It was during the years 1874-5 that a Neo-French-Renaissance palace was built in Kraków at Starowiślna Street. This elegant building was commissioned by Baron Konstanty de Puget and erected according to a design by Józef Kwiatkowski. Interestingly, the palace is the only preserved building of Kwiatkowski in Kraków.

Józef Kwiatkowski (1820-81) hailed from Warsaw. He acquired his architectural education collaborating with the preeminent architects of his day, such as Ritschel, Corazzi and Gołoński. Kwiatkowski designed buildings for the estates of Prince Leon Radziwiłł, and for those owned by the Russian Imperial Treasury in the province of Minsk (this was during the period when Poland was under partition). In the years 1846-56, Kwiatkowski worked in Germany, France and Belgium, collaborating with (among others) Viollet-le-Duc, one of the most influential architects and conservators of the nineteenth century. Having returned to the former Polish realms, Kwiatkowski designed the Church of All Saints in Warsaw. During the 1870’s he worked in the Austrian partition for the Galician Association of Allotment and Construction. It was during this period that he received the commission from Konstanty Puget, as Kraków itself lay within the Austrian partition.

The Puget family originally hailed from France. In 1450, one of the branches of the clan was permitted to use the title of Baron de Saint-Alban du Puget de Theoniers. In 1726, a gentleman named Jakub Benedykt Józef de Puget received the Polish indygenat - that is ennoblement - which gave the right to assume the polonised name Puszet, and to retain the French coat of arms.

The architectural design by Kwiatkowski for the Puget Palace was approved on 5th September 1874 by the City of Kraków, signed in person by the city’s Mayor, Dr. Zyblikiewicz. This was at the dawn of the period of autonomy for Galicia. A year later the palace was complete. It is interesting to note that from the very beginning, parts of the palace were rented to other noble families visiting from far-flung corners of the former Polish state. This was especially so during the Carnival season, when the Puget family held renowned society balls here.

With his death in 1882, Konstanty Puszet left the palace to his daughter-in-law, Maria de Mylou Puszetowa. Ten years later, the lady decided to sell the entire property to her sister, Anna Stablewska, for 240,000 Polish reński zloties. Modern comforts were installed in the palace in 1901. However, the family was not able maintain the style of living to which it was accustomed. In 1911, Madame Stablewska was compelled to rent the palace to the Imperial and Royal Military and Police Guard. The former gardens were provided with stables to accommodate forty horses, whilst a newly built ofycyna (rear house) became a barracks for some 208 people. The main palace itself was converted into offices and barracks. The old stable and carriage-house was transformed into a police prison. The side building to the left of the palace was used as apartments for junior officer staff, whilst the one on the right, which today has the address of Starowiślna 11, was sold to the nunnery of St. Ursula.

After the First World War, the palace housed the Starostwo Powiatu Krakowskiego (the local government of the Kraków region) as well as the residence of the Starosta (the head of the local administration). Anna Stablewska passed on in 1923, and the palace was inherited by her children, Maria and Stefan. In 1936, the structure was converted once more to house the Court of Justice of the City of Kraków. After the outbreak of the Second World War, the German occupiers took over the entire property, making it the headquarters of the military police. The original wall that stood along Starowiślna Street, together with the beautiful wrought-iron gates, was demolished.

Following the war, and until as late as 1968, the palace and rear house provided offices for state institutions, including the Communist State Prosecutors Office. After this period, the State Health Bureau was installed for two years. However, in the early 70’s the Health Bureau was moved and over a dozen different state institutions were set up in the palace. These included such colourful institutions as the Krakow Photographic Association, which enlivened the otherwise drab 70’s by organizing the rather scandalous exhibitions of nude photography, aptly called ‘Venus’.

Theoretically, the entire property belonged to the Stablewski family throughout the period of the Peoples Republic of Poland. At the end of the 1970’s, Jerzy Donimirski, the grandson of Anna Stablewska in the distaff line, inherited (albeit technically) the title deeds for the palace.

In the early1980’s, the then authorities of Kraków decided to hand the palace over to the Music Academy. However, the Donimirski family resorted to legal action, and was able to protract the settlement so that there was no immediate conversion of the property. In 1989, when the Communist regime fell, Jerzy Donimirski, who had spent some years in America, returned to Poland. The Donimirski family, along with the Polish Red Cross and the new Kraków Citizens Committee, organized charitable aid for the people of Romania. In this way, the family reassumed the building, which was until then guarded by three people - these guards had been hired by the construction firm Budostal, would-be contractor for the Music Academy conversion.

One year later, Jerzy Donimirski completed the legal proceedings, took over the property, and began an energetic renovation of the palace.

Based upon the research into the history of the Pugetów Palace by Mr Piotr Stępień, March.