Before the outbreak of the Great War in 1914, the people of Lesser Poland had already grown accustomed to the sight of balloons. As early as 1892, on the orders of the Austrian K.u.K. Militär-Aeronautischen Anstalt, work began on creating balloon units, which were formed within fortress artillery regiments. In Kraków in 1902, Fesselballon-Kadres were established at the Fortress Balloon Detachment within the 2nd Galician-Moravian Fortress Artillery Regiment of Baron Edward von Beschi (2 FsAR), serving at the Kraków Fortress and possessing 2 balloon detachments: 1/1R (transformed in 1914 into the 8th Balloon Company) and 2/2R (transformed into the 5th Balloon Company); each of them had two balloons (initially spherical, then elongated Parseval-Sigsfeld M.98 type), equipped with horse-drawn vehicles for transporting, among other things, the envelope, netting, a winch with a static line, and a gas generator. These types of tethered balloons were used for observing enemy forces.
On June 23, 1905, Lt. Zaruba and Lt. Parethauer from the 2 FsAR made the first-ever flight over the Carpathian Mountains, launching the balloon “Venus” from Kraków and landing 4 km from Spišská Belá in what was then Upper Hungary (now the Slovak Republic). It is worth noting that these — after all, pioneering — balloon units used aeronautical grounds in Kraków: the Rakowice Commons and most likely also the Zwierzyniec Commons. Surviving records also indicate that similar flights and exercises were conducted over Krzemionki and in the area of the Tadeusz Kościuszko Mound.
These majestic objects floating above the city and its surroundings fired the imagination of poets and practitioners alike. Ideas emerged for their use: transporting mail, passengers, and goods. They were also adapted for military purposes — it is worth noting that observation balloons had already appeared in the armies of revolutionary France. In 1892 in Kraków, a fortress balloon detachment was created to direct fortress artillery fire — the 6th Festungsballonabteilung in Kraków. Its equipment was sent to the front in the summer of 1914. During the 1914 military operations, the civilian balloon “Vindobona” was also used for military purposes in Kraków (December 16, 1914). It is worth mentioning that in 1915, balloon units from the Kraków Fortress took part in the Battle of Gorlice, among others.
In 1922, the 4th Aeronautical Battalion was established in Kraków (commanded by Capt. J. Sielewicz), consisting of 2 companies and possessing 2 observation balloons of the Caquot R type with a capacity of 930 m3 (disbanded in 1923–24). Over time, the tasks of observation balloons were taken over by aircraft, which were more effective at tracking troop movements.
In 1925, at the Central Balloon Works in Legionowo, a WBS E2 type balloon was built, named “Kraków I” (its user was the 1st Balloon Battalion in Toruń); in 1930, the SP-ALL balloon “Kraków II” belonging to the Kraków Aero Club was produced; in 1928, the Air and Anti-Gas Defense League (L.O.P.P.) presented a balloon at the Anti-Gas Exhibition on Lubicz Street; in 1933, a balloon section was established at the Kraków Aero Club; in 1936, the first flight of the balloon “Kraków II” took place during the Days of Kraków, and balloon mail was also launched. On May 31, 1936, the Kraków Aero Club and the Provincial District of L.O.P.P. in Kraków organized a free balloon flight of “Kraków II” during the 7th South-Western Poland Flight named after Capt. Franciszek Żwirko. From 1936, the 3rd Aeronautical (later Aviation) Group in Kraków had the 1st Balloon Battalion under its command. In 1939, the “Kraków” Army planned for the 6th Observation Balloon Company, equipped with 2 Caquot BD balloons. World War II put an end to such activities.
Many years after its end, balloons returned to Kraków — in 1983, within the Polish Scouting and Guiding Association, a Social Committee for the Popularization of Balloon Flight was established; it conducted a fundraising campaign among Kraków residents to purchase a balloon. A year later, a 3-person hot air balloon SP-BZP “Harcerz” (Scout) was purchased in Hungary, and its presentation took place at the Błonia commons, including a flight on the Kraków–Kryspinów route. That same year, the Scout Balloon Club was founded (Poland’s first hot air balloon club); on January 17, 1984, a scientific session was held at the Jagiellonian University devoted to, among others, the activities of J. Śniadecki, the Montgolfier brothers, and world balloon sports; on August 29, 1984, a balloon piloted by E. Olszański launched from Kraków’s Błonia — the demonstration attracted approximately 25,000 spectators. In 1985 and 1987, the Scout Balloon Club organized balloon mail flights during the Days of Kraków; in 1986, Winter Balloon Competitions took place, with SP-BZT “Głos Robotniczy” and SP-BZP “Harcerz” participating; in 1987, together with the Kraków Aero Club, the Scout Balloon Club organized the Balloon-Parachute Triad, during which the first parachute jumps from a hot air balloon since World War II took place. In 1988, the Mayor of Kraków and the company Krakbud funded the largest balloon in Poland for the Kraków Aero Club — SP-BWB “Kraków”; since 1994, the Kraków Aero Club and the Student Cultural Center of the Kraków University of Technology “Kwadrat” have organized the largest balloon competitions in Poland — the Kraków International Hot Air Balloon Championships. In 1999, the first advertising flights of a Goodyear airship took place in Kraków and Lesser Poland. Today, ballooning in Lesser Poland is once again celebrating triumphs.
