Online-Ausstellungen
Click in the map to show places
Pages Pages Full text Full text

Kasimir Zgorecki (1904-1980) – from Recklinghausen to the pantheon of French photography

Ruhr Pole – Westfalczyk – Westphalian – three descriptions for the life of Kasimir Zgorecki, who was born in Recklinghausen in 1904. The son of Polish emigrants from the region around Poznań, he grew up in Herne and, after training as a coppersmith, initially followed his father into mining. Until he was 18, Zgorecki’s childhood was influenced by the Polish “strongholds” in the west, with everyday life in his family involving Polish language and culture and membership of numerous clubs and associations. These clubs and associations endeavoured to preserve Polish life in all its diversity in order to hang on to traditions from the homeland with morality and order.

The Zgorecki family emigrated to the northern French mining region of the Pas-de-Calais in 1922. Kasimir soon decided against a professional career as a miner. He began to take photographs and took over his brother-in-law’s photography studio in Rouvroy. His photographs became very popular in France and have been exhibited in various art museums since the 1990s.

In 2019, the Louvre-Lens museum of art exhibited several of his photographs, with the French press dubbing Kasimir Zgorecki a “contemporary witness” of Polish life in northern France. The fact that his work has received such broad acclaim can be attributed to a chance find by a member of his family in 1990.

Karzimierz Zgórecki: Self-portrait, photograph 1994, private ownership
Kazimierz Zgórecki: Self-portrait (self-portrait 1994), black and white photograph, print 2019, privately owned by the family, published in the Louvre-Lens exhibition catalogue
©
Frédéric Lefever © adagp / Frédéric Lefever

The Zgorecki family in Recklinghausen-Hochlarmark
 

In 1870, Recklinghausen was connected to the already quite extensive rail network and this made the journey from the eastern provinces much easier.[9] As a result, the population of Recklinghausen had almost doubled by 1885 when the town had 75,000 inhabitants. By 1905 there were around 300,000 inhabitants.[10] It is assumed that the first “Ruhr Poles” did not establish themselves in Recklinghausen until after the depression in the 1880s and 1890s because, to this point, the sinking of the mines had not required much labour and any labour that was needed was recruited from the surrounding areas.[11]

Kasimir Zgorecki’s birth certificate reveals that he was born in Hochlarmark on 1 June 1904 (see Fig. 2). Both of his parents are also entered on the certificate and his Catholic denomination is noted. The certificate can still be viewed today in the Recklinghausen City Archives. Around this time, the district’s image was undergoing continuous change and was developing in line with the migration so that it could offer the many miners and their families accommodation in the direct vicinity of their workplaces.  Whilst the Zgorecki family continued to live in Recklinghausen-Hochlarmark for another three years after Kasimir’s birth, construction of the well known ‘triangle housing estate’ began in 1901 and was finished in 1907. It was constructed to house the large number of miners at the Clerget II mine (later named Recklinghausen II)[12] and got its name from the geometric arrangement of the streets.  Around the turn of the century, the triangle housing estate also had cheap accommodation in which livestock could also be kept.[13] Built by Harper AG, this housing estate was made up of 130 houses and 400 apartments and was considered a state-of-the-art showcase for migrant life.[14] Everyday life in the colonies, however, also meant that the Ruhr Poles kept themselves to themselves and were somewhat isolated from the locals.

 

[9] Matthias Kordes: Wohnen, Leben und Arbeiten von Fremden im Revier, p. 285.

[10] Matthias Kordes: Wohnen, Leben und Arbeiten von Fremden im Revier, p. 286.

[11] Werner Burghardt: Die polnischen Arbeiter sind…fleißig und haben einen ausgeprägten Erwerbssinn, p. 403f.

[12] cf. Werner Burghardt: Die polnischen Arbeiter sind…fleißig und haben einen ausgeprägten Erwerbssinn, p. 405.

[13] Werner Burghardt: Die polnischen Arbeiter sind…fleißig und haben einen ausgeprägten Erwerbssinn, p. 405.

[14] Matthias Kordes: Wohnen, Leben und Arbeiten von Fremden im Revier, p. 286.

Kazimierz Zgórecki: Self-portrait (self-portrait 1994), black and white photograph, print 2019, privately owned by the family, published in the Louvre-Lens exhibition catalogue
©
Frédéric Lefever © adagp / Frédéric Lefever
Read full text on one page
Media library

  • Fig. 1: Self-portrait, 1920s

    Kasimir Zgorecki: Self-portrait, photograph, 1920s

  • Fig. 2: Birth certificate, 1904

    Kasimir Zgorecki’s birth certificate, certificate, 1904

  • Fig. 3: Registration card, 1907

    The Zgorecki family’s registration card, document, 1907

  • Fig. 4: Herner address book, 1912

    The Zgorecki family’s address, address book, 1912

  • Fig. 5: Herne address book, 1914

    The Zgorecki family’s address, address book, 1914

  • Fig. 6: Bahnhofstraße in Herne, date unknown

    The town centre in Herne, photograph, author and date unknown

  • Fig. 7: Colour postcard of Bahnhofstraße in Herne, ca. 1912

    The town centre in Herne, postcard, author unknown, ca. 1912

  • Fig. 8: Sokół, date unknown

    Sokół presentation at a festival, photograph, date unknown

  • Fig. 9: “Kraft” advertisement, date unknown

    Advertisement for the “Kraft” photography studio, advert, date unknown

  • Fig. 10: Herne address book, 1912

    Addresses in Herne, address book, 1912

  • Fig. 11: Parade in Herne, date unknown

    Parade in the Polish quarter, photograph, author and date unknown

  • Fig. 12: Call against radical ‘Polishness’, 1920

    Call against radical ‘Polishness’, newspaper advert, 1920

  • Fig. 13: The Zgorecki family in France, 1920s

    Kasimir Zgorecki and his family, photograph, 1920s

  • Fig. 14: Portrait of a woman, 1920s

    Portrait of a young woman, photograph, 1920s

  • Fig. 15: Gymnastics club, 1930s

    Photograph of a gymnastics club, photograph, 1930s

  • Fig. 16: Family celebration, 1930s

    Photograph of family celebrations, photograph, 1930s

  • Fig. 17: Parade, 1930s

    Festivities in the streets of Northern France, photograph, 1930s

  • Fig. 18: Nativity scene, 1930s

    Photograph of a nativity scene, photograph, 1930s

  • Fig. 19: Grieving family, 1930

    Photograph of a grieving family, photograph, 1930

  • Fig. 20: Post-mortem photograph, 1930s

    Photograph of a deceased child, photograph, 1930s
Porta Polonica