Before arriving in Poland, I did not know much about the pianist Frederic Chopin, except that I could play one of his Nocturnes on the piano.
As I discovered quite quickly upon arriving in Poland, Chopin was from Poland, and the Poles are very proud of sharing their nationality with him. You can find information about Chopin all over Warsaw—for example, there are 15 benches around the city dedicated to him; each bench plays one of his pieces and gives a little blurb of information about him.
The most interesting thing that I found out about Chopin in Poland is that he died and was buried in Paris...but his heart is in Poland. He was terrified about being buried alive, so he ordered that when he died, his heart should be cut out and brought to Poland. Now it is inside a pillar in a church in Warsaw which we visited.
Our last day in Poland, we visited the Chopin museum in Warsaw. It is in a beautiful building, the Ostrogski Palace. The Chopin Museum outlined the history of Chopin's life, and it contained various letters from Chopin to friends and family, many original manuscripts of his work, and multiple pictures and sculptures of him. My favorite parts of the museum were the manuscripts and the opportunity to listen to many of his pieces, which were so beautiful.
Though this trip to Poland was mainly about getting Polish Pottery and learning about the war, I loved learning about this amazing composer!
~Maddie
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