MACIEJ SZYMCZYK, RAINER SACHS, RAFAŁ EYSYMONTT, JAN BAŁCHAN, MONOGRAPH ON THE PAPER MILL IN DUSZNIKI-ZDRÓJ, DUSZNIKI-ZDRÓJ 2018, PP. 407

Abstract

The historic paper mill in Duszniki-Zdrój (Lower Silesia Voivodeship) was granted Poland’s Historic Monument status in 2011, which confirms the complex’s historic and artistic worth. Currently, attempts are made to make it enter the prestigious UNESCO World Heritage List, actually together with the Czech Velke Losiny paper mill and the German one in Homburg. It should also be borne in mind that in 2018 Poland’s only Museum of Papermaking located on its premises celebrated 50 years of its existence. The Museum’s employees, headed by Maciej Szymczyk PhD, have recently been extremely successful as far as organization, investments, displays, and publications are concerned. As for the latter, preparations for an extensive Monograph on the Paper Mill in Duszniki-Zdrój have to be pointed to; the book is an academic attempt at presenting the facility’s complex history, beginning from the 16th century, as well the individuals related to it; furthermore, efforts to preserve the precious facility and its adaptation to serve museum purposes are described. The presented publication can be viewed as a successful crowning of the todate research, providing solid grounds for the documentation to support the UNESCO List entry application. The strongly factual and richly illustrated monograph should be analyzed on various levels, one of them speaking of the effect of the coherent and consistent activities of museologists.