Composers / Fryderyk Chopin / Places catalog

Kowalewo

When planning their son’s holidays, the Chopins made use of invitations from the landowning families they had befriended. This made it possible for Fryderyk to relax and recharge his batteries in rural surroundings. Chopin spent some of his 1827 holidays in Kowalewo. The owner of the estate at that time, Ksawery Zboiński, was related to the Dziewanowski family of Szafarnia and was the godfather (1815) of Emilia, the Chopins’ youngest daughter. This suggests a warm relationship between the two families.

Very few details of Chopin’s stay on the Zboiński property have come down to us. In a letter from Kowalewo dated 6 July 1827, Chopin wrote to his family in Warsaw that the places he was going to visit during a planned trip to Gdańsk had been changed: ‘And so, today in Płock, tomorrow in Rościszewo, the day after tomorrow in Kikół, a few days in Turzno, a few days in Kozłowo, a moment in Gdańsk, and then back again!’. The trip, taken in early August 1827, might have been linked to the business interests of Count Zboiński. Chopin had never been to Gdańsk before and had neither friends nor family in the city. It seems reasonable to assume that he wanted to use the trip to visit Johann Wilhelm Linde, pastor at the Holy Spirit church in Gdańsk and brother of Bogumił Linde, vice-chancellor of the Warsaw Lyceum.

We are not familiar with the appearance of the Zboiński manor where Chopin stayed. All that remains now are the ruins of a building erected before 1859 by Antoni Jabłoński, who owned Kowalewo in 1854–1891. About two hundred people lived in Kowalewo at that time. The 1880 edition of Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego [Geographical dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland] mentions mementoes from mediaeval owners being found in the ground when the Jabłoński manor was being built. The present remains probably stand on the same site as the Zboiński manor where Chopin stayed.

The composer described the beautiful natural surroundings as follows: ‘it is morning now, 8 o’clock (for we never get up before 7), the air is fresh, the sun shines beautifully, the birds are twittering, there is no brook, otherwise it would be murmuring, but there is, instead, a pond, and the frogs are singing most beautifully! But the most amusing is the blackbird, which is singing forth wonderful rackets in front of the windows’.

In 1824, Count Zboiński had his daughter Eugenia (b. 1823) registered as the owner of Kowalewo. Some scholars believe that he did so because, as a Prussian citizen, he could not legally own real estate in the Russian partition. Zboiński’s principal residence was in Kozłowo, in the Prussian partition. In 1843, the family sold Kowalewo to Krystyna Fink.

Place Category
Antoni Brzezina’s bookshop Publishers / Bookshops
Antonin Manors / Palaces / Castles
Apartment of Dominik Magnuszewski Flats
Apartment of Stefan Witwicki Flats
Apartment of the family of Alfons Brandt Flats
Augsburg Evangelical Church of the Holy Trinity Churches / Places of worship
Belvedere Appearances
Bielany, Camaldolese monastery Churches / Places of worship
Blue Palace Manors / Palaces / Castles
‘Botanika’ Other
Brochów Churches / Places of worship
Brühl Palace Appearances
Buchholtz’s instrument store Other
Casimir Palace Flats
Chopin Monument in Łazienki Park Other
Czapski (Krasiński) Palace Appearances, Manors / Palaces / Castles
Dal Trozzo bookshop Publishers / Bookshops
Duszniki Zdrój Hotels / Inns
Dziewanowski home Flats
Engraving studio of Fr Izydor Józef Cybulski and Antoni Płachecki Education
Franciszek Klukowski bookshop Publishers / Bookshops
Fryderyk Chopin Museum Other
Fryderyk Skarbek’s apartment Flats
Gdańsk Hotels / Inns
Gładkowskis' apartment Flats
Golub Other
Holy Cross Church Churches / Places of worship
Home of Jan Matuszyński Flats
‘Honoratka’ Coffeehouses
Jabłonowski Palace Manors / Palaces / Castles
Jan Böhm’s townhouse Flats
Kalisz Other
Kikół Manors / Palaces / Castles
Kolbergs' apartment Flats
Kowalewo Manors / Palaces / Castles
Kozłowo Manors / Palaces / Castles
Krakow Other
Ludwik Dmuszewski’s house Flats
Magnus's bookshop Publishers / Bookshops
Marceli Celiński’s apartment Flats
Maurycy Mochnacki’s home Flats
Miss Kicka's Salon in Lubomirski Palace Manors / Palaces / Castles
National Theatre Appearances
Obory Churches / Places of worship
Obrowo Manors / Palaces / Castles
Ojców Other
‘Old’ Merchants' Hall Appearances
Patisserie Lourse Coffeehouses
Pieskowa Skała Other
Płock Other
‘Pod Kopciuszkiem’ and ‘Dziurka’ Coffeehouses
Poturzyn Manors / Palaces / Castles
Powązki Cemeteries
Poznań Other
Presbytery of St Jadwiga (Hedwig) parish church in Milanówek Other
Pruszak Palace Manors / Palaces / Castles
Residence of Józef Reinschmidt’s parents Flats
Rościszewo Manors / Palaces / Castles
Sanniki Manors / Palaces / Castles
Saxon Palace Flats
Saxon Post Office Other
Skating rink Other
Sochaczew Other
Sokołowo Manors / Palaces / Castles
Staszic Palace Manors / Palaces / Castles
Strzyżew Manors / Palaces / Castles
Szafarnia Manors / Palaces / Castles
Toruń Other
Turzno Manors / Palaces / Castles
‘U Brzezińskiej’ Coffeehouses
Ugoszcz Manors / Palaces / Castles
Viceroy's Palace Appearances
Vilnius (Wileński) Hotel Hotels / Inns
Visitandine Church of St Joseph Churches / Places of worship
Waplewo Manors / Palaces / Castles
Warsaw Other
Warsaw Charitable Society Appearances
Warsaw Conservatory Appearances
‘Wiejska Kawa’ Coffeehouses
Wieliczka Other
Wojciech Żywny’s apartment Flats
Wola Tollhouse Other
Wrocław Appearances
Żelazowa Wola Flats
Żychlin Manors / Palaces / Castles