St. Anna's day, July 29, was considered a professional feast of Lviv's tailors' "guild." The restoration of this celebration practice at the city-wide level had a strong political basis. The initiators of the event referred to a tradition that existed before the 1772 partition of Poland in Lviv and, according to the organizers, was supposed to be restored in 1900.
On the previous day, the Gazeta Lwowska announced that the Lviv Society of Tailors and Furriers decided to resume the celebration of the feast of St. Anna, the patroness of Lviv. This tradition dates back to 1524, when the Tatar siege of Lviv ended just on St. Anna's Day. In the same year, the magistrate decided to celebrate July 29 as the day of the Patroness of the city.
The church of St. Anna in Lviv was taken care of by the tailors' guild since the late 15th century, and over time this day began to be interpreted as their professional holiday. The foundation of the church is associated with an attempted escape of some apprentice tailors from the city, which happened around 1494; it was at this place that they were caught by the guard. During the clash, several apprentices were killed. Those who remained alive and later became craftsmen built a church on the site of the clash where their comrades had been buried. The original wooden church burned down in 1509 and was rebuilt in brick.
St Anne's Church on an early twentieth-century postcard
Despite the event being announced in the press, favourable comments about the initiators and participation of the city authorities and the clergy, the event appeared to be not so pompous as expected.
On July 29, 1900, at 8 a.m., the participants gathered near the City Hall. They took part in the divine service in the church of St. Anna on ul. Gródecka; in particular, members of the City Council, vice-presidents Michał Michalski and Stanisław Ciuchciński, Armenian Catholic Archbishop Isaak Isakowicz were present. After the service, a solemn assembly was held in the City Hall; later, there was a breakfast for the participants in the Strzelnica premises at ul. Kurkowa 23 (now vul. Lysenka).
Interpretation
The Kurjer Lwowski described the celebration on the day of St. Anna in a very positive way. After all, in the interpretation of this periodical, St. Anna was the patroness of the entire "Lviv Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth." The celebration itself was considered a good Polish tradition that should be restored in the Polish city.
Thus, as it was case with other "guild" celebrations, it was possible to achieve several goals at once. Firstly, to actualize the pre-Austrian history of Lviv, which, instead the history of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, was more and more turned into the history of an "undivided Poland."
Secondly, "guilds", which were, in their essence, societies, that is, public organizations (of tailors, shoemakers or merchants), could be used as evidence of the "maturity of the people." After all, under the conditions of autonomy, both the Poles and Ukrainians did not oppose the authorities of Vienna, on the contrary, they behaved in an emphatically loyal way. The time under the power of the Habsburgs was used for "building up society." A component like "guilds" (even if only due to the name) was an important element in this "building up."
Thirdly, "guilds" (being, theoretically, beyond politics) could demonstrate their patriotism where other organizations or parties were deprived of such an opportunity: for example, during the Russian occupation of Lviv.
