STUDY ABROAD: Poland_Constitution Day
On the first weekend in May, I was lucky enough to spend a holiday weekend in Krakow. Constitution Day weekend is typically used for vacations, which means that the city’s usual inhabitants are traveling, and Krakow is instead filled with tourists.
There’s a large market in the main square, and many smaller markets throughout the city. Nearly all businesses fly Polish flags over their doors, and even the buses and trams have small flags on top of them. Sales of Polish cuisine increase, and patriotism shows everywhere. There are many parades, some of them small and some quite large. Concerts, political speeches, and even theatrical performances draw large crowds.
In order to understand why these celebrations are so important, it’s good to take a look at the holiday’s – and the country’s – history. Poland, caught in the often tumultuous throes of central Europe, has gone back and forth between being its own country and being split up into pieces claimed by nearby countries over its long lifetime. As you might imagine from its name, the holiday commemorates Poland’s Constitution, created on May 3, 1791. This was a revolutionary event, as it was a new type of constitution, unlike others in Europe at the time. It was similar to the United States' constitution, and was considered very radical in Europe at the time, primarily because it limited the power of the nobles and gave additional rights to the lower classes. However, the constitution did not last long, as its creation angered Poland’s neighbors, who partitioned Poland in 1792, and following a later uprising and re-unification, partitioned the country again in 1795. But the mere existence of the constitution helped Polish citizens aspire for independence.
Celebration of the holiday has varied over the last two and a half centuries. Constitution Day was first celebrated in 1792, marking the year after its enactment. However, there were many times it was not observed. It went uncelebrated during both of its partitions: the years when the Nazis occupied Poland and during the country’s communist rule. Even when it was not observed, citizens still spent the holiday protesting whatever regime prevented the celebration. After the fall of communism, Constitution Day was reinstated as an official holiday. This occurred in 1990, a full 199 years since the Constitution was first enacted.
As you can imagine, the holiday’s history makes its mere existence exciting, and Polish citizens are more than excited to celebrate both their first independence as well as the later freedoms from the many regimes that eventually relinquished their hold on this country. It’s strange to see so many people who live in Krakow leave for the weekend, and so many who live farther away flock to the city for festivities. But no matter who comes and goes, there’s an air of excitement for the entire four day weekend.
A sea of stalls fills the Market Square, each booth selling Polish goods, from lace to nesting dolls, to carved trinkets, to freshly cooked Polish specialties. Crowds of people move slowly through the aisles, pausing to admire the contents of different booths, and carrying bags filled with purchases. Other stalls pop up at different key locations around the city; my favorite was a small market by the river and Wawel Castle, which had many booths catering to children and filled with fun toys, balloons, and cotton candy.
Of course, the markets and streets were lined with Polish flags. Flags fluttered above every business, hung from many ground floor windows, and even made up large parts of the banners above the streets. They were attached to the front of every bus and tram, and sometimes even hanging from trolley windows or placed in the back windows of the buses. And on May 3, just about every person had at least one small flag to wave, although many people had larger ones to use as parades went by – or better yet, to use in the parades themselves.
The parades were the highlight of the day. Some were simple, like a small military parade, with officers on horses, a small band, and a few people dressed in royal garb from the late 1700s. My favorite small parade consisted of about forty people riding horses and dressed in military uniforms, royal dress, and other clothes from the Medieval era.
There was a large military parade, which began at Wawel Castle and marched through the main Market Square. It largely consisted of contemporarily uniformed military men and women, with a large marching band, but it also had a horde of people (important political figures from the looks of it) walking at the end and waving a large collection of Polish flags.
The atmosphere of the holiday was fantastic, especially when you think about the patriotism of a nation that was repeatedly divided between other countries, and repeatedly reunited. You can’t keep the Polish down, and May 3rd certainly proves that.
Allison’s Recommendations for Constitution Day:
It only happens once a day, so you have to do some careful planning to be in Poland (preferably Krakow!) on May 3.
It’s fun to buy a little flag and wave it with everyone else. The flags are very cheap, especially because the US dollar is much stronger than the Zloty.
Take time to wander the streets and find a few markets.
Go to the big market in Market Square; all of the parades go through there, too.
Winter’s finally over, and the sun is finally shining. So bring sunscreen. Don’t ask me how I know.
It seems like everyone buys an ice cream cone and eats it while walking around. Do it – it’s fun.
There’s a market building in the main square. It’s surprisingly large, and there are many interesting booths with good prices on their merchandise.
Enjoy the day. It’s comparable to the 4th of July in the US, so take full advantage of all it has to offer.