BIESZCZADZKIE BACÓWKI
What the bacówki look like today—and more importantly, what function they serve—certainly differs from Edward Moskała’s original, idealized vision. With the arrival of capitalism, the possibility of building new huts for wanderers escaping the noise of civilization also came to an end. Over time, the existing shelters had to face an increasingly commercialized world.
Despite this, they still stand and continue to bring joy to hikers weary from their journeys. Leszek Patraj—a qualified hiker and frequent visitor to the bacówki—described the atmosphere that prevails in them today in a remarkable way.
according to the idea of Edward Moskała
I remember asking Edward how the design of the bacówka—that small mountain shelter which later became so popular—came to be. As always with Moskała, it happened in an unconventional way, during a conversation at a café table in the Zakopane establishment “Gazda.” There were three of them: Edward Moskała, Jerzy Klimiński – the director of ZRB in Zakopane, and engineer Karpiel.
“I threw out the idea,” Edward Moskała recalled, “for small shelters. I shared my vision—I could see it, I had it in my mind. I gave it its appearance, its family atmosphere, because it was meant to be run by a family, not ‘officials’ on a contract.”
