A Town
of Collectors

- You have been elected mayor for another term. This means that the policy of local authorities enjoy the support of the public. How are things going to develop?
- The first direct election in the 3rd Republic of Poland have proved that it was worth living according to the motto, which is still present in my life, "honest and hard work." I have been sworn in for another four years, and for this reason I am going to focus solely on those objectives that will work to the benefit of municipality residents. Thus, we are going to extend the municipal landfill and start the operations of a sorting plant. The biogas from the landfill will be used to produce electrical power. This will increase the municipality's income and allow us to establishing a junior high school in Krośniewice, which will be a part of our educational system, which will include a senior high school, junior high school and sports hall. I am also going to introduce investment objectives into the municipality budget, which will raise the quality of the residents' lives. Moreover, I am planning to give a lot of attention to information policy that will make clear the opportunities connected with Poland's joining the EU, which constitutes a great chance for rural municipalities.

Urząd Gminy w Krośniewicach/
Krośniewice
Municipality Office
ul. Poznańska 5,
99-340 Krośniewice
tel. (024) 252-30-24,
252-30-25
fax (024) 254-77-82
e-mail: krosniewice@gminy.pl

- The convenient location of your settlement at the edge of the Ziemia Łęczycka, near the Kujawy and Mazury Regions, influenced the foundation of Krośniewice. Does the location still influence the general image of the municipality?
- Because of the main transportation junctions, the town and the municipality are constantly developing. Domestic routes 1 and 2, which are also the main international roads, cross there. This is why Krośniewice is often called the hub of Europe. There are plans to build a Krośniewice beltway in 2005. We also have excellent railway connections to Western and Eastern Europe. The Berlin-Poznań-Warsaw-Moscow railway line via the Krzewie Station runs 2 kilometers to the south of Krośniewice. There is also another great tourist attraction, a narrow-gauge railway, called the Krośniewicka Access Narrow-Gauge Railway, which reaches the town of Krośniewice. We saved it from closing down in 2002. All the lines are available for organized tourist trips with antique engines and carriages.
- Important historical events usually generate a tourist industry in towns and municipalities. Do you make use of the fact that General Władysław Anders was born in Krośniewice?
- This fact is commemorated with the plate on the wall of the house where General Anders was born. However, Krośniewice is also the birthplace of Jerzy Dunin-Borkowski, the hetman of Polish collectors, who was a descendant of Marcello Baciarelli, Stanisław II August Poniatowski's painter. Dunin-Borkowski started collecting antiques in his childhood. In 1978, he handed his collection over to Professor Stanisław Lorenc, director of the National Museum in Warsaw. Krośniewice is home to the famous Jerzy Dunin-Borkowski's Museum and to the National Collectors' Festival. Another tourist attraction is the Prince Józef Poniatowski's Obelisk, the oldest in Europe. There are also numerous 19th-century mansions, a wooden church that on June 2nd, 2002 held a mass broadcast worldwide. We are opening a new Information Center in the first quarter of this year. However, Krośniewice stands not only for tourism. We have attractive investment sites, a municipal landfill and ample electrical power supply. We invite you to use these attributes of our municipality.

Interviewer: Anna Zatorska