EUROPRIDE 2010
WARSAW
by Stuart Haggas
Since its inception in 1992, EuroPride
has been hosted by seven of the ten biggest cities in
Europe, namely London, Berlin, Madrid, Rome, Paris, Hamburg,
and Vienna. On paper it therefore seems logical that Warsaw,
the European Union’s ninth biggest city, should host
EuroPride in 2010, but for Poland’s gays and lesbians
it was both a surprise and a potential stride forward.
Warsaw’s Equality Parade was banned
in 2004, with the city’s conservative mayor Lech
Kaczynski arguing that the event would lead to counter-demonstrations.
In 2005 he banned it again, this time claiming that
the organizers had not correctly filed the application.
The parade went ahead despite the ban, and there were
isolated clashes, several arrests, eggs and insults
were thrown at marchers, and Lech Kaczynski went on
to criticize the parade for promoting the homosexual
lifestyle. These incidents didn’t go unnoticed—indeed
they contributed to Poland’s inclusion alongside
the likes of Uganda, Iran, and Egypt in a 2005 US State
Department Report that identified the ten most anti-gay
nations in the world. When Lech Kaczynski was elected
as Poland’s new president in October 2005, it seemed
that the situation for Poland’s LGBT community
wasn’t going to improve any time soon.
“When Lech Kaczynski banned the
Pride in 2005, we were terrified,” Equality Foundation
board member Monika Czaplicka told me. “We didn’t
expect that five years later we could have EuroPride—the
biggest pride event on the European continent!”
But that’s exactly what’s going to happen.
From July 9 there will be ten days of gay and lesbian
sports events, a gay film festival, a concert by the
London Gay Men’s Chorus, and a specially curated
“Homo Ars Erotica” exhibition at Warsaw’s
regarded National Museum, the largest art museum in
Poland. The third International GLBT Business Leader
Forum will also be held in Warsaw during EuroPride.
The festivities cumulate with a parade, a concert at
Stadium Syrenka featuring Polish and international bands,
a weekend-long picnic in what will be designated “Pride
Park,” and lots of clubbing. At the core of everything
will be Pride House, an information point and arts,
social, and cultural event space managed by Poland’s
Campaign Against Homophobia.
I asked Colm Howard-Lloyd, Director
of the European Pride Organizers Association
(EPOA), to explain why Warsaw was chosen. “Warsaw
2010 will be a radical departure for the event,”
he agreed. “Previous EuroPride’s have been
hosted by cities such as London, Berlin, and Madrid,
and the focus has been an old style circuit party. We
have seen a significant increase in attendee’s
interest in the effect and political implications of
Pride events—and the choice of Warsaw, a city where
Pride is still relatively small and relatively difficult
to stage, reflects this. This move is away from a single
weekend of party, and towards creating new LGBT destinations
by proving that not only is there international support,
but an international LGBT tourism market. It is amazing
how city authorities change their view when they see
Pride as an opportunity and a showcase for them rather
than just a nuisance.”
Warsaw’s gay community may be marginalized
right now, but, as every visitor to Warsaw will quickly
appreciate, this is a city whose entire population has
struggled for survival against all manner of adversity.
In recent years, Warsaw was one of the largest building
sites in Europe—a consequence of the fact that
a staggering eight out of every ten buildings were destroyed
here during World War II.
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At the beginning of the war, Poland
was divided between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union,
with Warsaw in the half annexed by the Nazis. Soon after
World War II had begun, Warsaw’s Jewish residents
were ordered to move into what became known as the Warsaw
Ghetto. With a population estimated to be 400,000, it
was the largest ghetto in Nazi-occupied Europe. During
1943’s Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, the entire area
was systematically leveled to the ground by German forces,
its surviving occupants were either killed on the spot
or deported to concentration camps. Similarly, toward
the end of the war, with the Soviet Red Army advancing,
German troops followed the orders of an enraged and
near-defeated Hitler to loot the city’s museums
and libraries, and dynamite palaces, monuments, and
government buildings. The combined effect of these and
other wartime atrocities meant that when the Soviets
arrived in 1945, over 85% of Warsaw lay in ruin. During
a visit in 1945, US General Eisenhower said he had seen
many European towns destroyed, but nowhere had he been
faced with such destruction as Warsaw.
After the war, Warsaw made the defiant decision to not start
anew, but to rebuild the historic center brick-by-brick,
a staggering endeavour that was tackled with such care
and attention that in 1980 the whole area was awarded
UNESCO World Heritage status. Explore the cobbled alleyways
and squares of Stare Miasto and Nowe Miasto (Old
Town and New Town), and you’ll enjoy vistas so
lovely that it’s impossible to comprehend the degree
of devastation that occurred here. However, there’s
also an undeniable sense of not-quite-old-but-not-quite-new
that can trick your mind into thinking you’re on
a film set.
An appropriate place to begin is Plac
Zamkowy, a wide plaza containing one of Warsaw’s
oldest and tallest monuments, King Sigismund’s
Column (Kolumna Króla Zygmunta). Perched
on top of a 22-meter-high column is a statue of the
king holding a sword to symbolize bravery and a cross
symbolizing his readiness to fight evil. The column
was erected in 1644, and legend says that should the
sword fall, disaster is sure to follow—a prophecy
that came true when the entire statue fell during World
War II.
The square itself is dominated by imposing
Royal Castle (Zamek Królewski). Built
in the 13th century, this dusky pink palace with its
dramatic central clocktower was completely destroyed
by the Nazis, then rebuilt at vast expense between 1971
and 1988 using rubble and whatever remains could be
salvaged. This seemingly impossible task was made feasible
because the architects were able to refer to vast painted
images of the palace done by renowned 17th-century artist
Bernardo Bellotto. Often known as Canaletto (he was
in fact the nephew and pupil of the illustrious Venetian
artist), he served as court painter to Polish King Stanislaw
August Poniatows from 1764 until his death in 1780.
Within the palace’s opulent and painstakingly reconstructed
interior you can see those original cityscapes of Warsaw
painted by Bellotto alongside works by other old masters
including Rembrandt.
Just beyond here is St John’s
Cathedral (Katedra s´w. Jana). With its striking
and almost stylized façade, this 14th-century
basilica has witnessed many historical events, coronations,
and royal weddings and funerals. The first European
Constitution was sworn here on May 3, 1791. It was also
the scene of vicious fighting during the Warsaw Uprising
in 1944, after which it was dynamited and 90% destroyed.
Rebuilt after the war, it was consecrated in 1960. Inside
you’ll find celebrated gothic artwork, and the
tombs of kings, knights, and eminent citizens.
Opposite is the lovely Renaissance-style
Shrine of Our Lady of Grace (Sanktuarium Matki
Bozej Laskawej). A romantic legend says that the small
bear statue in front of this church is enchanted, and
is in fact a shy, young prince, petrified in stone and
awaiting his one true love—so be sure to give him
your regards in case you’re the one. The church
was completely burned down during the Uprising, and
reconstructed in 1957.
Of the many other churches worth visiting,
the Church of the Holy Cross (Kosciol s´w.
Krzyza) is famous for a particularly unique artifact.
Acclaimed composer and virtuoso pianist Fryeryk Chopin
lived in Warsaw until 1830 when, at age twenty, he departed
for Paris. When Chopin died in 1849, it was his dying
wish that his heart be removed and returned home to
Warsaw. Today, it’s sealed in an urn behind a carved
stone tablet within this church.
Framed by rows of burgher houses, Old
Town Market Square (Rynek Starego Miasta) was founded
in the late 13th century, entirely levelled by the Nazis,
and reconstructed after the war to perfectly match the
paintings made in the 1700s by Bellotto. Although its
bricks and mortar did not survive Nazi occupation, the
stories that this picturesque square tells survive to
this day.
In the center of the square is Monument
of the Warsaw Mermaid (Pomnik Warszawskiej Syrenki),
sculpted in bronze by Konstanty Hegel in 1855. According
to one legend, a pair of mermaids swam across the Atlantic
Ocean and into the Baltic Sea. One found a new home
in Copenhagen harbor, where a famous statue of her likeness
can still be seen today. The other swam onto Gdansk
and then continued inland along the Vistula River. Pausing
to rest on the riverbank near Warsaw’s Old Town,
she attracted the attention of local fishermen who fell
in love with her singing. When a wealthy merchant captured
and imprisoned the mermaid, a young man heard her crying,
and he and his fellow fisherman charged to her rescue.
Indebted to the fishermen, the mermaid promised to remain
to help them whenever she was needed. To this day, a
mermaid bearing a shield and sword is the symbol of
the city, and appears on the city crest.
If you’re interested to find out
more about the epic reconstruction project, there’s
a small exhibition that explains why the Old Town became
classified as a UNESCO cultural heritage monument within
the Barbican (Barbakan Warszawski). Dating to
1540, this austere, semicircular fortress is one of
the few remaining relics of the defensive walls that
once surrounded Warsaw.
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