State at the Castle. Residence 1926–1939

State at the Castle. Residence 1926–1939

6 November 2026. – 7 February 2027.

The Royal Castle in Warsaw was the seat not only of kings and the Sejm, but also – between 1926–1939 – of the President of the Republic of Poland. Ignacy Mościcki had both his office and his apartment here. In the castle's representative halls he received ambassadors and representatives of royal families, but also delegations from various social groups – veterans of the January Uprising, farmers and schoolchildren. Over eighty photographs from this period show the castle's interiors, their host and his many guests. We present them in the rooms where they were taken.

From Seat of Offices to Residence of the Head of State

On the day Poland regained independence, the Castle was in poor condition after years of use by the partitioning and occupying authorities. Initially it served as the seat of offices and a venue for state ceremonies. Both Marshal Józef Piłsudski and President Stanisław Wojciechowski occasionally stayed in it.

The historic interiors were gradually restored to their former splendour: under the Treaty of Riga, artworks previously removed to Russia returned, and new acquisitions were added by the State Art Collections.

The President's Castle

In 1926 President Ignacy Mościcki chose the Royal Castle as his seat. He lived and worked here until the outbreak of the Second World War. In those years the Castle was the centre of state and diplomatic life of the Second Polish Republic. Here ambassadors presented their letters of credence, and here, in 1935, the April Constitution was signed. At the same time the Castle functioned as a museum and a centre of art.

What You'll See

The photographs show the interiors during visits by presidents, monarchs and diplomats from around the world. The Castle hosted, among others, King Amanullah Khan of Afghanistan with Queen Suriya, Japanese princes, and ambassadors of the great powers at the New Year reception in January 1939. The historic plates also capture the famous Japanese pianist Chieko Hara during a passionate performance, as well as … „a device for producing so-called mountain air” – an invention designed by President Mościcki himself, who was trained as a chemist.

The photographs come from the collections of the National Digital Archive, the Institute of Art of the Polish Academy of Sciences, the Museum of Warsaw, the Archive of Modern Records, the Polona Digital Library and the Photographic Archive of the Zamek Królewski.