He was the father of Julian, a great Polish patriot and participant in the January Uprising, which broke out on January 22, 1863.
Mr. Karol’s Achievements
Karol Godeffroy, having amassed a huge fortune from the lease of the Rabsztyn starostwo, acquired estates in Zborów. He settled there with his family in the local palace, which he successively renovated and refurbished. His wife was Countess Joanna Wessel, with whom he had two sons named Julian and Józef, and the couple also had a daughter, Karolina.
In Solec, not far from Zborów
In Busko-Zdrój, not far from Solec, a sanatorium founded in the Marconi spa house had already existed since 1836. This fact served as a kind of impulse for Mr. Karol to establish another spa house in the aforementioned Solec. He utilized the local healing properties of the water there, known for many years. For this purpose, Mr. Godeffroy ordered the construction of the first treatment and bathing buildings. He also instructed patients to take daily walks in the nearby forests to inhale the very beneficial air found there, which created a specific microclimate. This fact was the foundation for what is known as climatotherapy.
Roadside Crosses
Two years after the outbreak of the January Uprising, Karol Godeffroy funded three roadside crosses in the vicinity of Zborów and Solec. These crosses are a kind of votive offering of thanks for the fortunate release of his eldest and beloved son, Julek, from tsarist prison. He had been imprisoned there for his participation in the January Uprising.
A Figurine Stands There
Next to one of these crosses, standing by the road leading to Żuków, there is a figurine of Christ. It was brought there from a nearby church, where the families of the fighting insurgents prayed during the national armed uprising in 1863.
Julian at Liberty
After his son Julian’s release, Mr. Karol handed over the so-called inheritance to him and moved to Krakow, to his daughter Karolina and her husband Ludwik Walchnowski. After a short time, namely in 1878, Mr. Karol died, and his grave is located in Koniemłoty.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the health resort in Solec-Zdrój was bought by brothers Romuald and Włodzimierz Daniewski.
