Żelaszawa Wola is a Polish village located 46 km from Warsaw in the Masovian Voivodeship. Zhelyazova-Volya is known as the birthplace of the famous composer Frédéric Chopin and violinist Henrik Schering. The village currently has a population of 65.
The first documentary mention of the village dates back to 1579. In 1802, Zhelyazova-Volya was owned by Count Skarbek and his wife. The father of the future composer, Nicolas Chopin, worked as a music teacher for the count’s children. In 1810, nicolas and Justine’s second child, Frédéric Chopin, was born here. The composer’s family lived in the left wing of the Skarbek mansion. Since 1879, the estate passed into the hands of Alexander Pavlovsky, after which, on the initiative of the Russian composer Mily Balakirev, a monument to Chopin was erected in the park according to the project of the architect Bronislaw Zokovsky. During the First World War, the estate was destroyed. In 1926, the Chopin House Society acquired three acres of land around the destroyed building. After the reconstruction work, the estate was restored with a porch and columns.
After the end of the Second World War, a museum dedicated to the memory of Frédéric Chopin was created in the estate. It is worth noting that almost all the exhibits were never associated with the composer’s family or him personally. The modern interior of the estate has little in common with a much more modest view in the early nineteenth century.
Currently, pianists from all over the world come to Żelazowa Wola Park every year to take part in the concerts organized by the museum.
