2010-02-07 Horse-drawn vehicles

Jan Wzorek from Krajna has been collecting horse-drawn vehicles for 40 years. His collection amounts to 70 exhibits. Among them are gala britzkas with basket-work body (wasągi), britzkas with rear wheels twice the usual size and which looks as if it were pushed by a devil (czortopchajka), peasant household vehicles, elegant britzkas and carriages dating back to 1900-1939.

The first item in Jan Wzorek’s collection with a cab, which he inherited after his great-grandfather – a coachman himself. In 1925 the ancestor of the owner of the museum used to carry with it Stefan Żeromski throughout Kielecczyzna. Each vehicle is a story and a source of memories.

Several of the curiosities are: britzka from the Warsaw Uprising, used for the transportation of the wounded, or major “Ponury’s” reconnaissance britzka.

There is also a four-wheeled fire engine with a lift-and-force pump and a carriage from 1920 called “linijka”, used by administrators for watching over peasants working on a field.

There are elegant carriages and simple wooden axe-hewn peasant carts. The oldest exhibit is a carriage from St. Petersburg from 1897, the latest dates back to mid-20th century.

A unique exhibit, the wagonette “Bałagułka” produced in 1900 was driven by Polish gentry from country’s eastern regions: Wołyń and Podole.

Around 80% of exhibits are vehicles produced and used in the Świętokrzyskie region. In the countryside of Kielce region the horse and the cart were not only a means of transport, but they also served as evidence of affluence of or peasant, townsman or nobleman. It was a serious capital investment and would frequently serve as good material for bride’s dowry.

A good landlord, besides a solidly contracted household cart, desired to own a ceremonial wasąg or a gala britzka ordered from the local craftsman. Peasant household vehicles, as well as  ceremonial vehicles used for longer travels were characterized by a solid workmanship. This was recognizable in terms of the wooden contraction and iron fittings.

Manor vehicles were much more sumptuous, bigger and more diversified. This concerned britzkas, carriages, two-wheeled vehicles, as well as those designated for winter. The collected vehicles present the history of horse-drawn means of transport from the period between 1900 and 1950. They depict life and culture of peasants, townsmen and noblemen from that period.

The exhibits from Jana Wzorka’s collection can be seen in the Museum of Horse-drawn Manor and Kieleckie Coutry Vehicles (Muzeum Pojazdów Konnych Dworu i Wsi Kieleckiej)
/pik.kielce.pl/ .