Witold Skórzewski Monument near Leśniewo

By the old forest road known as the Leśniewo Track stands a white obelisk with a cross, and its base records the exact time of death: 12 noon, 30 December 1912. This is where Count Witold Skórzewski was killed in a hunting accident – a diplomat, an inventor who patented balloons, and the founder of Konstancin near Warsaw. His brother put up the monument and his widow completed it, so the inscriptions tell the story of two deaths within six months.

What happened here

Witold had come to hunt at the invitation of his elder brother Włodzimierz, who ran the family estate at Czerniejewo. Hunters at the time carried two guns, loaded in turn by helpers – and the accident happened while a loaded gun was being handed over. The death itself is historically certain, the details less so: according to one account, a servant tripped, the gun went off and wounded the count in the side, and he died about half an hour later. Witold was buried in Łabiszyn.

The monument and its inscriptions

The obelisk was funded by Włodzimierz Skórzewski. The front inscription speaks of his brother, killed "in the 48th year of his life" in an unfortunate hunting accident. Below it was added that the founder himself died six months later, on 29 June 1913 in Warsaw. Witold's widow, Maria, née Princess Radziwiłł, finished the monument "according to his idea" and in the inscription asks for prayers for the souls of both brothers. The other three sides of the base carry verses about the passing of life, including one beginning "Perhaps I have fallen asleep – perhaps I have already died…". In 2015 the monument was restored by the Czerniejewo Forest District.

Who was Witold Skórzewski?

He was born in Würzburg in 1864. He served in the Prussian cavalry, spent two years as a diplomat in Rio de Janeiro and, as an inventor, patented among other things a worm gear (Germany, 1902) and a balloon with constant buoyancy (France, 1904); from 1907 he was a member of the Berliner Verein für Luftschiffahrt, an aeronautical society in Berlin. In 1897, as executor of his aunt's will, he created a summer resort near Warsaw and named it Konstancin after his mother, Konstancja. In 1903 he took over the Łabiszyn entail with its palace at Lubostroń. The Spa Park in Konstancin-Jeziorna now bears his name.

Tripto tip

The monument stands in the Linery section of the Czerniejewo Forest District, about 40 m from the forest road between Goranin and Leśniewo, roughly 2 km from Leśniewo. To get there, head from Łubowo towards Leśniewo and on towards Czerniejewo, or from Goranin towards Łubowo. The safest bet is to save the coordinates 52.4656, 17.4679. Access is free at any time; 15–30 minutes on site is enough.

It is best reached on foot or by bike – cars are allowed on forest roads only where signs permit. The path is unpaved. Walk all the way round the obelisk: each side of the base has a different text. The trip combines easily with Czerniejewo, the former seat of the Skórzewski family, and with Gniezno.