Polish city hopes for tourism boost from change to national anthem

After Poland’s government proposed changes to the country’s national anthem, local authorities in Poznań – which would be mentioned earlier in the song’s lyrics than is currently the case – hope it will boost the city’s status and visitor numbers.

As part of legislation on national symbols sent for consultation last week by the culture ministry, the third verse of Mazurek Dąbrowskiego (known in English as Dąbrowski’s Mazurka or Poland Is Not Yet Lost) would be swapped with the second verse. This would give greater prominence to Poznań, which appears in the third verse.

“Even in third place, we always managed brilliantly,” the city’s mayor, Jacek Jaśkowiak, told the Polish Press Agency (PAP). But “second position in the anthem is more appropriate for Poznań’s position in the country”.

The idea behind the change is to restore the original order of the lyrics written by Józef Wybicki in 1797, shortly after the partitions that would erase Poland from the map of Europe for over a century.

Wybicki hoped the song would inspire Polish soldiers serving under General Jan Henryk Dąbrowski in the Italian campaigns of the French Revolutionary Wars.

Dąbrowski’s Mazurka, which became Poland’s de facto national anthem after the country regained its independence in 1918 and was officially adopted eight years later, begins with the words “Poland is not yet lost / So long as we still live”.

The swapping of verses would be “in keeping with the author’s original intention and the logic of the work”, said Jaśkowiak. “In my opinion, simply out of respect for the artist and history his original form should be kept.”

The current second verse, which refers to crossing the Vistula and Warta rivers and continuing to be Polish, as well as following Napoleon’s example to prevail, is the last one used in the shortened form of the anthem, sung for example at sporting events.

If the proposed change comes into force, that will be replaced by an allusion to the 17th-century military commander Stefan Czarniecki’s triumphant return to the Royal Castle in Poznań to fight the Swedish invaders.

“After the planned changes are introduced, Poznań will be heard much more often,” Jan Mazurczak of the Poznań Tourism Organisation told PAP. “Very often during sporting events and various types of ceremonies, only two verses of the anthem are sung.”

“Every opportunity to show Poznań from a less obvious angle is worth its weight in gold,” he added, noting that Wybicki is buried in a crypt in the city and an urn containing Dąbrowski’s heart can also be found there. “Interest in the anthem is a good chance to promote our history and explain why Poznań is in it.”

Jadwiga Emilewicz, an MP from the ruling party who hails from Poznań, also hopes that the city will be able to benefit from the change. “I imagine that when there is a debate in parliament, media interest in the anthem will grow, so why not use this moment to promote the city?” she said, quoted by Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.

She also noted that this year for the first time the anniversary of the outbreak of the Greater Poland Uprising will, pending Senate approval, be marked as a national celebration on 27 December, the date in 1918 when it broke out in Poznań.

“These are two important facts that might remind Poles of Poznań as an attractive place to visit,” Emilewicz said.

The culture ministry’s bill, which aims to “adapt national symbols to new digital technologies” and to “introduce adjustments long called for by heraldists and musicologists”, also proposes to create new graphical standards, standardise nomenclature, and increase protection for Polish state symbols, reports Gazeta.pl.

The currently binding act dates back to 1980 and “possesses graphical attachments not compliant with today’s technical possibilities,” it states.

Main image credit: Polana (under public domain)

Ben Koschalka

Ben Koschalka is a translator and senior editor at Notes from Poland. Originally from Britain, he has lived in Kraków since 2005.