Biskupin, Poland - open air museum 1960s postcard

Postcard

 

• Picture / Image:  Biskupin [Poland] - an open air museum
• Publisher:  Biuro Wydawnicze 'Ruch'
• Postally used:  no
• Stamp:  n/a
• Postmark(s):  n/a
• Sent to:  n/a
• Notes & Key words:  slight wear 

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Postage & Packing:

UK (incl. IOM, CI & BFPO): 99p

Europe: £1.60

Rest of world (inc. USA etc): £2.75

No additional charges for more than one postcard. You can buy as many postcards from me as you like and you will just pay the fee above once. (If buying postcards with other things such as books, please contact or wait for invoice before paying).

Payment Methods:

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Outside UK: PayPal or Google Checkout ONLY please.   NO non-UK currency checks or money orders (sorry).

NOTE: All postcards are sent in brand new stiffened envelopes which I have bought for the task. These are specially made to protect postcards and you may be able to re-use them. In addition there are other costs to sending so the above charge is not just for the stamp!

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Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information:

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The archaeological open air museum Biskupin is an archaeological site and a life-size model of an Iron Age fortified settlement in north-central Poland (Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship). The site belongs to the Biskupin group of the Lusatian culture. The excavation and the reconstruction of the prehistoric settlement has played an important part in Polish historical consciousness.

The Museum is situated on a marshy peninsula in the Lake Biskupin, ca. 90 km northeast of Poznan, 8 km south of the small town of Znin. It is part of the state archaeological museum in Warsaw.

The site was excavated from 1934 onwards by a team from Poznan University, led by the archaeologists Józef Kostrzewski (1885–1969) and Zdzislaw Rajewski (1907–1974). The first report was published in 1936. By the beginning of 1939, ca. 2,500 m² (26,909.78 sq ft) had been excavated. The settlement soon became famous in Poland, attracting visits from numerous distinguished guests, including officials of the Pilsudski regime, members of the military, and high churchmen such as the primate of Poland. The excavation soon became part of Polish national consciousness, a symbol of the achievements of the Slavonic forebears in prehistoric times. The site was called the "Polish Pompeii" or "Polish Herculaneum". The existence of a prehistoric fortress, 70 km from the German border, was taken to show that the prehistoric "Poles" had held their own against foreign invaders and plunderers as early as the Iron Age. Biskupin came to feature in paintings and popular novels.

When the Germans occupied parts of Poland in the autumn of 1939, Biskupin became part of the Warthegau, an area that German Nationalists claimed to have been "Germanic" since at least the Iron Age (Gustaf Kossinna, Das Weichselland, ein uralter Heimatboden der Germanen, Leipzig, Kabitzsch 1919).

Biskupin was renamed "Urstädt". In 1940, excavations were resumed under the patronage of Heinrich Himmler by the SS-Ahnenerbe under the supervision of Hauptsturmführer Hans Schleiff, a classical archaeologist who was to excavate in Olympia, Greece as well. Schleiff published only two short popular accounts that describe how Germanic tribes overran the 'small Lusatian settlement'. The excavations were continued till 1942. When the Germans retreated, the site was flooded, which ironically led to the good preservation of the ancient timbers. Excavations were resumed by Polish archaeologists after the war and lasted till 1974.