Altarpiece of Veit Stoss
Poles dismantled it crate by crate weeks before Nazi troops crossed the border — and it survived the bombing of Nuremberg in a castle basement.
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A large Gothic altarpiece carved between 1477 and 1489 by Veit Stoss — a German sculptor who lived in Kraków for over 20 years — and Poland's national treasure. Its wartime story is as gripping as the carving: seized on the orders of Hans Frank, recovered in 1946 by a Polish officer attached to the 1st Armoured Division, and finally returned to the basilica in 1957 after major restoration.
What to look for
- The altarpiece positioned behind the high altar — the exact spot it was stripped from before German occupation began
- The Gothic carved panels and statues that Polish prisoners, held in Nuremberg, secretly passed word about to the resistance
- Evidence of its long restoration history — the work has been repaired at least six times, most recently in 2017
Inside St. Mary's Basilica on Kraków's main market square; the altarpiece sits at the far end behind the high altar.
Altarpiece of Veit Stoss is one of 37 sights worth the detour in Krakow, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Krakow pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Krakow
- Wieliczka Salt MineSeven centuries of miners carved chapels and statues out of grey rock salt — 327 metres underground.
- Wawel CathedralPolish kings were crowned here for centuries, and a young priest named Karol Wojtyła said his first Mass in its crypt on 2 November 1946 — thirty-two years before becoming Pope.
- Wawel Royal CastlePolish monarchs were crowned and buried here — the limestone hill above the Vistula is where a nation kept its memory.
- St. Mary's BasilicaEvery hour, a trumpeter plays from the taller tower and stops dead mid-note — commemorating a 13th-century trumpeter who was shot in the throat mid-signal before a Mongol attack on the city.
- Wawel CastlePolish monarchs were crowned and buried here — and their palace now holds Europe's largest collection of Ottoman tents.
- National Museum in KrakówPoland's largest museum holds 780,000 objects — and a Bruegel the Nazis stole in 1939 that never came back.