Geschichte der Wieliczkaer Saline is a unique source for every researcher who
is learning about the history, geology and mining technique of the Wieliczka
salt mine. The authors, professionally connected and obviously fascinated by the
Wieliczka mine, created its full picture, taking into consideration all the aspects of
everyday life of a salt business. The versatility of the 1842 publication is strongly
evidenced by the last part of the monograph − Beschreibung der Werkwürdigkeiten
des Wieliczkaer Steinsaltzwerkes als Leitfaden bei der gewühnlichen Gasttour−
prepared by Ludwig Emanuel as an appendix presenting the tourist route of that
time. The entire work of the Hrdina brothers, which consists of texts, lithographs
and maps, brings us closer to the multilayered picture of the history of the Wieliczka
salt mine until the first half of the 19th century.
The text of this appendix, its lithographs and maps form a specific guide
which contains not only a description of the then route, but, above all, guidelines
for “strangers” planning to visit the Wieliczka salt mine. This collection could
function, independently from the 1842 study, as an individual book dedicated to
masses of tourists coming to Wieliczka. This illustrated material allowed visitors
not only to consolidate and organise their memories, but it also enabled all those
who had never reached the Wieliczka mine to familiarise themselves with the
underground picturesque world, with its peculiarity and mysteries. It is therefore
not surprising that until 1892, when Awit Szubert took the first black and white
photographs of the Wieliczka mine interiors, the drawings prepared by the
Hrdina brothers and their detailed description of the tourist route were the most
frequently used information and illustrative materials for numerous national and
foreign publications about Wieliczka. Before 1892, the management board would
answer each query concerning the mine’s interior images with recommendations
to use the lithographs by Ludwig Emanuel Hrdina and John of Nepomuk.
The authors of the 1842 monograph not only managed to capture the exceptional
picture of the Wieliczka salt mine, but they also succeeded in recording a rare
phenomenon of the 19th century − an underground tourism. What is more, the
uniqueness of the Wieliczka salt mine lies in the fact that it is one of the oldest
tourist attractions in Poland, as well as one of the first fully organised tourist
destinations. It is important to remember that in the 19th century partitioned
Poland, over 100 museums were established. Most of them were founded in the
second half of the 19th century, when the Wieliczka mine had already introduced
a well-organised and well-functioning system of first fees for visitors. In January
1868 the salt mine authorities announced the first tariff in the history of Wieliczka
tourism. They used attractions originally prepared for special, crowned guests.
Purchased tickets involved lighting of the underground route and aforementioned
additional attractions.
It is worth adding that in the second half of the 19th century Austrian salt
mine administration established, apart from the underground tourist route,
Museum of the Mining School − an educational centre with scientific support
and a small exposition of souvenirs in the building of the Rudolf’s shaft top,
commemorating personalities visiting the mine. At the very end of the 19th century
these meticulously gathered elements were located in the Salt Mine Museum in the
so-called Sztygarówka building.
Finally, it should be noted that the tourist route, once accepted by the Austrian
authorities, to a certain extent has been operating to this day. Naturally, over these
200 years its reach and character have changed significantly.
Today’s underground route includes more than 40 chambers. This is
twice the number of the route from the first half of the 19th century. Another
important aspect is that over the past few years decorations of individual
mine workings have changed. This can be most easily seen in the Drozdowice
Chamber, where a wooden pillar and cribs were built during the years 1900-
1901. It is worth noting that the then route did not include the most famous
underground chapel in the world, the Chapel of St. Kinga. Its first foundations
were laid around 1895.
Nonetheless, the modern tourist route occupies the same area as the one from
the first half of the 19th century, i.e. the mine workings concentrated around the
Daniłowicz Shaft. As a result, part of those intended for visitors in the first half
of the 19th century is also available for tourists coming to Wieliczka today. These
include the Daniłowicz Shaft, the Antonia Shaft, chambers of Urszula, Michałowice,
Drozdowice, Józef Piłsudski (formerly the Rosetti/Majer chambers), Pieskowa
Skała, Sielec, Spalona and St Anthony’s Chapel. Certainly, their interiors are quite
different today. What is important, however, both today and in the Austrian times
tourists visited the same part of the mine, which by its hosts was considered the
most elegant and representative of the history of the Wieliczka salt mine.
For nearly 250 years, since the Austrians introduced the first tourist route,
significant and irreversible changes in the mine’s layout and design have taken
place. All the descriptions and accounts that have been preserved from the old
times give us a picture of the mine workings and the scope of services provided.
In this context, the 1842 publication and its illustrations should be regarded as
invaluable.