The opening was attended by friends and family of the late Leon Piątkowski, representatives of PTTK, scouts, and people for whom he remains a role model to this day. The sightseer’s son, Zenon Piątkowski, presented Leon Piątkowski’s life and work. The materials and memorabilia displayed in the exhibition come from his collection.
Representatives of tourist associations operating in Bolesławiec spoke about the contemporary reception of Leon Piątkowski’s work and legacy: Marta Satoła (PTTK, PTSM) and Rafał Kotlarski (Regional Tourism Association “Wędrowiec”). Zdzisław Abramowicz and the Szare Szeregi ZHP Scout Troop in Bolesławiec also helped organize the exhibition, as did Przemysław Kania (II General Secondary School in Bolesławiec), who prepared a commemorative film.
The exhibition presents a broad range of Leon Piątkowski’s tourist interests. He organized and took part in canoeing trips, cycling rallies, cross-country skiing races, and hiking trips across many regions of Poland. He described his expeditions in a 24-volume work containing sketches, drawings, and photographs. A substantial part of it is devoted to Bolesławiec and its surroundings. Particularly valuable are the materials from the 1950s, in which Leon Piątkowski documented the region’s curiosities, historic monuments, and natural attractions. The exhibition includes previously unpublished photographs taken, among other places, in Bolesławiec, Gościszów, Nowogrodziec, Grodziec, and Warta Bolesławiecka. It also features catalogues prepared by Leon Piątkowski, including catalogues of monumental trees and erratic boulders, as well as materials concerning settlement, which constitute an invaluable source of knowledge about the region. Visitors can also see badge-stamps and memorabilia: identity cards, tourist booklets, badges, and diplomas, as well as objects belonging to Leon Piątkowski, including a camera and a so-called kocher field stove. A section of a campsite has also been arranged, and the exhibition has been supplemented with tourist equipment, including old skis, a canoe, and a bicycle.
The exhibition will be open until the end of November 2016. Regular tickets cost PLN 4, reduced-price tickets PLN 2, and children’s tickets PLN 1. Admission is free on Thursdays. The Museum of Ceramics is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and Sundays from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Leon Piątkowski (June 26, 1922 – August 29, 1983), whose pseudonym was “Puchacz,” was an exceptional and well-known figure in the Bolesławiec community. He was a distinguished regionalist, sightseer, and promoter of tourism; a member of the Szare Szeregi scouts; a soldier of the Home Army in Kraków and the Second Polish Army. He was active in the League of Friends of Soldiers (LPŻ), the Polish Tourist and Sightseeing Society (PTTK), the Polish Scouting and Guiding Association (ZHP), the League for the Protection of Nature (LOP), and many other organizations. He pioneered research into the natural phenomena and historic monuments of the Bolesławiec region and authored articles about the region published in both the local and national press.
Tourism was his passion. He was an instructor in Polish sightseeing and held qualifications as a leader in hiking, cycling, canoeing, and many other forms of tourism. He documented his expeditions in 24 volumes of albums containing detailed descriptions, maps, and photographs.
He documented the Silesian Ramparts, described numerous hillforts, inventoried rural parks and monumental trees around Bolesławiec, marking them with plaques he made himself, and prepared a catalogue of monumental trees with drawings and maps. He documented erratic boulders brought by glaciers to the Bolesławiec area and prepared a catalogue of wayside penitent crosses in the region, among many other projects. He made dozens of matrices for small-format graphics and designed badges and plaques.
For his professional and social work as a whole, he received numerous state and organizational honors, including the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta, the Bronze Cross of Merit, the gold “Meritorious for Lower Silesia” badge (twice), the “Meritorious Tourism Activist” distinction, a medal for outstanding services in promoting the idea of sightseeing, the “Meritorious for the League for the Protection of Nature” badge, and numerous other decorations and medals.
After his death, the PTTK Branch in Bolesławiec named the yellow trail around Bolesławiec after Leon Piątkowski.