Kirchmayerowie, wpływowa familia krakowska

Abstract

THE KIRCHMAYERS, AN INFLUENTIAL KRAKÓW FAMILY

The Kirchmayers were a well-known, wealthy merchant and banker family. They originated from Germany or Austria, whence they came to Poland in the 18th century. In Kraków, they were occupied with trade and finance, which allowed them to accumulate a considerable fortune. The family owned one of the biggest stores in the city, located at 44 Market Square, and the F.J. Kirchmayer and Son banking house. They also dealt in farming and food processing in the estates they bought near Kraków. In their Galician life, however, they became famous not only for their entrepreneurship, resourcefulness, greatwealth and numerous adroitly run businesses, but also forscandals on a national scale. The so-called Kirchmayercrash shocked the public opinion of the entire Austro-Hungarian monarchy to such an extent that it became the subject of literary works by, among others, Józef Ignacy Kraszewski and Michał Bałucki. According to Kazimierz Girtler, a prominent memoirist of the time, Wincenty Antoni Kirchmayer miraculously dodged the axes of enraged commoners after he had bought out the notes of the Bank of Poland at half price during the November Uprising, which he later managed to return at face value. Nevertheless, the Kirchmayers earned social respect and a high position both in Kraków and its vicinity. They were related to, among others, the Matejko and Łoś families. The popular 19th-century writer Wincenty Łoś and his younger sister, Baroness Maria Hagen-Schwerin, also a writer, were born of the union of Euzebia Kirchmayer and Count Adam Łoś.