PGW, Polska Grupa Wierzytelności sp. z o.o.My account
Historical facts about Poland

Money, debt and law in Poland's past.Stories about money and law from Poland's past.

Why a 1936 Act is still in force, who lent money interest-free in Kraków, and where the first unified bankruptcy law came from. Short stories from Polish history about the subjects we deal with every day.Short, verified stories about debts, taxes and courts in Poland's past. Each has its own sources and two illustrations.

Warsaw, Krakowskie Przedmieście in the 1930s: trams outside St Anne’s Church
Warsaw, Krakowskie Przedmieście, 1930s. Photograph: Henryk Poddębski. National Library of Poland.
Debts and creditors19343 min read

The President signs the first unified bankruptcy law

After independence was restored, three legal systems inherited from the partitioning powers applied within a single state. The unified bankruptcy law entered into force on 1 January 1935 and served Poland for almost seventy years.

Read the full storyRead the full story
Share Facebook LinkedIn X WhatsApp
Gdańsk in 1930: the Motława waterfront and the Crane
Gdańsk, Długie Pobrzeże and the Crane, 1930. Photograph: Gottheil & Sohn. National Library of Poland.
Debts and creditors19363 min read

The law on bills of exchange that survived everything

Bills of exchange and promissory notes are among Europe’s oldest securities. Depending on the type, they contain an unconditional order or promise to pay a specified sum. Poland’s Law on Bills of Exchange dates from 1936 and remains in force.

Read the full storyRead the full story
Share Facebook LinkedIn X WhatsApp

All stories

Each has sources below the text and two illustrations.

Louis of Hungary wearing a crown, portrait by Marcello Bacciarelli
Louis of Hungary, portrait by Marcello Bacciarelli, around 1770. Royal Castle in Warsaw.
Levies and taxes1374

Two grosze per łan

Louis of Hungary’s Privilege of Koszyce

Read
Sigismund Augustus, portrait from the workshop of Lucas Cranach the Younger
Sigismund Augustus, workshop of Lucas Cranach the Younger, around 1565. Czartoryski Museum.
Levies and taxes1563

The kwarta levy for the army

The Piotrków Sejm and the kwarta treasury in Rawa

Read
Kazimierz Wojniakowski, Adoption of the Constitution of 3 May: a crowd of deputies in the Sejm chamber
Kazimierz Wojniakowski, ‘Adoption of the Constitution of 3 May’, 1806. National Museum in Warsaw.
Levies and taxes1789

The tenth-grosz contribution

The Four-Year Sejm and the tax that could not be passed on to peasants

Read
Quinten Massys, The Money Changer and His Wife: a man weighs coins while a woman looks through a prayer book
Quinten Massys, ‘The Money Changer and His Wife’, 1514. Louvre.
Money and credit1596

How much interest could be charged?

The ban on usury, sale-and-repurchase arrangements and maximum interest rates

Read
A page from the Balthasar Behem Codex, a collection of Kraków municipal laws from the early 16th century
Balthasar Behem Codex, a collection of Kraków municipal laws, around 1505. Jagiellonian Library.
Debts and creditors1997

Debtor registers after 1997

How the Credit Information Bureau and economic information bureaus came into being

Read
Stephen Báthory in Hungarian dress, portrait by Marcin Kober
Stephen Báthory, portrait by Marcin Kober, 1583.
Law and courts1578

The Crown Tribunal

The king handed final adjudication to the nobility

Read
Casimir the Great after Jan Matejko’s drawing from his series of Polish kings
Casimir the Great, drawing by Jan Matejko from his series of kings, interwar reproduction.
Money and credit1367

The Kraków grosz

Casimir the Great’s monetary reform and prices in Kraków

Read
Władysław Grabski, Prime Minister and Treasury Minister, portrait photograph from 1925
Władysław Grabski, 1925. Photographer unknown.
Money and credit1924

Grabski’s złoty

Currency reform and Bank Polski

Read
Kraków, Main Market Square with the Cloth Hall and Town Hall Tower in Ignacy Krieger’s 1887 photograph
Kraków, Main Market Square with the Cloth Hall, 1887. Photograph: Ignacy Krieger.
Towns and privileges1306

Staple rights

Łokietek, Hungarian copper and Wrocław’s ‘leave whatever you bring’

Read
Malbork, the Teutonic castle seen from the Nogat in a photograph from around 1915
Malbork, castle seen from the Nogat, around 1915. Harris & Ewing, Library of Congress.
Towns and privileges1309

Malbork, the Order’s treasury

The treasurer’s book, credit for knights and the pledge of Dobrzyń Land

Read

Learn about the next steps

How we workSee the next stages of your casePricingCheck the payment termsContactTalk to our team