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Author:
Andrzej Kotowiecki
Abstract
Outline of the History of the Guild of Crafts and the Multi-branch Craftsmen’s Cooperative in Wadowice. Part One: The Guild of Crafts in Wadowice
During the interwar period, numerous craft guilds operated in Wadowice, including those of carpenters, shoemakers, tailors, and bakers, functioning alongside chambers of crafts established in 1927. The guilds maintained religious traditions, possessed their own banners and patron saints, and these customs survived until the second half of the twentieth century. Following the reforms of 1867–1868, Jewish craftsmen were also able to settle in the town, and in the interwar period they constituted a significant professional group. Many well-known craft workshops of various specializations operated in Wadowice, both Christian and Jewish, and their activity had a substantial impact on the town’s economic and social life.
After the Second World War, craftsmen, restricted by the communist authorities, organized themselves into guilds and cooperatives, which were repeatedly reorganized between 1945 and 1970. The Guild in Wadowice played an important economic, social, and cultural role, supported vocational education, and undertook numerous social initiatives. In the following decades, structural changes took place, along with the integration of crafts at the national level and the further development of the guild’s activities, culminating in the construction of the Craftsmen’s House. The Multi-Trade Crafts Cooperative, founded in 1952, survived the systemic transformations after 1989, changing its activity profile to advisory and accounting services, and continues to operate to this day, albeit on a limited scale.
Keywords: Wadowice; Craft Guild; Craftsmen Cooperative; Local Crafts; Craft History
Pages
155 – 209
Bibliography:
Gil H.Cz. Życie gospodarcze w Wadowicach 1918–1939, „Wadoviana. Przegląd Historyczno-Kulturalny”, 2004, nr 8, s. 10–27.
Iwańska K., Rozwój osadnictwa żydowskiego w Wadowicach, „Wadoviana. Przegląd Historyczno-Kulturalny”, 2005, nr 9, s. 5–10.
Klima T., Przywileje i statuta cechów wadowickich, „Sprawozdanie C.K. Gimnazjum w Wadowicach za rok szkolny 1904”, s. 3–46.