Bartłomiej Obrochta, known as Bartuś, was born on August 15, 1850, in Zakopane and died on May 1, 1926, also in Zakopane.
He was buried at the New Cemetery in Zakopane. He is known as an outstanding violinist and a Tatra mountain guide.

From an early age, Bartuś Obrochta learned to play the violin. He attended the elementary school for two years, which he completed. One of his teachers was the famous Jan Krzeptowski Sabała. Obrochta is considered one of the finest highlander musicians. It is said that even the brigand Wojtek Mateja was interested in his music and took Bartuś into the mountains to entertain him and his companions.

Obrochta’s music also attracted the interest of, among others, Ignacy Paderewski and Karol Szymanowski, for whom it became an inspiration while composing the famous Harnasie. The melodies performed by the talented highlander were recorded on wax cylinders by Juliusz Zborowski, the long-time director of the Tatra Museum.

Bartuś Obrochta also played for Henryk Sienkiewicz, Stanisław Witkiewicz, and Bolesław Prus. He composed melodies himself, both for violin and for a full band (three violins and bass).

He was also the founder of a folk band (kapela), which included his sons (Jan and Stanisław), and later his grandson Władysław. In 1897, he traveled with his band to Warsaw for the first time to perform during an exhibition of a Tatra panorama. In 1925, he performed in the Polish Pavilion at the International Exhibition of Decorative Arts in Paris.

He died with a violin in his hands on the Path under the Reglas (Droga pod Reglami), while returning from a gathering (posiady). To this day, a wooden commemorative shrine stands at that place.
From around 1878, Bartłomiej Obrochta worked as a Tatra guide and obtained first-class guide credentials before 1892. Notable expeditions include:

• a pre-1880 attempt to climb Ganek together with Ludwik Chałubiński and guide Wojciech Roj,
• in January 1894, the first winter crossing through Zawrat to Morskie Oko, during which he served as the main guide for Jan Grzegorzewski.

The Jan Kasprowicz multimedia bench in Zakopane is located on General Pawlica Square and is part of the Literary Trail. This granite, sculpted bench, designed by Marek Szala, commemorates the distinguished poet (1860–1926), who spent the final years of his life in nearby Harenda.

The Jan Kasprowicz bench is part of the route A Walk through Zakopane along the Trail of Writers and Musicians – Part 1.

*The printed version of the guide can be obtained at Zakopane Tourist Information points, while the electronic version (PDF) is available on the website: www.zakopane.pl

At the end of the street, opposite Jan Sztaudynger’s house “Koszysta” (69 Piłsudskiego Street), you will come across a bench featuring the well-known and beloved epigrams (fraszki) of Jan Sztaudynger, who lived in this house.

He was a poet and epigram writer, considered a reviver of the modern Polish fraszka. He authored around five thousand published epigrams, which—from his first collection Feathers (Piórka, 1954)—were highly sought after by readers. Both his political and erotic epigrams shocked and scandalized cultural authorities during the Stalinist period.

During that time, Sztaudynger did not publish any books for seven years (1947–1953). His epigrams overshadowed other areas of his writing; he had debuted in 1925 with a volume of poetry titled My Home and went on to publish over a dozen collections of lyrical poetry, including works for children.

He also translated classics of German literature and authored memoirs, a book about marionette theatre, and nearly a hundred articles on puppet theatres in Poland and across Europe.

Sztaudynger sought to elevate the concept of the fraszka and restore its poetic importance. He referred to his epigrams as “feathers” — small lyrical droplets.
“To this day, he remains one of the classics of modern Polish epigram writing, which means he created a lasting and outstanding model of the genre.”*

Works whose fragments can be heard on the bench:

While walking along Piłsudskiego Street toward the Wielka Krokiew ski jump (at the intersection of Piłsudskiego and Tetmajera Streets, next to the Kornel Makuszyński Museum), you will find the Kornel Makuszyński bench, where you can listen to excerpts from The Adventures of Koziołek Matołek as well as two feuilletons read by Andrzej Bienias, an actor of the Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz Theatre. The bench was designed by the sculptor Marek Szala.

Kornel Makuszyński was born on January 8, 1884, in Stryj and died on July 31, 1953, in Zakopane. He was buried at the Pęksowy Brzyzek Cemetery in Zakopane.

He was a novelist, columnist, theatre critic, poet, and author of numerous books for children and young readers. Among his works are: About Two Who Stole the Moon (1928), The Merry Devil’s Friend (1930), The Girl with the Wet Head (1932), The Broken Sword (1936), A Scuffle over Basia (1937), Satan from the Seventh Grade (1937), and The Escapades of Miss Ewa (1940).

He also created the famous literary characters Koziołek Matołek and the monkey Fiki-Miki.

At Rotmistrz Pilecki Square, right next to Independence Square, visitors can listen to the music of Wacław Geiger. Recordings of selected works by this outstanding composer were provided by the Tatra Climate Orchestra under the direction of Agnieszka Kreiner.

He was born on June 25, 1907, in Kraków and died on April 30, 1988, in Zakopane. He was buried at the Old Cemetery in Zakopane on Kościeliska Street. He was a conductor, pianist, composer, accompanist, and singer. Many of his compositions became part of the repertoire of the Tatra Climate Orchestra.

In the Municipal Park, you can find a bench dedicated to Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, featuring recordings by the band Palfy Gróf as well as compositions by Witkacy himself. The musical notation was provided by the Kórnik Library, and the performances were carried out by Sabina Zwijacz-Kozica, a teacher at the Zakopane Music School.

Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, known as Witkacy, was born on February 24, 1885, in Warsaw and died by suicide on September 18, 1939, in Jeziory (now in Ukraine). His symbolic grave is located at the Old Cemetery on Kościeliska Street in Zakopane. From 1890 onward, he lived in Zakopane.

Witkacy was the son of the painter, art critic, and creator of the Zakopane Style – Stanisław Witkiewicz. He gained recognition as a painter, art theorist, playwright, novelist, and philosopher. Among his works are The Pragmatists, Tumor Brainiowicz, The Little Manor, The Water Hen, The Madman and the Nun, Farewell to Autumn, and The Shoemakers.

It is worth noting that in his youth, Witkacy engaged in hiking, skiing, and even mountaineering in the Tatra Mountains, accompanied by highlander guides, climbing peaks such as Durny Szczyt. However, only slight references to Podhale or the Tatras can be found in his artistic work. Particularly noteworthy are the numerous surviving portraits created by him, as well as his photographs taken in Zakopane and the Tatras, many of which today have documentary value, while the portraits also hold artistic merit.

Since 1985, the Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz Theatre has been operating in Zakopane. Numerous exhibitions dedicated to the artist are organized at the Tatra Museum, and the year 2015 was declared the Year of the Witkiewicz Family in the Małopolska Region.

Next to the “Czerwony Dwór” villa on Kasprusie Street, you can sit on a bench and listen to works by the great composer Karol Szymanowski.

He was born on October 3, 1882, in Tymoszówka (now in Ukraine) and died on March 29, 1937, in Lausanne, France. He was buried in Kraków at Skałka, in the Crypt of the Distinguished.

Szymanowski was one of the greatest Polish composers. His works include the opera King Roger, Kurpie Songs, and Veni Creator, written to words by Stanisław Wyspiański. He was also a pianist, an honorary doctor of the Jagiellonian University, director of the Warsaw Conservatory, and rector of the Warsaw Higher School of Music. It is believed that under his influence, a folkloristic trend in Polish music developed in the 1930s.

Karol Szymanowski visited Zakopane before World War I, but settled there only in 1930, shortly after being diagnosed with advanced tuberculosis. His home became the villa “Atma,” which still exists today. It was in Zakopane that he became more closely acquainted with the music of the Podhale region, listening to highlander melodies played for him by, among others, the famous Bartuś Obrochta.

Due to his deteriorating health, Szymanowski left Zakopane in the autumn of 1935. He traveled to France for climatic treatment; it was to be his final journey. He died in Lausanne in March 1937. After his death, his body was embalmed, a death mask was made, and casts of his hands were taken. His heart was intended to be placed next to Chopin’s heart in the Church of the Holy Cross in Warsaw, but the urn containing it burned along with the chapel of the Sisters of the Sacré Coeur during the Warsaw Uprising.

In 1976, a Karol Szymanowski Museum was established in the “Atma” villa in Zakopane, which also serves as the seat of the Karol Szymanowski Music Society. The Kraków Philharmonic and the Academy of Music in Katowice are named after him. To commemorate the 80th anniversary of his death and the 135th anniversary of his birth, the Zakopane City Council declared 2017 the Year of Karol Szymanowski in Zakopane.

Pieces whose fragments can be heard on the bench:

While walking toward Kuźnice (6 Przewodników Tatrzańskich Street), you can find another musical bench dedicated to Mieczysław Karłowicz.

He was born on December 11, 1876, in Wiszniewo (in present-day Lithuania) and died on February 8, 1909, in the Tatra Mountains. He was buried at the Powązki Cemetery in Warsaw.

He was the son of the linguist and ethnographer Jan Karłowicz and Irena Sulistrowska, a trained singer. He is regarded as one of the greatest Polish symphonic composers, as well as an outstanding mountaineer and skier. Together with Mariusz Zaruski, he initiated the creation of the Tatra Volunteer Search and Rescue Service (TOPR).

Mieczysław Karłowicz first came to Zakopane and the Tatras at the age of thirteen. By 1894, he had climbed, among others, Bystra, Kominiarski Wierch, Świnica, Rysy, and Kościelec, and crossed Gerlach with the guide Jędrzej Wala. In the summer of 1892, he performed two concerts as a violinist in the hall of the former Tatra Manor in Zakopane.

The years 1902–1909 were a period of intensive exploration of the Tatras, often undertaken alone. Among his companions on some expeditions was the famous guide Klimek Bachleda. Together, they climbed peaks such as Jastrzębia Turnia, Mały Kołowy Szczyt, Durny Szczyt, and Pośrednia Grań. However, Karłowicz carried out most of his trips without a guide, making first ascents, for example, of Wielka Kołowa Turnia.

In 1908, together with Mariusz Zaruski, he marked trails to Czarny Mięguszowiecki Szczyt and Niżnie Rysy. The symbol used by Karłowicz was the highlander swastika (a traditional folk motif).

In Zakopane, where he settled permanently in 1907, many of his symphonic works were composed or developed. The Violin Concerto and Eternal Songs are considered to be inspired by the Tatras. Karłowicz is also remembered as an excellent photographer of the mountains. His photographs, as well as objects associated with him (such as the camera with which he took his last pictures of the Tatras), are frequently presented in exhibitions organized by the Tatra Museum.

Mieczysław Karłowicz died on February 8, 1909, in an avalanche that descended from the eastern slopes of Mały Kościelec while he was on a solo ski tour. In the place where his body was found, a commemorative obelisk bearing the inscription Non omnis moriar was erected in 1909 and stands there to this day. Every year, on the anniversary of his death, flowers are laid at the monument.

Bench with Music of the Podhale Highlanders

On the upper part of Równia Krupowa, next to the Zakopane City Hall, you can find a bench featuring traditional highlander music in a contemporary performance by the Giewont ensemble.

The Parish Regional Ensemble “Giewont” was founded in 1981 by the then parish priest of the Olcza parish dedicated to Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal – Father Jan Kowalik. It was the first “parish” regional ensemble in Podhale during the communist era. With its singing and music, it enriched Holy Mass liturgies and supported the construction of the church in Olcza.

The ensemble developed several artistic programs in its repertoire, which it performed during numerous domestic and international tours. An important event in the ensemble's history was a performance at the Vatican for Pope John Paul II.

The group has performed both in Poland and abroad and has released several albums focusing on regional and Christmas themes. In 2000, 2015, 2016, and 2018, the ensemble hosted the International Festival of Highland Folklore in Zakopane. It is the winner of numerous competitions and reviews, receiving awards for highlander dance and singing.

In 2016, the ensemble won a bronze juhas axe at the Highland Carnival in Bukowina Tatrzańska, and in 2017, it received a silver axe award in the category of authentic ensembles at the 49th International Festival of Highland Folklore in Zakopane.

Alongside “Giewont,” there is also “Little Giewont,” consisting of around 50 children who sing and dance. Since 2014, the ensemble has cooperated with the Zakopane City Hall, representing the city both nationally and internationally.

The main mission of the ensemble is to promote and preserve the traditions and culture of the Rocky Podhale region.