Hadyna and Pyzik Bench in Siewierz

On the market square in Siewierz, two bespectacled gentlemen sit on a bronze bench: the composer Stanisław Hadyna and the poet Zdzisław Pyzik. They wrote the song "Od Siewierza jechał wóz" ("A Cart Was Coming from Siewierz"), performed for many years by the famous Polish folk ensemble "Śląsk", which made this small town's name known all over Poland. A few steps away, bronze "Siewierz maidens" dance on a fountain – the heroines of the same song.

The authors of the song

Stanisław Hadyna (1919–1999), born in Karpętna, was a composer, conductor, musicologist and writer. In 1952 he founded the Song and Dance Ensemble "Śląsk" and was its artistic director for many years; he returned to the post in 1990 and led the ensemble until his death. He wrote the music for the Siewierz song.

Zdzisław Pyzik (1917–2000), a poet and lyricist, served in the Home Army (the Polish wartime resistance) and settled in Katowice after the war. He wrote songs for "Śląsk" and texts for theatres in Katowice, Sosnowiec, Łódź and Tarnów. His works include "Starzyk" and "Od Siewierza jechał wóz". As a student of Polish literature at the Jagiellonian University, he met Karol Wojtyła – the future Pope John Paul II – and reviewed his poems.

The monument and its makers

The bench was designed by the Kraków sculptors Agnieszka and Marek Maślaniec. Sources differ on the date: some say the monument was installed in autumn 2018, others that it was unveiled on 21 September 2019. Marek Maślaniec had already made two other Hadyna benches – in Koszęcin (2006) and Wisła (2010) – and, together with his wife, the Siewierz maidens sculpture on the fountain (2009). As a result, the bench and the fountain form a single, coherent ensemble on the square.

Tripto tip

The bench itself takes a few minutes, but it is worth walking round the square and nearby streets. For centuries Siewierz was the capital of the Duchy of Siewierz, known for its harsh laws – hence the old saying "Beat, steal, kill, but keep away from Siewierz". From the square it is a short walk to the ruins of a castle from the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries, the church of St Matthias with its Bishop's Gate and the church of St John the Baptist, whose medieval origins go back around 900 years. Siewierz is also known for its food: goose and Siewierz-style żurek, a sour rye soup.