Krakow mayor complains after Polish Radio cuts traditional bugle call

The trimmed broadcast of the bugle-call (hejnal) – which is traditionally played on the hour on the main market square in the southern city in recognition of the legend of a bugler shot by an arrow during the Mongolian invasion of 1240 - came into force on 22 September, altering a radio tradition that had been in place since April 1927.

Traditionally, although the trumpeter plays live on the hour every hour to the four corners of the world, the bugle call, which lasts a full five minutes, has only been broadcast at midday on Polish Radio.

Kamil Dabrowa, head of the first programme of Polish Radio (Jedynka), has claimed that the changes were introduced owing to complaints from listeners.

“The news at midday is a key programme, and up until now our listeners have had to wait almost five minutes, which is the length of the bugle call,” Dabrowa told the Gazeta Krakowska newspaper.

“We decided to shorten this time,” he added.

Now, listeners only hear the first rendition of the trumpet-call – not the full version - which is played from four windows of the northern tower of Krakow's Basilica of St. Mary's.

Krakow's mayor Jacek Majchrowski told the Polish Press Agency (PAP) that “Krakow experience shows, however, that respect for symbols always pays off.”

Meanwhile, Krakow historian Leszek Mazan has said the tradition had been “castrated.” (pg/nh)