Palace Under the Rams

It is unknown when the emblem in the form of animal heads was mounted onto the townhouse that is widely known at present as the Palace Under the Rams. But what remains unquestioned is the woodcut of a ram that illustrates “A Conversation between New Prophets – Two One-Headed Rams, Old Kraków Burghers”, Marcin Bielski’s satirical text dating back to 1587. Some believe that the house used to be an inn and its nearby yard served as a temporary trans-shipment point for the animals awaiting either slaughter or sale. Hence its original name: “Where the Rams Are”. Today, the building’s elevation is decorated with new representations of rams, which were commissioned by the Potocki Family in the mid-19th century. This peculiar architectural joke was installed several decades after the original emblem had vanished into thin air. 
The animal symbol and the name of the building may be traced even to the 14th century, just like the preserved Gothic basement underneath. The ribbed vault in one of the ground floor rooms, where at present a restaurant is located, dates back to the 15th century. At that time, the space was not part of the Under the Rams townhouse, as the present-day Palace is a composite of two former buildings: the corner Karniowska townhouse (whose name derives from Jan Lang of Karniów, a town councillor who owned the property between 1464 and 1486) and the House of Stanisław Różanka, also a town councillor who was in possession of the building between 1565 and 1571. The Karniowska townhouse, that is "Under the Rams", changed hands in the 15th and in the 16th centuries. In 1545, it was purchased by Justus Ludwik Decjusz (1485–1545), secretary and advisor to King Sigismund Augustus (1520–1572). After the edifice was damaged by fire, Decjusz had it rebuilt, converting it into a Renaissance residence with an arcaded cloister. In 1577, the building was sold to King Stephen Báthory (1533–1586) by the descendants of Decjusz. In 1579, the monarch granted the townhouse to Gáspár Bekes de Kornyát, his confidant (and former rival to the throne of Transylvania). The new owner, however, did not live long enough to enjoy his quarters, as he died during his visit to Hrodna in 1580. His wife Anna Szárkándy inherited the property.
In 1581, she married Count Ferenc Wesselényi, a close associate of Báthory. In the basement of the building she had already established a tavern specialising in fine wine, frequented by eminent guests from the royal court – Poles, Hungarians, Italians, Germans (to name just a few nationalities), writers and scholars, soldiers and politicians, Catholics and Protestants. Bálint Balassi (1554–1594), one of the leading poets of the Hungarian Renaissance and a royal soldier, frequented the inn. His connection with the Palace Under the Rams is commemorated by a plaque in the elevation of the building from the side of Świętej Anny Street. Anna Szárkándy died in 1609, while the townhouse passed over to her heiress, Katarzyna Lubomirska (1585–1620), wife of Janusz Ostrogski, a castellan of Kraków. In the 17th century (or perhaps even earlier), the building housed a printing press and bookshops, managed by among others Wolfgang Lerm and Jan Bajer.
The early 17th century saw an architectural fusion of the two buildings: the former Karniowska townhouse (the edifice with the Under the Rams emblem) and the house that belonged to Stanisław Różanka. The first ever recorded mention of the “Palace Under the Rams” dates back to 1706, which also happens to be the period associated with the origins of the stucco in one of the ground floor rooms. Ascribed to Baldassare Fontana (1661–1733), his internal decorative work adorns the Palace’s present-day corner cafe. 
Between the late 17th and the late 18th centuries, the Palace changed hands several times, belonging to numerous aristocratic clans, such the Radziwiłł Family, the Lubomirski Family, the Sanguszko Family, and the Wielkopolski Family, who conducted thorough renovation, giving the building a classicist style. Subsequent architectural changes were introduced by Artur Potocki (1787–1832) and his wife Zofia Branicka (1790–1879), members of Polish nobility widely known in the Kraków area. In 1822, relatively shortly after their wedding, they acquired the Palace and embarked on the makeover of the building’s interior design. Elegantly decorated and furnished, it before long became one of the most outstanding and recognisable drawing rooms in Kraków – the talk of the town and a place to be. Between 1853 and 1854, during the following refurbishment (orchestrated by the next generation of the Potocki Family – by Adam and Katarzyna), the facade of the Palace was changed. The couple commissioned architect Franciszek Maria Lanci, who added a new attic and a balcony buttressed by heads of rams. The Palace remained in the Potocki Family till the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939.
Under the Nazi occupation, the city was the seat of the authorities of the Kraków District, while the interior of the Palace underwent further alterations. In 1945, the Soviet administration moved into the building, taking it over for almost two years. From 1947 onwards, it served as the headquarters of the Voivodeship House of Working Class Culture, later renamed the Kraków House of Culture. It featured a spacious ground-floor library and reading rooms. On other floors above, there were lecture rooms and exhibition spaces dedicated to popularisation of music, dance, visual arts, and folk art. There were also two screening rooms: two aptly named cinemas – Kultura (Culture) and Wiedza (Knowledge). The Kraków House of Culture was home to diverse professional and amateur bands, as well as to clubs, associations, and circles.   
These included one whose creative output did – as we know today – have a not insignificant impact on the development of younger generations. It all started in 1956 when a group of creative students of Kraków art schools (Academy of Fine Arts, Ludwik Solski State Theatre School, State Higher School of Music), including Bronisław Chromy, Kazimierz Wiśniak, Wiesław Dymny, Andrzej Bursa, Ireneusz Iredyński, Sławomir Mrożek, Barbara Nawratowicz, Janina Garycka, Kika Lelicińska, Joanna Olczak, Krzysztof Penderecki, and Piotr Skrzynecki, decided to locate their newly founded cabaret in the basement underneath, known to this day as the Cellar Under the Rams.
In 1990, the Palace was returned to their former owners – to the Potocki Family. The same year, the Kraków House of Culture, or – to be precise – the Małopolska Centre for Culture (MCC), as it was officially called then, changed its location as a result of a major fire. It moved to the Old Town, precisely to 25 Main Market Square. It was also there that the Małopolska Institute of Culture in Kraków came into being 20 years ago, having evolved from MCC.