Cultural property protection in Poland

Cultural property protection (Polish: ochrona zabytków) in Poland According to Polish law, a cultural property item (Polish: zabytek; its plural form, Polish: zabytki, means cultural property)[nb 1] is defined as an "immovable or a movable item, their parts or complexes, which are human creations or their byproducts, serving as a testimony of a past epoch or event, and whose preservation is in the societal interest due to their historical, artistic or scientific value.

"[1] The designation has sometimes also colloquially been used by humanities and arts scholars in a meaning incompatible with the legal definition, extended to cover also selected intangible cultural heritage item types, in particular language, works of literature and music compositions (other than historical manuscripts, pieces of rare or historical editions, or historical documents, considered cultural property items), but its usage in such meaning has mainly been confined to professional jargon in humanities and the arts, while not being prevalent in everyday language.

The increase in public awareness in Poland of cultural heritage after the damage done during World War II, was largely the work of Jan Zachwatowicz, the Polish signatory of the Venice Charter.

In addition, selected units of territorial self-government: gminas, cities with county rights and counties have used an option to appoint a communal, municipal, city or county cultural property conservator (Polish: gminny, miejski lub powiatowy konserwator zabytków) [nb 2], with some tasks of the voivodeship conservator usually delegated to such an official under an agreement with the respective voivode, while the heads of the maritime offices are the first-tier organs in matters concerning maritime cultural property.

Other state bodies may also be designated a first-tier organ in specific, justified cases on an ad hoc basis.