Feliks Nowowiejski Music Salon in Barczewo

"We shall not abandon the land we come from" – the music for these words by Maria Konopnicka, the patriotic hymn "Rota", was written by a boy from Barczewo. Feliks Nowowiejski was born here on 7 February 1877, when the town was called Wartenburg. Where his family home once stood there is now a small biographical museum, the Music Salon named after him.

History of the museum

The museum's beginnings go back to the 1950s, and it officially opened on 15 July 1961 on the initiative of local activists and museum staff, with support from the composer's family. The date marked the anniversary of the first performance of "Rota" in 1910 on the Błonia meadows in Kraków. Since 2007 it has been called the Music Salon and today belongs to Barczewo's cultural centre.

What to see

• Family heirlooms – the piano, furniture from the Nowowiejski home, paintings and personal items.
• Manuscripts, scores, documents and photographs of the composer, as well as his tailcoat and death mask.
• Historic tiled stoves from Woryty, Reszel and Olsztyn, and 19th-century figures of Saints Agatha and Rosalia from Barczewo.
• A memorial plaque on the building commemorating the birth of the composer of "Rota" and "The Legend of the Baltic".
• A library with literature on the composer and a regional collection.

Did you know?

The museum hosts concerts and exhibitions, and since 2002 Barczewo has held the Feliks Nowowiejski International Choral Festival at the turn of May and June.

Tripto tip

Check opening times before your visit on the town's website or the museum's profile. Half an hour is enough for the exhibition. The Salon is on ul. Mickiewicza, a few minutes from the market square, so it combines easily with St Anne's and St Andrew's churches and the synagogue.