The Secret Chambers of Poland’s Communist Regime

This former duty room was intended for officers of the Government Protection Bureau, assigned to protect the occupants of the suites. We have turned it into a reading room for architectural plans. Here, you can explore the story behind the building’s design—particularly the vast catering facilities planned for this official state residence.

For almost fifty years, the control room retained every element of its original finish. You can still see the plain suspended ceiling made of aluminium panels. You can also look inside the WC, although the toilet and washbasin have since been removed. Today, it houses a small reference library, which you are welcome to browse while sitting comfortably in the armchair nearby.

Around 1974, plans were being made to create a new post for Edward Gierek: President of the Polish People’s Republic. At the same time, heaven and earth were being moved to establish a modern, luxurious residence in the Castle. The coincidence is, to say the least, intriguing.

Nor is it a coincidence that, before the outbreak of the Second World War, these very rooms in this very wing had been occupied by none other than Ignacy Mościcki, President of the Second Polish Republic. His state rooms, study, dining room and private apartment were all located here. The President of the Polish People’s Republic taking up residence in the Castle would therefore have clearly evoked the building’s place in the history of the Polish state and its centuries-old function as a seat of power.

This room was intended for banquets and cocktail receptions. The guests of Poland’s leaders were to dine on exquisite dishes and drink the finest wines and spirits… But it was a vision that never came to pass.

Are the Castle’s secret chambers the only tangible trace of the communist authorities’ plans—plans seemingly written on water?

Listen to a several-minute excerpt from A Minor Apocalypse. Tadeusz Konwicki published the novel in April 1979. A few months later—in November—the Polish United Workers’ Party finally abandoned its plan to take over one wing of the Castle. The modern banqueting kitchen that the Polish People’s Republic might have taken pride in never went into operation here.

As ever, great literature offers the most perceptive commentary on Polish reality.

## Źródło

- https://sekretnekomnatywladzyludowej.appaudioguide.com/ — wersja English
- Dane odczytane z API aplikacji, stan na 2026-10-05 14:20 (Europe/Warsaw).