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cater to the needs of the newly reconstituted Polish governmental authorities, as the pałace became the official seat of the Council of Ministers.

During World War II the Germans transformed the pałace into a casino and hotel which in fact saved the building from being destroyed. After WWII the pałace once again became the seat of the Council of Ministers. In 1955 the Warsaw Pact treaty was signed here and in 1989 the Polish Round Table Agreement. The pałace has been the office of the President of Poland from 1993.

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After the death of Chopin’s older sister Ludwika, his younger sister Izabella who lived in the pałace was left with the souvenirs of her brother. In 1863 Count Berg, the Tsar’s viceroy, was shot from the pałace Windows. In retribution all the inhabitants of the pałace were evicted and all their belongings were destroyed. Among the items thrown out of the Windows and bumt was the composer’s piano. C.K. Norwid commemorated this dramatic moment in a famous poem. Today there is a plaąue on the wali of the building to remind passers-by of this event.

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This late Baroąue pałace constructed in the mid 18th century was once the property of Teodor Wessl, the Treasurer, and from 1780 for over a hundred years it was the Post Office headąuarters. It was from here that on October 2, 1830 Frederic Chopin left for famę - to Vienna and further to Paris. He took with him a handful of soil from his fatherland, a diary with entries by his acquaintances and friends, and scores and letters of recommendation. He never retumed to his homeland. In the following years the building housed the editorial offices of popular papers such as: ‘Kurier Codzienny’ (Daily Courier) and ‘Tygodnik Ilustrowany’ (Weekly Illustrated). The building bumt down during the Warsaw Uprising in 1944. It was restored to its 19th-century appearance after the war. Today it is the seat of the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Institute of Justice.

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The most famous monument in the world of the composer is located in the Royal Łazienki Park in front of the gate to Ujazdowskie Avenue near the Belweder. The monument is among the most recognized symbols of Warsaw. It has been reproduced numerously. The most famous of these, a 1:1 copy, is in Japan. The construction of the Warsaw monument was planned as early as the end of the 19th century but the difficulty of obtaining a permit from the Tsarist authorities, and the necessary funds, and finally the outbreak of the First World