„Te obrazki mogą zagrozić pokojowi publicznemu”. Karty pocztowe ze zbioru Bernarda Chrzanowskiego przed niemieckim parlamentem

Abstract

This article presents a collection of picture postcards owned by Bernard Chrzanowski (1861–1944), a Polish social and national activist from the Poznan province, who was a member of German Reichstag in Berlin between 1901–1910. During his speeches at the German Parliament he staunchly protested against the conduct of the German state towards Polish culture and Polish national identity and denounced abuses and malpractices of Prussian administration against the Poles. A number of his plenary speeches and addresses concerned Article 130 of the German penal code, frequently used by the police and Prussian courts to impound items of Polish literature and art, including popular at the time patriotic picture postcards. At times, Chrzanowski used picture postcards as „Te obrazki mogą zagrozić pokojowi publicznemu”... 171 a kind of “material exhibits”. A section of his collection has survived and is now held in the collections of the University Library in Poznan.