Modern print – the breakthrough invention of Johannes Gutenberg from mid-15th century not only reached Kraków quickly but made the city its permanent residence; it was here that the first Polish printed work was published in 1474.

It was a wall calendar that came from the printing press of Kasper Straube. A year later, the first Polish printed book came off the same press. It was Explanatio in Psalterium written in Latin. The year 1513 brought the first book written in Polish, and was entitled Raj duszny. Literally “Paradise of the soul”; it was a reworking of a popular prayer book written by Biernat of Lublin. Unfortunately, its only copy known in modern times was lost during the second world war. Interestingly, Florian Ungler, who was the first person to undertake printing books solely in Polish, was a Bavarian!