Collection of photographs and postcards of the Polish Museum in Rapperswil - part 6

In 1936, on the initiative of artists from the "Blok" group, a large display of Polish contemporary art, under the title "Polnische Kunst", was held in the castle.

As much as up to three floors of the Rapperswil Castle, on the initiative of an artistic group "Blok", was arranged in 1936 as an enormous exposition of contemporary Polish art known as "Polish Art" which was unusually warmly received by the public and well received by the critics.

It was that exhibit that initiated the creation of the so-called second museum which, from that moment, carried the name of the Museum of Contemporary Poland.

The Second Polish Museum in Rapperswil was established the next year under the auspices of the Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Communication.

Its role was to present the cultural and economic achievements of the Second Republic of Poland.

During the World War II, the Museum took over the cultural guardianship of 13 000 Polish soldiers interned to Switzerland, after assaults in France. It also maintained the "Wola" camp in Feldbach which operated as a refuge for Polish women fleeing from places of forced labour.

Halina Jastrzębowska-Kenar (pictured standing on the right) became the curator of the Museum of Contemporary Poland.

Many the ex-soldiers stayed in Switzerland after the end of the war, working as engineers, scientists and artists. It was them, who contributed the most to the foundation of the present Museum.

Knight's Room (a view before 1939)