Celestat and the Fowler Brotherhood

The law of Magdeburg, on whose authority Kraków received its charter, imposed on residents a duty to defend their city. This is why Kraków developed its sharpshooters’ association, like in many other cities of mediaeval Poland and Europe. Known popularly under the name of The Fowler Brotherhood, it was established most probably in the 14th century as an organisation that gathered men of various guilds, whose members prepared the townsfolk to hold the walls. The name comes from the wooden rooster, which was shot at by marksmen during the annual competition organised on the Octave of Corpus Christi. This was a means of not only improving the men’s skills but also to select the most important person in the Brotherhood, as the winner was nominated the Fowler King. An additional prize – maintained to this day – was relief from city taxes. The brotherhood had its articles of association already in 1564, and a year later it received as a gift from the City Council, even though according to tradition, the donor was King Sigismundus Augustus (Zygmunt August) himself – a Fowl made of silver. The original is part of a museum collection, while the successive Fowler Kings are symbolically entrusted with a copy.

Celestat (German: Zielstat) became the seat of the brotherhood and their training ground in the 15th century. The house of the brotherhood and the shooting range, which for a few centuries stood behind the Mikołajska Gate, were visited by many eminent guests, including kings. Unfortunately after the defeat of the Kościuszko Uprising in 1794 and the capture of the city by the Prussian army, the Celestat burned down. Soon (1807) the brotherhood was suspended, only to be reactivated in the Free City of Kraków in 1831, with its new temporary seat being the Palace and Park in Łobzów.

Soon the then Fowler King, Józef Louis, purchased a garden in Wesoła (east of the city centre, close to today’s Lubicz Street ) and earmarked it for a shooting range. The New Celestat – standing in the garden that has since been known as Strzelecki (that is, “the shooters’”) – was built in 1837 to the design of Tomasz Majewski. The new Gothic stately home with brick fronts was expanded twice in later years: in 1874–1875 when the ballroom was added, and in 1911 – with the addition of a bowling alley and a winter shooting range. During the first world war, the building was requisitioned by the Austrian army, and in 1940 the Nazis turned it into a barracks.

After the second world war, the Communist authorities considered the operation of the brotherhood as being “redundant and class alien” and decided to liquidate it for good in 1951. Celestat went into the hands of the “Olsza” Sports Club, and the garden became the property of the State Treasury. Even though the brotherhood was reinstituted in 1957, the election of the first post-war Fowler King did not take place until 1964. The protracted effort to regain Celestat ended successfully in 1991. Today, the renovated residence houses a branch of the Historical Museum of the City of Kraków, which includes a collection that elucidates the rich history of the Fowler brotherhood.