Collection of photographs and postcards of the Polish Museum in Rapperswil - part 3

Regardless of the rich and often priceless collections of the Museum, both in their material as well as in their historical value, the most important memento and the castle's "Ideological Centre" was the urn containing the heart of General Tadeusz Kościuszko, the Commander of the 1794 Uprising who died in 1817 in Solothurn.

Keeping such priceless mementos, the castle soon became a destination of expeditions of the countryman and countrywoman spread throughout the world. In some years the number of visitors was close to twenty thousand. The Museum had not just made collections available to visit but was from the very beginning a meeting place for patriots, a place to celebrate anniversaries of uprisings or a place to celebrate the anniversary of the May 3rd Constitution. Publishing was developed: historic papers and journalistic articles written by people connected with the Museum were published, as well as catalogue collections.

After Poland regained its independence, in accordance with Władysław Plater's will, the collection of the Museum was transported in a special train to Poland in 1927. Besides the urn with the Tadeusz Kościuszko's heart, which was escorted by Swiss officers, 13 carriages carried around 3 thousand works of art, 2 thousand historic memorials, 20 thousand prints, 9 thousand medals and coins, 92 thousand books and 27 thousand manuscripts. Part of the Rapperswil collection, mainly the archive material and the library, was destroyed in Warsaw during World War II. The works of art, patriotic mementos and arms survived and were distributed among different institutions in the country.