Figure 1.--Here we see a Polish family, I believe from Olmütz. I'm not sure if this was in the Polish area under Prussian or Austrian administration. The caption here reads "Rudolf Weigl (siedzi w bialym ubranku) z siostra Lili i bratem Fryderykiem (ok. 1888 r.)" I think that means that the children are named Rudolf Weigl, Lili, and Fryderykiem. Lili was a a girl and the other two boys. Lili is in the middle. Notice the great family dog. Click on the image to see the children a few years later.

Polish nationalists were hopeful that a new Polish nation would rise out of the defear of Austria, Prussia, and Russia in the Napoleonic Wars. Napoleon's victories allowed him to create the Duchy of Warsaw (1807-15) outside of the new Confederation of the Rhine. We know little about the Duchy at this time. The Duchy was established by the Treaties of Tilsit (July 7 and 9, 1807). The Duchy while not a kingdom. The duchy consisted originally of the major portion of the Prussian and Austrian areas with Polish populations. Napoleon's defeat in Russia in the Winter of 1812-13 doomed the Poles hope for a new nation. The three European empires restablished their authority after Napoleon's defeat. This meant that there was no Polish state, but there was a Polish people. Each had differing policies on the ability of national groups to express their nationalism, but all in one way or the other sought to supress Polish nationalism. Yet through two centuries of foreign domination, Poland remained alive in the hearts of her people. The idea of Poland was maintained by language, culture, and the Catholic church. Poland and Ireland, two conquered peoples, became the most Catholic countries in Europe. The efforts of Austria, Prussian, and Russian officials and the division of Poles among the three great empires would seem to have complicated the development of destinctive Polish styles. I do not have any information on the boys clothing during this period. I believe it was basically the same style of clothes that were commonly worn in Austria, Germany, and Russia at the time. Thus the primary influence seems to have been Austrian and Germany. This would have been particularly true of wealty Poles. We also believe that French fashions were of some importance among the upper classes. We do not know about any destinctive Polish styles, but our information is still very limited. We have very few 19th century Polish images in our achive. Hopefully our Polish readers will provide us some additional information.

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Created: March 29, 2004
Last updated: March 29, 2004