Society of Friends of the Kłodzko Land

The Society of Friends of the Kłodzko Land, known in Polish as Towarzystwo Miłośników Ziemi Kłodzkiej, is a regional civic and cultural organization based in Kłodzko in Lower Silesia, Poland. Its work centers on documenting, interpreting, protecting, and promoting the Kłodzko Land, a historically distinctive area in the Sudetes. The society combines regional research with public cultural activity, tourism promotion, heritage protection, publishing, exhibitions, educational projects, and community events. Founded on 11 September 1947, the organization emerged during the difficult postwar reconstruction of Lower Silesia. Polish settlers and repatriates, many arriving from the eastern territories of prewar Poland, were building social connections in a region whose population, political status, and public identity had been radically transformed after the Second World War. The founding meeting took place at the Kłodzko County Office under the leadership of county starosta Zbigniew Kulczycki and Helena Getterowa. The society initially operated as a branch of the Silesian Institute in Katowice and sought to coordinate historical and scientific research while encouraging cultural activity and public interest in the region. A follow-up meeting at Kłodzko City Hall on 4 October 1947 defined a broad regional program. The society aimed to disseminate knowledge about the Kłodzko Land, encourage research, promote its historical, economic, and tourist assets, and help create a cultural and intellectual center in Kłodzko. Its early work also reflected the postwar political language of the Recovered Territories, emphasizing the construction of a Polish regional narrative and the emotional integration of new residents with their surroundings. The organization’s first active period ended around 1950 as centralizing state policies dissolved the institutional framework with which it had been associated. It was reactivated in 1957 and subsequently developed into one of Poland’s oldest regional associations established in Lower Silesia after 1945. The society has supported a wide range of cultural forms. It helped organize exhibitions, literary and poetic programs, regional conferences, tourism initiatives, competitions, and public commemorations. Its Kłodzko Poetic Springs became a nationally recognized literary event during the 1960s and 1970s, while the Kłodzko Cultural Sejmiks and Kłodzko Literary Tuesdays broadened the organization’s role as a forum for regional cultural life. The society also contributed to the establishment of the Kłodzko Land Museum and the Bystrzyca Kłodzka Phillumeny Museum. Publishing has been a central part of its identity. In 1948 the organization launched Rocznik Kłodzki, a regional yearbook intended to preserve research and knowledge about the area. From its third volume in 1958, the periodical was published as Rocznik Ziemi Kłodzkiej. Although publication paused between 2002 and 2018, the yearbook was later revived, with further issues reported in 2021 and 2025. The society has also issued maps, guides, poetry collections, literary almanacs, historical studies, regional policy and development volumes, art catalogs, and commemorative publications. Heritage preservation has been another important field. From the early 1960s, members participated in efforts to address the threat posed to Kłodzko’s historic center by water infiltration into underground workings. Working with filmmaker Robert Stando and professor Zbigniew Strzelecki, the society helped draw attention to the “Alarm for Kłodzko” and to the need to preserve the city’s centuries-old urban fabric. More recent work has included research into a sixteenth-century merchant ledger from Radków, support for conferences and exhibitions, regional promotion campaigns, and public events combining local identity with contemporary cultural formats. The organization remains active as a noncommercial regional society. Its activities include cultural programming, historical and tourism promotion, public education, local networking, and advocacy for the recognition of the Kłodzko Land’s natural and built heritage. It marked its seventy-fifth anniversary in 2022 with an exhibition, film, commemorative album, and plaque unveiled at the Kłodzko Cultural Center.

The society was established on 11 September 1947 at the Kłodzko County Office, with county starosta Zbigniew Kulczycki and Helena Getterowa among its principal founders. The postwar setting was decisive. New Polish residents, including repatriates from the eastern territories and settlers from other parts of Poland, were developing social and cultural ties in the Kłodzko Land. A regional association could provide both an institutional framework for local activity and a way to document and explain the area’s history, landscape, economy, and cultural inheritance. The organization initially functioned as a branch of the Silesian Institute in Katowice. At a meeting held on 4 October 1947 in Kłodzko City Hall, attended by institute director Roman Lutman and spatial-planning scholar Antoni Wrzosek, its members discussed a program of research coordination, regional promotion, and cultural development. The society sought to make Kłodzko a center of wider scientific and cultural importance. Its early public role also included presenting the region through the official postwar framework of the Recovered Territories and encouraging residents to identify emotionally with their new home. In 1948 the organization arranged two major exhibitions. The First Kłodzko Regional Exhibition, opened on 31 July, presented postwar economic and cultural accomplishments through displays on the population and landscape, industry, cooperatives, crafts, spas, and Polish-Czech relations. A second exhibition focused on the region’s historical past and its cultural and economic development after 1945. The society also began publishing. Its first regional yearbook, Rocznik Kłodzki, produced two volumes for 1948 and 1949. From the third volume in 1958, the series was renamed Rocznik Ziemi Kłodzkiej. The first phase of activity was curtailed around 1950. The Silesian Institute was incorporated into the Western Institute in Poznań in 1948 and moved to Wrocław; its Wrocław branch was later dissolved. Centralizing policies then brought the society’s initial institutional period to an end. The organization was reactivated in 1957, after which it built a longer-lasting regional program. Its chairmen included Wincenty Gonciarczyk, Jan Małek, and, from 1963, Eugeniusz Kaczmarek. Kaczmarek’s extended leadership, lasting until 2008, was associated with the development of branches outside the immediate Kłodzko Land and with the expansion of the society’s publishing and cultural work. During the 1960s and 1970s, the Kłodzko Poetic Springs became one of the society’s most visible initiatives. The event brought together poets and writers including Anna Zelenay, Jan Kulka, and Bogusław Michnik. The society produced poetic broadsheets and supported related literary publications. It also organized or co-organized Kłodzko Cultural Sejmiks, Kłodzko Literary Tuesdays, exhibitions, competitions, and public discussions. In 1962 it helped establish the tradition of Kłodzko Days. Its institutional contributions included involvement in the creation of the Kłodzko Land Museum and the Bystrzyca Kłodzka Phillumeny Museum. The society also became involved in the defense of Kłodzko’s historic urban environment. From the early 1960s, members worked with filmmaker Robert Stando and professor Zbigniew Strzelecki to publicize the danger posed by water entering underground workings beneath the old town. The “Alarm for Kłodzko” campaign helped focus attention on the protection of the city’s ancient urban layout and its layered architectural history. Its bibliography expanded over subsequent decades. Alongside Rocznik Ziemi Kłodzkiej, the society issued regional maps, guides, poetry volumes, literary almanacs, historical analyses, development studies, memoir-based collections, and art publications. The catalog included works about tourism, local history, regional identity, literature, and visual culture. Publication of the yearbook stopped between 2002 and 2018, but the periodical later returned, with additional issues reported in 2021 and 2025. The contemporary society combines traditional regional scholarship with public-facing promotion. In 2016, a sixteenth-century Kaufbuch, or merchant’s ledger, from Radków was identified and subsequently donated to the Kłodzko Land Museum after study by curator Krystyna Oniszczuk-Awiżeń. Recent programming has included the “Artists at Work for the Kłodzko Land” project, theatrical and cabaret events such as “Women’s Day,” poetry programs called “Power of the Word,” tourism conferences, exhibitions, and scientific meetings. In 2020 the society promoted the identification of the true source of the Eastern Neisse during an educational excursion to Klepáč and gave it the name “Szczodre.” Public outreach has included a coronavirus-themed spring happening in 2021, promotion of an “I Love Kłodzko Land” car sticker in 2022, poetry and song celebrating the region, and participation in events organized with the Kłodzko Cultural Center and other associations. The society has also discussed an interactive mobile miniature of the Kłodzko Land using holograms to present tourist attractions. In October 2022 it celebrated its seventy-fifth anniversary with an exhibition, film, commemorative album, and plaque. Its long-term significance lies in sustaining a regional institution that links scholarship, cultural activity, heritage protection, tourism, and civic attachment to the Kłodzko Land.

• 2022

  Seventy-fifth anniversary

  [1]Society of the Enthusiasts of the Kłodzko Landen.wikipedia.org

  The society marked 75 years with an exhibition, film, album, and commemorative plaque.

• 2018

  Regional yearbook resumes

  [1]Society of the Enthusiasts of the Kłodzko Landen.wikipedia.org

  Rocznik Ziemi Kłodzkiej returned after a fourteen-year hiatus.

• 2016

  Adam Łącki becomes president

  [1]Society of the Enthusiasts of the Kłodzko Landen.wikipedia.org

  Adam Łącki assumed the presidency on 30 May.

• 1963

  Eugeniusz Kaczmarek begins long leadership

  [1]Society of the Enthusiasts of the Kłodzko Landen.wikipedia.org

  Kaczmarek became chairman and later president, leading the society through 2008.

• 1962

  Kłodzko Days tradition supported

  [1]Society of the Enthusiasts of the Kłodzko Landen.wikipedia.org

  The society contributed to establishing the tradition of Kłodzko Days.

• 1958

  Yearbook renamed

  [1]Society of the Enthusiasts of the Kłodzko Landen.wikipedia.org

  The third volume appeared under the title Rocznik Ziemi Kłodzkiej.

• 1957

  Society reactivated

  [1]Society of the Enthusiasts of the Kłodzko Landen.wikipedia.org

  After its initial activity was halted around 1950, the organization resumed operations.

• 1948

  First regional exhibitions

  [1]Society of the Enthusiasts of the Kłodzko Landen.wikipedia.org

  The society organized exhibitions presenting Kłodzko’s history, economy, culture, landscape, spas, crafts, and postwar development.

• 1948

  Rocznik Kłodzki launched

  [1]Society of the Enthusiasts of the Kłodzko Landen.wikipedia.org

  The society began its regional yearbook, later renamed Rocznik Ziemi Kłodzkiej.

• 1947

  Society founded

  [1]Society of the Enthusiasts of the Kłodzko Landen.wikipedia.org

  The organization was founded on 11 September at the Kłodzko County Office by a group led by Zbigniew Kulczycki and Helena Getterowa.

• 1947

  Founding program established

  [1]Society of the Enthusiasts of the Kłodzko Landen.wikipedia.org

  A 4 October meeting at Kłodzko City Hall outlined research, cultural, tourism, and regional-promotion objectives.

A civic, research-oriented regional society that connects historical scholarship, cultural programming, heritage preservation, tourism promotion, and local identity-building in the Kłodzko Land.

• Regional scholarly yearbook · 1948

  Rocznik Ziemi Kłodzkiej

  The society’s principal continuing publication is a yearbook devoted to research and knowledge about the Kłodzko Land. It began in 1948 as Rocznik Kłodzki, was retitled from the third volume in 1958, and has carried historical, geographical, cultural, economic, and tourism-related studies. Publication paused from 2002 to 2018 before being revived.

• Poetry and literary publications · 1960

  Kłodzko Poetic Springs publications

  The society published poetry-related materials associated with the Kłodzko Poetic Springs, including poetic broadsheets and collections documenting appearances, commemorations, and literary contributions connected with the event.

• Maps and tourism publications · 1948

  Regional maps and guides

  The society has issued or supported maps, illustrated guides, and tourism-oriented publications presenting the Kłodzko Valley, adjacent mountains, transport routes, trails, geology, mineral resources, industry, and cultural attractions.

• Books and research studies · 1948

  Regional historical and cultural books

  Its publishing program has included studies of regional development, local history, literature, postwar settlement, public life, art, and the future of Kłodzko. Examples include works on Kłodzko during the Polish People’s Republic, early postwar years, regional development, and the graphics of Władysław Kolbusz.

• 2022I Love Kłodzko Land sticker

  Poland · Kłodzko Land

  A regional-identity promotion initiative centered on a car sticker expressing attachment to the Kłodzko Land.

  Outcome. The sticker was reported to have been adopted by more than 1,000 drivers.

  Source
• 2021Topienie Koronawirusa

  Kłodzko

  A public happening held on 21 March as a coronavirus-themed adaptation of the traditional Marzanna spring ritual.

  Outcome. The event received coverage from TVN24 and Szkło kontaktowe, increasing the society’s public visibility.

  Source
• 2018Artists at Work for the Kłodzko Land

  Kłodzko Land

  A contemporary cultural project using artistic activity to promote the identity and cultural value of the Kłodzko Land.

  Outcome. The project attracted regional supporters and formed part of the society’s expanded public programming.

  Source
• 1960Kłodzko Poetic Springs

  Kłodzko Land · Poland

  A recurring poetry and literary event that became nationally recognized during the 1960s and 1970s. It brought poets and regional writers into Kłodzko’s cultural life and generated broadsheets and other publications.

  Outcome. The event strengthened Kłodzko’s literary profile and became one of the society’s best-known cultural initiatives.

  Source
• 1960Alarm for Kłodzko

  Kłodzko

  A heritage-preservation effort addressing water infiltration into underground workings beneath Kłodzko’s historic center. Society members worked with Robert Stando and Zbigniew Strzelecki to draw public attention to the threat.

  Outcome. The campaign helped support preservation of the historic urban layout and public awareness of the old town’s vulnerability.

  Source

• 2022

  Expand contemporary regional promotionStrategy

  Background

  The society sought to communicate the Kłodzko Land’s cultural and tourism assets to broader audiences.

  Action taken

  It promoted regional stickers, songs, public events, and a proposed interactive miniature using holograms of tourist attractions.

  Aftermath

  These activities complemented its traditional research, publishing, and heritage-preservation work.

  Source

• 2018

  Resume the regional yearbookStrategy

  Background

  The society’s principal regional periodical had not appeared for fourteen years.

  Action taken

  Publication of Rocznik Ziemi Kłodzkiej was restarted.

  Aftermath

  Further issues were reported in 2021 and 2025, restoring an important channel for regional scholarship.

  Source

• 2025

  Rocznik Ziemi Kłodzkiej issue reported[1]Society of the Enthusiasts of the Kłodzko Landen.wikipedia.org

  Product launch

  A further issue of the society’s long-running regional yearbook was reported after its post-hiatus revival.

• 2022

  Seventy-fifth anniversary celebrations[1]Society of the Enthusiasts of the Kłodzko Landen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  The society marked its 75th anniversary with an exhibition, film, album, and commemorative plaque.

• 2021

  Topienie Koronawirusa public happening[1]Society of the Enthusiasts of the Kłodzko Landen.wikipedia.org

  Campaign · Other

  The society replaced the traditional Marzanna spring ritual with a coronavirus-themed public happening that received national television coverage.

• 2018

  Rocznik Ziemi Kłodzkiej resumes publication[1]Society of the Enthusiasts of the Kłodzko Landen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  The society revived its regional yearbook after a fourteen-year publication interruption.

• 2018

  Society receives the zDolne NGO distinction[1]Society of the Enthusiasts of the Kłodzko Landen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  The organization was recognized as one of the most active nongovernmental organizations in Lower Silesia.

1. 1Society of the Enthusiasts of the Kłodzko Landen.wikipedia.org