Kraków Hejnał is well known throughout Poland and has been used as a national symbol. During the Second World War, a bugler from the 2nd Polish Corps played the tune to announce the Polish victory in the Battle of Monte Cassino on 18 May 1944. Historical records show that the practise of playing the Hejnał has been cancelled and then later reinstated several times, with a particularly long gap before it was reinstated in 1810. The Hejnał Mariacki was replaced twice by the mourning song Łzy Matki (English: "The Tears of the Mother"). The first time was at noon on 3 April 2005, due to the death of Pope John Paul II the previous day, and the second at two minutes after noon on 11 April 2010 following the deaths of President Lech Kaczyński and his consort, Maria Kaczyńska. Players Originally played by the town guard, since the 19th century the Hejnał has been performed by active members of the fire brigade, who also use the church tower as a lookout post. There are at least four different buglers serving in shifts at the tower. The longest-serving trumpeter was Adolf Śmietana, who played the Hejnał for 36 years beginning in 1926. The Kołton family has played the Hejnał for three consecutive generations. In October 2004, Jan Kołton retired after 33 years of service at the tower. His father had been a Hejnał bugler for 35 years previously, while his son is one of the four current buglers. On 11 June 2000 the melody was listed in the Guinness Book of Records after it was played by almost 2,000 trumpeters from all over the world. They included military orchestras from Poland, the United Kingdom, Belgium and Spain, as well as civilians. The youngest bugler was eight years old; the oldest was 79. See also St. Mary's Church, Kraków Kraków Culture of Kraków Tower music References Burek, Ryszard (ed.) “Hejnał mariacki” in Encyklopedia Krakowa. Warsaw-Krakow: Wydanictwo Naukowe PWN, 2000. Dobrzycki, Jerzy. Hejnał Krakowski. Krakow: PWN, 1983. Kelly, Eric P. “Papers, 1928-1964,” archive in the collection of Dartmouth Library Kelly, Eric P. The Trumpeter of Krakow, New York: The Macmillan Company, 1928. Zinków, Julian. Krakowskie i jurajskie podania, legendy, zwyczaje. Krakow: Wydawnictwo PLATAN, 1994. External links Video of performance Hejnal Mariacki - The Krakow Bugle Call (includes musical notation) Bugle calls Culture in Kraków Polish legends National symbols of Poland