Cultural heritage and tradition
The Citi Handlowy Leopold Kronenberg Foundation

Protection of Polish cultural heritage is one of The Citi Handlowy Leopold Kronenberg Foundation's key areas of interest.

The primary activity in this field is the awarding of the Aleksander Gieysztor Award. In this way for 17 years we have been honoring especially deserving individuals and institutions in the field of cultural heritage protection. The award is given for outstanding achievements in the protection of Polish cultural heritage, in particular for museum and conservation activities as well as efforts to collect items related to Polish culture. The aim of this activity is to promote and support those who take action to protect works of Polish culture, both at home and abroad.

Through the "Roots" program, the Foundation remembers the life and achievements of Leopold Kronenberg and his heirs. In 2011 the Foundation launched a project aimed at finding and digitalizing documents concerning the history of Bank Handlowy w Warszawie and the Kronenberg family.

Over the years the Foundation has also undertaken several projects essential for Polish culture. In 1998 it purchased and donated to the National Museum in Warsaw a collection of 19th-century silver objects, currently exhibited in The Citi Handlowy Leopold Kronenberg Silver Cabinet. In 2006-2008 it collaborated on a project to identify the grave of Nicolaus Copernicus, which ended with confirmation of the discovery of the astronomer's ashes. In 2010 it recovered and donated to the Royal Castle in Warsaw a valuable painting by Wojciech Gerson "Resting in a Tatra Shed", which belonged to Leopold Kronenberg and was lost during the war. In 2012 it recovered the painting "Negress" by Anna Bilińska-Bohdanowiczowa, which was also lost during the war.

The aim of Recovery of Polish Art program is to recover art pieces looted from Polish collections during WW II. Recovered items are passed to their original owner or their legal successor.

ArtSherlock application is the first solution of this kind, which will totally revolutionize identification of works of art stolen during the war. Thanks to it, it will be possible to automatically recognize the object solely on the basis of a photograph taken by means of a mobile phone.