Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński Museum

The Pranie forester's lodge is located in the Piska Forest, on Lake Nidzkie, which on maps resembles deer antlers in shape. The place became famous thanks to the stays of poet Konstanty Ildefons Galczynski, who with his wife and daughter came here for the first time in July 1950. "On Lake Nidzkie, on a hill,
Pranie forester's lodge;
Pelargoniums here so many!
Wild vines climb the wall.
Above Lake Nidzkie on the hill,
gleams in the sun a stork's nest".

This is how Galczynski described the house in his poem "Hops on Deer Horns," which was written in Prana in 1952. Over seven decades the house on the hill, which now houses a museum, has changed little.
The poet came here with his family as a guest of forester Stanislaw Popowski for three years, spending a total of 13 months. The laundry became his asylum, respite and place of creative work. In the forester's lodge the poet's most important post-war works were written, the poems "Niobe," "Wit Stwosz," "The Journey of Chrysostom Bulwiecia to Ciemnogrod," and many others. Galczynski had plans to settle permanently in the area, but they were interrupted by his death in December 1953.
The K. I. Galczynski Museum in Prana, one of the most beautifully located museums in Poland, was established in 1980, and a new permanent exhibition will open in 2023. It presents the biography of K. I. Galczynski, the history of his stays in Masuria, the poet's theatrical achievements, music in and to Galczynski's poems, and Konstantin's unusual relationship with his wife Natalia. The exhibition is based on original objects belonging to Galchinsky, the whole is complemented by multimedia, thanks to which the audience can listen to the poet's voice, his poetry, the music that inspired him, as well as musical pieces composed to the works of the author of "Niobe" and watch excerpts from archival films. The story is enhanced by sound stations outside the building.

Opening hours of the Konstanty Ildefons Galczynski Museum in Prana:

MAY - AUGUST (Tuesday to Sunday) from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm
SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER (from Wednesday to Sunday) from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm
NOVEMBER - DECEMBER (every day except Sundays, Mondays and holidays)
9.30 am to 3 pm
JANUARY - FEBRUARY - only for organized groups of more than 15 people, after previous reservation of the date
MARCH - APRIL (every day except Sundays, Mondays and holidays)
9.30 - 16.00

During the summer, Prana hosts concerts, performances, poetry meetings and vernissages.
Outside July and August, museum lessons are organized upon request for organized groups of all ages from preschoolers to seniors.
Detailed information: www.lesniczowkapranie.art.pl and on the Pranie forester's lodge's Facebook profile.

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