronation sword Szczerbiec, and other objects of prestige and fame. These items were kept in the royal treasury at the Wawel Castle in Kraków under the care of the Sejm, protecting them in times of danger. However, they could not be saved from the greed and ill will of the Prussians, who occupied Kraków briefly after the fall of the Kościuszko Uprising. In 1795, they brutally broke into the Gothic chambers of Wawel Castle and looted the treasury. They primarily sought gold and precious stones, seizing the coronation insignia and transporting them to Berlin where, during the Napoleonic Wars, they were melted down into monetary gold, and the stones were made into jewelry for Prussian princesses. They aimed to deprive Poles of any hope of restoring the kingdom dating back to the times of Bolesław Chrobry.

Immediately after the Prussians withdrew and the Austrians took over Kraków in 1796, Tadeusz Czacki, a member of the Crown Treasury Commission on behalf of the Sejm and the last inspector of the treasury, asked Emperor Francis II for the permission to secure some items that had survived the plunder. Among these were the famous Teutonic swords that King Władysław Jagiełło received before the Battle of Grunwald, the hilt of the consecrated sword belonging to the King Stefan Batory, the coronation shoes of the young Sigismund II Augustus, and the 12th-century Byzantine staurotheke. Czacki eventually handed these items, along with many others, particularly relics taken from royal coffins, to Princess Izabela for the Sybil Temple in Puławy. Poles long refused to believe in the loss of the coronation insignia, speculating about their miraculous survival. Their destruction was confirmed in documents by Marian Morelowski and Karol Estreicher Jr., and in our times, works on this subject were published by Jerzy Lileyko in Warsaw and Michał Rożek in Kraków.

Princess Izabela was well informed, mainly by Tadeusz Czacki, about the tragedy of the Polish royal insignia. Her intention was to acquire as many memorabilia of Polish kings as possible to compensate for the loss of the royal treasury. To this end, she drew primarily from family treasuries, both her own and those of related and friendly families: Lubomirski, Potocki, Sapieha, Ogiński, Radziwiłł, and many others. The result of her efforts was impressive. She gathered dozens of memorabilia reliably or allegedly connected to Polish kings, particularly golden chains, crosses, signet rings, medallions, watches, garment buttons, and fabric fragments, even relics and small items taken from royal coffins. She described these objects and enclosed them in a black ebony casket adorned with gold and diamonds, with three removable upper compartments lined with green velvet. She placed it on a granite pedestal (still preserved in Puławy) and covered it with a blue damask fabric adorned with multicolored flowers, lined with crimson silk with a gold fringe and embroidered with a crown. The Royal Casket was the altar of the temple and a substitute for the royal treasury. Its contents were shown to viewers only on exceptional occasions. Presumably, only Princess Izabela could open it and explain its contents. The casket was a key exhibit of this museum. In front of it, in a large niche opposite the entrance, were the captured banners, ceremonial and trophy weapons, partly from the Wawel treasury. Higher up on the walls hung panoplies of weapons dedicated to hetmans, while two large semi-circular cabinets with glass drawers contained many different items related to Polish history, including parchment documents, seals, coins, and medals. On top of the cabinets, Princess Izabela placed urns with relics of kings, hetmans, scholars, and poets who had gained fame in Poland.

After the fall of the November Uprising, Puławy deteriorated. Thanks to the energy of the tireless, aged princess and the dedication of those at her disposal, the collections of the Sybil Temple and the Gothic House were successfully evacuated, though not without significant losses. Fleeing from Puławy to Sieniawa in Galicia, Princess Izabela personally took the Royal Casket in her carriage, considering it her most precious treasure. After her death, Prince Adam Jerzy Czartoryski (or perhaps his son and successor, Prince Władysław) transported the casket to the family’s new residence in the Lambert Hotel in Paris. An image of the casket was published in the monumental work by A. Przeździecki and E. Rastawiecki, „Medieval Art Forms in Old Poland,” published in Warsaw and Paris between 1855 and 1858. It also included reproductions of some of the casket’s relics. In 1876, in Kraków, Prince Władysław founded a new institution, the Czartoryski Princes Museum. After some time, the casket was brought from Paris to Kraków, but it was not displayed publicly, only stored in the well-guarded „Curiosities” storeroom. Over the years, its contents changed, with more „royal” items added. Its interior, compartments, and hideaways were modified, lined with new velvet. Prince Adam Ludwik Czartoryski, son of Prince Władysław, donated various items from the casket to the Wawel treasury and the Jagiellonian University treasury. The tragic year 1939 arrived. The caretaker of the Czartoryski collections was Maria Ludwika Krasinska Czartoryska, widow of Prince Adam Ludwik, and the owner was her son Augustyn. The museum was directed by General Marian Kukiel, with the expert curator of the collections being Stefan Saturnin Komornicki. These individuals were responsible for preparing the museum in case of war. General Kukiel proposed evacuating the most valuable items eastward to the palace in Sieniawa, believing the war would be brief, as France and England would quickly deal with Hitler. Princess Maria Ludwika disagreed, thinking the museum treasures would be safer in the basement shelters. Ultimately, Kukiel’s opinion prevailed. In July 1939, the most valuable artworks were selected: paintings by Leonardo, Raphael, and Rembrandt, illuminated manuscripts, Persian carpets, Polish Słuck belts, saddles and horse gear, weapons, prints and paintings, ancient gold and numismatics, and the Royal Casket. At the end of August, the treasures were secretly transported in 16 crates to Sieniawa and bricked up in the palace outbuilding’s basement.

The outbreak of the war brought a wave of misfortunes to Poland. All expectations and hopes, especially for a swift action by France and England, were dashed. The Polish army was unable to withstand the German onslaught. After a few days, Kraków was endangered. On September 8, General Kukiel left Kraków and went to Sieniawa to order the evacuation of the treasures. But it was too late. The first German units entered Sieniawa on September 14. They soon took over the manor and outbuilding. The shelter was likely betrayed by a local miller of German descent. Soldiers broke through the wall and gained access to the shelter. They primarily looted gold and gem-encrusted items. Paintings, carpets, and prints were simply abandoned. A dramatic struggle ensued between the Czartoryski family and their loyal associates to save the remaining treasures. The German gendarmerie and Gestapo became involved. The situation was further complicated by the German-Soviet pact, which handed Sieniawa, located on the right bank of the San River, to the Bolsheviks. Ultimately, the Czartoryski treasures were transported back to Kraków, although the Gestapo retained the most valuable items for Hitler, including paintings by Leonardo, Raphael, and Rembrandt. Most of the objects from the Royal Casket were lost. Thus, the Germans completed the plunder of Polish regalia that began in 1795.

Until recently, it seemed that the iconographic records of the casket’s appearance and its contents were fragmentary and had survived mainly in chromolithographs featured in the aforementioned „Medieval Art Forms.”

In 1994, at the behest of the Government Plenipotentiary for Polish Cultural Heritage Abroad, war losses inventories were verified and supplemented with photographic documentation. For the first time, photographic prints were made from a roll of small-format film labeled „Royal Casket. S.S. Komornicki.” The negatives turned out to contain complete photographic documentation of the casket and its contents, likely taken in 1939, just before the evacuation of the collections to Sieniawa. Based on these photographs, in conjunction with documents in the museum, the appearance of the casket and all its contents can be precisely described.

The Fate of the Royal Casket in the Puławy Temple of the Sybil, “Cenne, Bezcenne/Utracone” No. 2 (8)/1998