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fot. arch: Śot/Piotr oleś
Millions of people all around the
world start the day in a similar
way: a cup of coffee and a newspaper.
Even today, with so much
information accessible with the
touch of a button, printed press
continues to play a significant
role in the socio-economic
sphere of every nation.
Its beginnings reach back to
the times of Julius Caesar, who
legislated for the Acta Diurna to
be posted in public places. These
included important regulations
and accounts of official events.
Of equal importance was the
Chinese empire, which began
informing the general public
of important events relating to
the lives of local and national
authorities through special announcements,
back in 4 AD.
In Europe, the beginnings of
printed news dates back to the
13th century. Starting with smallrun,
local periodicals, the boom
of printed media came with the
French Revolution. Mass media in
the form of daily newspapers became
the norm in the first half of
the 19th century. “The New York
Sun” and “The New York Morning
Herald” are synonymous with this
period. In the 20th century, with
both printing techniques and the
flow of information perfected,
a tidal wave of various types of
printed media – not only newspapers,
but weeklies, monthlies
and other types of magazines
and periodicals made it to the
stands. Amongst these were popular
tabloids. Poland also played
a part in this global evolution of
the printed word. Published in
1661, the nation’s first periodical
was “Merkuriusz Polski”. From
that moment on, the Polish market
slowly but steadily began to
grow, with titles such as “Kurier
Polski” and “Gazeta Krakowska”.
The dynamic growth of Polish
periodical publishing lasted from
the conclusion of the November
Uprising, in 1864, to the onset of
WWI. Printed media were the
one element integrating a partitioned
nation. It is this part of
Poland’s history that is the focus
of the exhibition at the Museum
of Silesian Press in Pszczyna. The
exhibition covers aspects such as
regional development, techniques
and printing. The museum
was established 25 years ago,
in 1985, by Aleksandra Spyra, and
is located at Piastowska 26 in the
heritage tenement dating back
to the end of the 18th century.
Why is it located here? In 1845,
the first Polish periodical in Silesia
was printed in Pszczyna itself,
by the then mayor and was entitled
“Tygodnik Polski poświęcony
włościanom”.
Everyone visiting the museum
in the old printing house can
personally press their own
souvenir ticket on the heritage
presses. In this way, all guests
can get an idea of the life of a
19th century printer who used to
start the press mechanism with
his own hands. The press used is
a Boston machine, produced by
the workshops of Emil Kahle in
Leipzig and dates back to 1850.
The exhibition also presents a
complete collection of machinery
and fittings of the former printing
house, including bookbinding
equipment and a linotype
typesetting machine. Visitors can
also peruse the enormous collection
of archived printed media
from Upper Silesia from the end
of the 19th and beginning of the
20th centuries in the library holding
over 2500 volumes. A special
multimedia system enriches the
experience and divulges the
secrets and unique aspects of the
work of a printer more than one
hundred years ago.
From 2006, the Wojciech Korfanty
Museum of Silesian Press in
Pszczyna is one of the many heritage
sites on the Silesian Industrial
Monuments Route. It’s open
fro Tuesday to Saturday from
10am till 2pm. It’s possible to visit
the museum at other times, but
only with prior reservations. For
more information, visit
www.tmzp.pl/muzeum.php
Piotr adamczyk
Artykuł powstał dzięki
this article is sponsored by
silesia airport 29