Wentzl / Vencelík z Vrchoviště

Trade Card - Johann Georg Wentzel und Sohn - courtesy of The Rothschild Collection, Waddeson Manor

FUNDACJA FAMILIJNA RODZINY WENTZLÓW

In her Testament, Anna Laskowska (ńee Wentzl) established the Wentzl Family Foundation and bequeathed to it the tenement house at the Market Square (no. 19) and the company "J. Wentzl”, which should remain the property of the Family Foundation forever and cannot under any circumstances be transferred to a third party. The Wentzl Family Family Foundation is also the owner of the Wentzl trademark (Details PWP Z.418548 / R.277717).

The Testament of Anna Laskowska stated that the purpose of the Family Foundation was to use its income to provide material assistance to the descendants of Anna's cousin - Maria Waleria Moczarska (née Wentzl) (1854 - 1937) and her husband Ludwik Moczarski (1831 - 1901), the descendants of Józef Rostafiński and descendants of Józef Stummer, in each of these cases until the final extinction of the line. The named children of Ludwik Moczarski and Maria Waleria Moczarska (née Wentzl) were: Professor Zygmunt Adolf Moczarski, Maria Waleria Zawadzka (aka Zawodska) (née Moczarska, Helena Około-Kułak (née Moczarska) and Wanda Peszke (née Moczarska). There are living descendants of these lines, all belonging to the group of beneficiaries of the Wentzl Family Foundation and all coming from the Wentzl family.

Family members who, in accordance with the Testament of Anna Laskowska, belong to the group of potential beneficiaries of the Wentzl Family Family Foundation, may contact: Gajek i Wspólnicy law firm. Lawyers and legal advisors. sp. k. based in Warsaw for further information or support.

By the decision of the District Court for Kraków Śródmieście, 6th Civil Department in Kraków of November 18, 2020 (ref. no. VI Ns 378/19) in the case filed by the Minister of Family, Labor and Social Policy against the Management Board of the Wentzl Family Family Foundation, following applications from family members to the Minister, the Court found that the adoption of resolutions by the Foundation's management board regarding the award of remuneration to management board members constituted a violation of the provisions of the Foundation's statute and therefore these resolutions were repealed by the Court hearing the case. The Court also reminded in the justification for the decision that, in accordance with the Founder's Testament, the Foundation's assets may never be sold. Among the objectives of the Foundation, the Court drew attention to the need for the existence of a restoration fund intended for the restoration of the historic tenement house at 19 Main Market Square, which, however, cannot be superior to the objective of providing material assistance. The Foundation appealed against the above decision, but the District Court in Krakow, 2nd Civil Department, in its decision of October 12, 2021 (reference number II Ca 383/21), dismissed the Foundation's appeal, and thus the decision of the District Court became final.

In the event that all family lines entitled to receive benefits expire, Anna decided that the income of the Family Foundation should be allocated to benefits for elderly Roman Catholic women from good homes who are, either temporarily or permanently, in a difficult financial situation. Funds were also provided for the upkeep and maintenance of the tenement house.

Under the Testament, the first members of the Foundation Council were Anna's husband, Franciszek Laskowski, Dr. Antoni Mazanek, Anna's lawyer and executor of her will, and Jerzy Władysław Zawodski, who died in Buchenwald in 1942. He was the son of Franciszek Zawodski (1873 - 1956) and Maria Waleria Zawodska (ńee Moczarska).

Anna indicated that future members of the Council are to be selected from among well-known and respected people who guarantee that they will work in the direction set out in her Testament.

The family was not involved in the selection or appointment of the Management Board of the Family Foundation (Wentzl Family Family Foundation), or the selection of tenants of the property located at Rynek Główny 19 in Krakow owned by the Foundation, and has no influence on the activities undertaken by the Foundation.

As a result of World War II and the resulting unfavorable political and legal environment in Poland, the Wentzl Family Foundation and its legal title to the tenement house at number 19 on the Main Market Square were formally confirmed by Polish courts only on October 16, 1998. Stefan Moczarski started the process of seeking to recover the Foundation and its properties in 1993, confirming the appointment of an official Curator for this purpose.