Napoleon Bonaparte

Great history entered Wierzbowa Street within the walls of the English Hotel in the person of Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte in December 1812. This was the Emperor’s third visit to Warsaw. For fans of famous romances, the earlier visits are better known: in December 1806 and during the Carnival of 1807, when Bonaparte fell in love with the Polish noblewoman Maria Walewska. A little-known fact is that Madame Walewska learned French and piano from Nicolas Chopin, the father of the renowned Polish composer Fryderyk Chopin. Interestingly, Fryderyk Chopin was the same age as Alexander, Bonaparte’s illegitimate son with Walewska.

Napoleon’s romance with the beautiful Polish woman was the talk and gossip of all of Europe at the time. Dozens of books and many films were made about it. Notably, in the 1937 Hollywood production Madame Walewska, the role of Madame Walewska was played by the legendary film star Greta Garbo, at the height of her fame. Then, on December 10, 1812, Napoleon himself arrived incognito at the English Hotel on Wierzbowa Street in a modest sleigh carriage. Warsaw was experiencing a harsh winter, with chroniclers recording a temperature of -16°C that day. The severe frost was thwarting the plans for the conquest of Russia, as the Great Army was retreating from Moscow to France.

• We know quite a bit about Napoleon’s visit, as the memoirs of Tomasz Gąsiorowski, the then-owner of the English Hotel, have survived. This visit was connected to the retreat from the failed Russian campaign. Napoleon’s adjutant, Captain Count Wąsowicz of the Light Horse regiment, requested lodging for Duke Caulaincourt, as they did not want to officially announce the Emperor’s visit. Gąsiorowski initially refused, as hotels and restaurants were tired of hosting the light horsemen on unpaid credit, and French guests were notoriously demanding. On occasion, dishes they didn’t like were thrown out the window along with the plate. Despite his resistance, Gąsiorowski was persuaded by Count Wąsowicz to host the French guest. Since the temperature had dropped to -16°C, the rooms were heated, fortunately—because the mysterious guest turned out to be none other than Napoleon Bonaparte himself, says Rafał Bielski, founder of Skarpa Warszawska and a Warsaw historian.

Caulaincourt recalls that Napoleon was very pleased with his return to Warsaw. He declined the planned stay at the French Embassy and requested to be taken to the English Hotel, driving through Krakowskie Przedmieście. He even expressed a desire for a walk. “I’d like to be on this street again, as I once watched a splendid parade here.” The Emperor stepped out of the carriage, and Caulaincourt describes it: “(…) the Emperor’s magnificent velvet green cloak with gold embroidery caught the attention of a few humble passersby. They turned to look but didn’t stop, hurrying home to their fireplaces. He would have been hard to recognize anyway, as he wore a green hood, also of velvet, and a fur cap that covered half his face…”

Finally, a frozen Napoleon arrived at 11 a.m. at the English Hotel on Wierzbowa Street. “(…) he entered a small, low-ceilinged room where it was bitterly cold. A maid, kneeling, was blowing on the fire made of damp wood, which resisted her efforts, releasing more moisture into the chimney than warmth into the room…” (quote from Caulaincourt). Ambassador Dominique Pradt was called to the hotel and brought a bottle of fine Bordeaux, while hotel owner Tomasz Gąsiorowski, who remembered Napoleon from the Italian campaign, offered the house specialty for warmth—a homemade horseradish vodka. Napoleon, curious, savored the unknown taste for a moment, then drained the glass and exclaimed with delight: “By God! This is a true elixir that warms both the body and the mind! We needed this on the march to Moscow.”

Did the Emperor recall his orders from March 1807? “(…) those 300,000 rations of biscuits and those 18 or 20 thousand quarts of vodka that could be delivered to us within a few days will undo the plans of all the powers…” he wrote to Talleyrand, who was residing in Warsaw at the time—bishop, foreign minister, and later prime minister of France.

Before sitting down to the dinner prepared at the hotel, Napoleon summoned representatives of the Polish government and promised he would return to the Vistula in six months. As a parting gesture, he tipped Mr. Gąsiorowski ten Napoleons.

Bonaparte did not visit his beloved Maria on this occasion, but he had already ensured her and their son’s well-being. In 1812, after divorcing Chamberlain Walewski, Maria received estates in the Kingdom of Naples, including 69 farms, a palace in France, and a permanent pension. Less than a month after Napoleon’s visit to the English Hotel, on January 1, 1813, she left for Paris with her two sons, where she soon became friends with Napoleon’s first wife, Josephine. She later had secret meetings with Napoleon, even on the island of Elba, where he was in exile.

In memory of Napoleon’s stay at the English Hotel, a commemorative plaque was funded in the now-independent Polish Republic. For many years, it adorned the building’s façade until it was destroyed during World War II. Soon, a replica will be placed on the exterior of the Elixir restaurant at 9/11 Wierzbowa Street, near Teatralny Square in Warsaw. However, the plaque is not just a historical reminder but also an inspiration for a culinary and historical adventure.