From the Centre for Documentation of Monuments to the National Heritage Board of Poland

By the Order no. 166 of the Minister of Culture and Art of 22 December 1961, the Centre for Documentation of Monuments was established “for the purpose of improvement of the stock-taking of monuments for the rational planning of their reconstruction and conservation”. Its tasks included the preparation of the central register, record and supplementary documentation of non-movable and movable monuments. CDM’s substantive activity was based on record cards of non-movable (ca 40,000) and movable monuments, record files of cities, historic complexes and parks, historical and technical documentation of historic objects of architecture and historic buildings as well as archival and photographic materials acquired from the then existing Administration of Museums and Monument Protection. Tasks were performed by the Centre in three research departments: the Department of Architecture and Town Planning, the Department of Movable Monuments and the Department of Archaeology and in supplementary departments: the Department of Museology, which collected and documented knowledge about Polish museums, the Department of Archives and Scientific Collections, which collected, among others, materials relating to the historical issues and conservation of monuments, and the Phototeque with a unique collection of negatives, positives and diapositives, including historic aerial photographs of historic urban complexes and spatial development layouts. This collection is particularly important, because it often concerns the objects that no longer exist. Among achievements of the Department of Publications, which existed in the Centre from the beginning, it is particularly worth noting one hundred volumes of the Library of Muse ology and Monument Protection (LMMP) devoted to a variety of topics: from legal protection of monuments, materials from conservation conferences, specialistic issues of the conservation technology, to glossaries. For many years CDM was the publisher of a number of magazines devoted to popular science: Spotkania z Zabytkami, Muzealnictwo and Ochrona Zabytków. What also existed in CDM from the beginning, was the library – one of the few libraries in Poland that had not only a collection of books on the history of art and museums, but also a collection of books on issues of stock-taking and documentation of monuments and conservation issues – both with regard to theory and practice. Within the limits of its statutory activity, the Centre kept a central record of cultural properties, determined models and established standards of record-keeping. It organised training courses for employees of Conservation Offices and Offices for Documentation of Monuments, directed priorities in the preparation of records of monuments and supervised periodically the financing of the entire record-keeping programme in Poland. For the purpose of closer co-operation with conservation services and local administration bodies, twelve Centres for Studies and Protection of the Cultural Environment were established as local centres of CDM in 1991 and 1992. In 2000, part of CDM’s competences relating to the initiation and financing of records was transferred to conservation services and the Centre became responsible only for archives and information. Until then, during 40 years of its activity, CDM had collected and co-created an imposing record documentation, which constituted a unique collection encompassing around: • 130,000 record cards of historic objects of architecture and historic buildings, • 640,000 address index cards of historic objects of architecture and historic buildings, • 600 historical & urban planning studies of cities, • 320,000 record cards of movable monuments, • 6,600 files of the Archaeological Photograph of Poland (68% of the surface of the country; 375,000 archaeological sites), • 70,000 decisions on entry into the register of monuments (all categories of monuments), • 130,000 negatives and 1,000 binders of positives in the phototeque, • 35,000 negatives, diapositives and photographs of the aerial documentation of cities and the cultural landscape, • 50 linear metres of archival materials, • 60,000 volumes of books and magazines in the library. Moreover, CDM had at its disposal materials of the State Enterprise Monument Conservation Workshops from years 1948-1988 (750 linear metres of conservation documentation, 250,000 negatives, 1,881 photogrammetries, 8 linear metres of photographs in boxes). These materials were not only used by the personnel of conservation services, but also made widely available for scientific and educational research. In 2002, two cultural institutions: the Centre for Documentation for Monuments and the Centre for the Protection of Historic Landscape were merged and the National Centre for Research and Documentation of Monuments was established. The Centre for the Protection of Historic Landscape was created on the basis of the Administration of the Protection and Conservation of Palace & Garden Complexes, which functioned from 1977 within the structures of the National Museum in Warsaw. Originally it engaged in the maintenance of historic parks in the divisions of the National Museum –in Łazienki Park, Wilanów, Nieborów and Królikarnia. The methods that were used there in broadly understood conservation activities, from historical research to the revitalisation of these parks, were employed to work out theoretical and practical rules relating to the maintenance of historic green layouts in the scale going beyond museum objects. In those years, there were no specialistic institutions taking care of historic parks; these shortages were particularly severe for local conservation offices, which employed mainly historians of art, architects, ethnographers and archaeologists in their structures. Only a small group of landscape architects or foresters took care of historic greens. Because of the need to support voivodeship conservators of monuments, the Administration of the Protection of Palace & Garden Complexes was separated from the National Museum and started nationwide activity as an independent entity. As far as records and documentation are concerned, the Administration’s activity was similar to that of CDM, but was carried on with regard to historic green layouts – parks, gardens and cemeteries, including former Polish cemeteries situated outside the country. Apart from that, the Administration was authorised by the General Conservator of Monuments to exercise the broadly understood heritage conservator supervision of works being performed in historic parks in Poland. The co-operation concerned both design and performance. For instance, a programme of clearing works in neglected parks was commenced, under which conservators and users received an instruction concerning the performance of basic maintenance works before proper revitalisation activities. The Administration elaborated also the rules of preparation of conservation documentation, paying particular attention to the need to carry out historical & scientific research before design works. It was also the originator of pre-design research that was called “park archaeology”. From the beginning of its activity, the Administration ran a large-scale training programme for conservation services. A design studio was also created to carry out park revitalisation projects within the scope of statutory activity. At the same time, a scientific base was created by establishing a specialised library and collecting all materials concerning the history of gardening. Research on park plants and their selection in the historical development process was also initiated. Grounds were even created for the establishment of a specialised nursery which was to prevent the spreading fashion for introduction of foreign species of trees and shrubs to historic parks through selection of native plants occurring in historic gardens. The large-scale research and record-keeping programme resulted in a series of publications, including the list Parks and historic gardens in Poland, catalogues of historic cemeteries in various provinces, a catalogue of Galician cemeteries from World War I and catalogues of Polish cemeteries in Belarus and the Ukraine. Special attention in the activity of the Administration was paid to the role of historic parks in the local environment and their importance for the cultural landscape. In this context, research on particularly endangered large-area layouts and composed landscape was commenced. As a result of the extended research zone and environment protection activities, the Administration of the Protection of Palace & Garden Complexes was transformed into the Centre for the Protection of Historic Landscape on 1 January 1994. Special achievements of CPHL include activities for the benefit of the Muskau Park in Łęknica, a park & landscape work of primary importance for the history of the world art of gardening. For the purpose of ensuring proper progress of revitalisation works, CPHL took over the administration of this facility and restored the original grandeur and importance of the park after a few years of intense work, as a result of which the park was entered into the UNESCO World Cultural and Natural Heritage list. CPHL carried on very intense training & conference activities, and materials acquired by means of them were systematically published in a few dozen volumes of the Studia i Materiały publication, which was divided into several thematic series. The National Centre for Research and Documentation of Monuments basically continued the tasks of both merged institutions, but focused rather on documentation works and the elaboration of methods of protection and maintenance of monuments, and direct design and field works were gradually limited. Higher importance was attached to giving opinions on various projects, including conservation projects. NCRDM became the main provider of opinions for the General Conservator of Monuments. In addition, NCRDM engaged in the preparation of materials connected with the establishment of a monument of history (including the elaboration of a draft of criteria for the application and the carrying-out of the procedure), giving of opinions on and verification of applications. It also prepared a proposal for monitoring of historic objects regarded as monuments of history and entered into the UNESCO World Cultural and Natural Heritage list. The computerisation of collections became one of the most important tasks of NCRDM. NCRDM had already commenced work on that subject in the past, but these were not complex activities aimed at creating a unified programme for all kinds of documentation. NCRDM also started to make 3D scans of historic objects for the needs of conservation services and activities. It is worth mentioning that from 2002 till 2006 NCRDM did not engage in recording of archaeological monuments, because this function was fulfilled by the Centre for the Protection of Archaeological Heritage. Its predecessor was the Centre for Rescue Archaeological Research (CRAR) established in 1995, whose primary goal was to supervise and examine areas laid out for large-area investments being designed. These activities were particularly necessary in areas through which national fast traffic roads were to run. Within the scope of CRAR’s research, a huge number of archaeological sites was examined within a relatively short time and many important scientific discoveries were made. Irrespective of the specific nature of archaeological research, which was different from research on other kinds of monuments, scientific and record documentation was being prepared, the meaning and significance of which was identical to that of documentation of monuments in general. Thus, the activities of the Centre for the Protection of Archaeological Heritage turned out to coincide in many respects with work of the National Centre for Research and Documentation of Monuments. As a result, both of these cultural institutions were merged in 2006. Until 31 December 2010, they functioned as the National Centre for Research and Documentation of Monuments, which changed its name to the National Heritage Board of Poland by virtue of the order of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage on 1 January 2011. This change involves also the adoption of new statutes, according to which the Institute is obliged to pursue tasks relating to the sustainable protection of the cultural heritage of Poland in order to preserve it for future generations through: 1. the collection and dissemination of knowledge about heritage; 2. the determination and dissemination of standards of protection and maintenance of monuments, 3. the formation of social awareness regarding the values and maintenance of cultural heritage. This shows that, apart from activities being performed so far, e.g. with regard to the collection of record documentation, the goal of the Institute is to undertake tasks on a broader social scale, especially those relating to the dissemination of knowledge on cultural heritage. This goal should be supported by activities such as the monitoring of the state of preservation and the evaluation of the heritage resource, the building and development of the nationwide geospatial database about monuments and the improvement of access to collections through their digitalisation. The Institute continues to issue opinions and expertises concerning monument-related activities to public administration bodies, but it is also obliged to carry out, upon the Minister’s order, a part of tasks of the ministry of culture resulting from the accession of Poland to the 1972 UNESCO World Heritage Convention and, in particular, carry out works to ensure standards of protection, conservation and presentation of World Heritage sites, monitor and evaluate their condition, co-ordinate work on the preparation of management plans and supervise their implementation as well as participate in international co-operation with a view to the protection of cultural heritage. In order to implement these tasks, the Institute has the properly qualified staff and supplements its technical equipment within the limits of its financial possibilities. Some difficulty is caused by the lack of adequate place both for the expanding documentation resources and for arrangement of research workshops. The Centre for Documentation of Monuments has actually grappled with the lack of appropriate premises since the beginning of its existence; currently, after a series of organisational changes and mergers, the National Heritage Board of Poland with its rich archives and specialistic workshops is located in four separate facilities in and outside Warsaw, in accidental rooms that are completely inadequate to the kind of its activity. This means that, after 50 years of its activity, the institution is entering the new stage as the National Heritage Board of Poland without a seat that would be adequate to its name and role. Such a situation hinders the current activity of the institution and, in the first place, does not contribute to the improvement of mutual relations between employees and the building of an integrated team and causes a serious problem to a very large number of clients making use of the dispersed collections