Composers / Fryderyk Chopin / Places catalog

Pruszak Palace

The house of Pruszak of the Leliwa coat of arms came from Pomerelia, a historical region centred around Gdańsk. The first record of the family dates back to the early fifteenth century. Several generations worked hard to increase their wealth and raise their social standing. So much so that the Pruszaks fulfilled important state roles over the next few centuries. They settled in Greater Poland, Kujawy and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, as well as Pomerelia. The family first came to Warsaw in the mid eighteenth century. Józef Bernard Pruszak built a small palace, no longer extant, on the corner of ul. Marszałkowska and ul. Rysia, designed by Fontana. The multi-storey palace, flanked by two ground-floor annexes and surrounded by a garden, was inherited by Józef’s grandson, Aleksander Pruszak, who fathered two of Fryderyk Chopin’s childhood playmates, Konstanty (Kostuś) and Aleksandra (Olesia).

Chopin met Kostuś, who was almost the same age, at the Warsaw Lyceum and visited him and his family on ul. Marszałkowska in Warsaw and at the Pruszaks’ manor house in Sanniki, not far from the capital.

The Warsaw visits mainly took place on Sundays, when the young composer would come to the palace with a group of youngsters and they would all have fun putting on domestic plays. The exceptionally gifted young Chopin often played the leading part. Chopin also gave piano lessons to Kostuś’s sister Olesia for a while – and concocted plans to marry her to his friend Tytuś Woyciechowski, although nothing ever came of any of those designs.

Chopin was a frequent guest at the palace on ul. Marszałkowska, and after spending his 1828 holidays on the Sanniki estate, he found himself an alleged seducer. Chopin was the central figure in a moral scandal, suspected of fathering a child out of wedlock with one of the women who worked for the Pruszaks. He described the episode with a great deal of humour in several letters to Woyciechowski: ‘N. has brought misfortune upon a governess in a house on Marszałkowska Street. The miss has a child in her belly, and the countess, in other words, the lady of the house, no longer wishes to see the seducer. But the best thing is that they first thought that, that it seemed to all, that the seducer was me, since I spent more than a month in Sanniki, and I always went for walks in the garden with the governess. But I went for walks, and nothing more. She is not charming. I, duffer that I am, had no appetite, luckily for me’.

The situation was explained, and the real father even asked Chopin to be the child’s godfather.

About twenty years later, pianos were being made in the former Pruszak Palace, now owned by the company Krall and Seidler.

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
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Brochów Churches / Places of worship
Brühl Palace Appearances
Buchholtz’s instrument store Other
Casimir Palace Flats
Chopin Monument in Łazienki Park Other
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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
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Wieliczka Other
Wojciech Żywny’s apartment Flats
Wola Tollhouse Other
Wrocław Appearances
Żelazowa Wola Flats
Żychlin Manors / Palaces / Castles