Poland – Silesia, Lower Silesia, Opole (Katowice, Wrocław, Częstochowa) August 20-21, 2019
KATOWICE and SILESIAN METROPOLIS (pop 295,000)
The Katowice urban zone has about 2.7 million people.
History. In 1742, it came under the control of Prussia, and many German artisans settled, including the first Jews. It was not a medieval town, and the center only formed in the mid-19th century. Industrialization was mainly in steelworks. Following the Silesian Uprisings of 1919-21, the Polish Republic annexed it and many Germans emigrated back to Germany.
Silesian Insurgents Monument. This is a monument to those who took part in the three Silesian Uprisings of 1919, 1920 and 1921, which aimed to make the region of Upper Silesia part of the newly independent Polish state. The monument was unveiled on 1 September 1967. The wings symbolize the three uprisings, and the names of places where battles were fought are etched on the vertical slopes. The monument was funded by the people of Warsaw for Upper Silesia.
This massive monument of three giant abstract bronze “wings’ sit in the center of large cobble “plaza”. Each has a date – 1919, 1920 and 1921. They surround a small bronze metal disc with many cities that were the battlefields in the Silesian Uprising of 1919-21, written on the perimeter: Lenino, Studziani, Mielnik, Lipiny, Grunwald, Pisie Ple, Sora SW. Anny, Wodzislaw, Westerplatte, Berlin, Narwik, Cedynia, Wal Pomorski, Kedzierzyn, Arnheim, Kolobrzeg, Monte Cassino, Budziszyn, Lasy Janowski, Hel Falaise, Warszawa. A small elevated stone says Katyn 1940-2010.
Spodek. In the NM “Bizzarium” series, this large, round building with a flying saucer roofline (Spodec translates as “saucer”) serves as a performance venue, featuring two tiers of seats surrounding an oval area with a glass dome at its center. Huge gantries of lights and speakers are mounted on the roof, and a central cylinder hangs from the center of the skylight. Chairs were set up on the floor. Music concerts, ice hockey and volleyball are played here. Very nice.
A new philharmonic hall and a hotel with a restaurant are nearby.
CHORZOW (pop 107,000)
Part of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union, it was formed in 1934-39 by amalgamating four adjacent cities. Historically, it dates to the 12th century. It grew after the Royal Iron Works was established in 1797, around the coal deposits. From 1942 to 45, it held two branches of the Auschwitz concentration camp.
SASKSI PARK, Covering 30% of the city’s area, features large areas of grass and mature trees, most of which are treated as botanical gardens with labels in Polish for many of the trees. It features several restaurants, pubs, festival grounds, a swimming pool, a tennis complex, an ethnographic park, a zoo, and a sports stadium.
Rosarium. A special part of the greater botanical garden with 7 hectares of rose gardens and 385 varieties, not much in bloom at this time of the year.
Silesian Planetarium. Unfortunately, the only shows were Polish.
Zabrze Botanical Garden. This municipal garden features a variety of nice flowers, shrubs, and trees. Free
GLIWICE
Established in the 13th century, the town was successively under the control of the Czechs, Austrians and Germans (1740-1945). The main industry is agricultural, plus an iron mill. It was the easternmost city of Germany.
Museum in Gliwice. Archaeology with pots, axes, half a mastodon skeleton and half a hairy rhinoceros skeleton. The usual ethnographic exhibits include traditional costumes and trade guilds. A highlight is the elaborately painted, carved wood sarcophagus of Henry IV. Discusses the many wars, including the three Silesian Uprisings of 1919-21. Free
Piast Castle. A small manor house with a round tower holds the museum.
Gliwice Radio Station. The station and tower were built in the 1930s and are most identified with the Gliwice provocation (why the Nazis wanted control of the Gliwice area). Many original radio devices and equipment are housed here. The tower is the world’s tallest wooden structure, standing at 111m. The larch wood tower is connected with 16,000 brass bolts and illuminated by 8 large reflectors visible from many kilometres away. It sits in the middle of a large grass park.
Tarnowskie Gory Lead-Silver-Zinc Mine and its Underground Water Management System.
Galena (the natural form of lead sulphide and an essential source of silver – lead content is about 86% and silver, .2-1%) was discovered here by a farmer in 1490, from 1526 miners constructed 20,000 shafts each with its name and registration. Mining was with pickaxes, hammers and spades.
Water in the mine was a big problem and had to be pumped out. Initially, water was taken out in buckets and special leather sacks. Then, horse treadmills were used. The first steam engine arrived in England in 1787, and seven more were produced in the area. Drifts and adits were constructed with a slope that allowed water to flow away from the mine. St Jacob’s Adit was constructed in 1563. The Black Trout adit is the boat float taken at the end of the tour.
Two million tons of are was mined in the Frederic mine until 1913.
The tour starts in the museum with views of Tanrnwskie Gory, walker devices to transport buckets filled with ore to the surface, dynamite using straw for fuses, lamps (initially tallow then carbide), a model steam engine, horse treadmills (in the 16-17th centuries, about 600 horses worked in the mines), ore crushers using water wheels, washers to remove sand and clay from the crushed ore (these were 14 miles from the mine so that the water didn’t contaminate the mine water that was used in the town), smelting (ore was mixed with charcoal – lead melts at 321° C and silver at 963° C).
The walking part of the tour is approximately 1.74 km. Everyone wears a hard hat, which is very necessary with the many low tunnels traversed in the tour. Descend 40 m down the Angel shaft in an elevator. View old extraction galleries. About 60% of the mining waste material was used to fill post-mining voids, which helped support the roof. As more pockets of galena were discovered, additional chambers were created, and the excavations expanded in size. There were 70 miners in 1784, but this rapidly grew to 660. The roof was supported by single wooden props, and then box cribs were made of dolomite, railway rails, and concrete. The final part of the tour involves navigating narrow boats along a 270m-long tunnel. There is a plaque commemorating the 1834 meeting of two tunnels that were being constructed from opposite sides.
This World Heritage Site is approximately 20 kilometres northeast of Gilwice. There is a bewildering number of prices depending on season and whether your tour is in Polish or a foreign language. The next tour in English was two hours away, so I took a Polish tour with a written English guide. PLN 34 reduced.
THE CHURCHES of PEACE in Jawor and Świdnica in Silesia were named after the Peace of Westphalia of 1648. It permitted the Lutherans of Silesia to build three churches from wood, loam and straw outside the city walls, without steeples and church bells. The construction time was limited to one year. The third Peace church, erected in Głogów, burned down in 1758. Since 2001, the two remaining churches have been listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Despite the physical and political constraints, three of the churches became the most prominent timber-framed religious buildings in Europe due to pioneering constructional and architectural solutions.
The church in Jawor, dedicated to the Holy Ghost, is 43.5 metres (143 ft) long, 14 metres (46 ft) wide, and 15.7 metres (52 ft) high, and has a capacity of 5,500. It was constructed by architect Albrecht von Saebisch (1610–1688) from Wroclaw (then German Breslau) and was finished a year later in 1655. The 200 paintings inside were done by Georg Flegel between 1671 and 1681. The altar, by Martin Schneider, dates to 1672; the original organ of J. Hoferichter from Legnica of 1664 was replaced in 1855–1856 by Adolf Alexander Lummert.
By that time, the town had been part of the majority Protestant Kingdom of Prussia for about a century. Another 100 years later, in 1945, the city became part of Poland, as a result of the Potsdam Agreement. Although most of the Protestant churches in the German provinces taken over by Poland in 1945 have become Catholic, the two Peace Churches still serve their Lutheran parishes.
The similar church in Świdnica, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, survived like the one in Jawor. A Polish–German cooperation restored both.
Church of Peace in Świdnica. Permission to build this church was granted by the Austrian emperor, subject to the conditions that it must be constructed using impermanent materials (i.e., no stone or brick) and that it must be completely finished within one year. As a result, this church was built in one year from 1656-57 using 7000 oak trees. It is 1,090 m² and can accommodate 7,500 people, with seating for 3,000. I saw the church in Swidnica both outside and in. It is an Evangelical Lutheran church, the largest wooden evangelical church (by capacity – 7,500) in Europe.
The exterior features a Tudor design with half-timbered construction, characterized by black timbers and white plaster. Built as a square cross, the inside is overwhelming. It features two balconies adorned with Bible sayings and small paintings, all in gilt frames, and ceilings with an orange floral motif. The altar, pulpit and organ are covered with white marble statues all adorned with gilt. The many small paintings and crests have elaborate gilt frames. The central ceiling is covered with angels surrounding three large paintings. The small, high windows are made of clear glass, and light is provided by chandeliers and wall sconces.
It was declared, along with the Church of Peace in Jawor, a World Heritage Site in 2001.
A monologue in either German or Polish plays constantly, explaining the church. Free
Church of Peace in Jawor. I then decided to visit its sister church, located about 35 kilometres to the northwest. Unfortunately, it was closed, but the outside looks almost identical – half-timbered with white plaster – except the wood is stained brown instead of black.
Legnica. (pop 100,000)
In the central part of Lower Silesia, on the Kaczawa River (left tributary of the Oder) and the Czarna Woda.
The city was first mentioned in 1004. It became the residence of the High Dukes who ruled the Duchy of Legnica from 1248 until 1675. Legnica is a city over which the Piast dynasty reigned for the longest, approximately 700 years, from the time of ruler Mieszko I of Poland, after the creation of the Polish state in the 10th century, until 1675 and the death of the last Piast duke, George William.
Legnica gained notoriety for the fierce battle that took place in 1241 during the Mongol invasion of Europe. The Christian coalition under the command of the Polish Duke Henry II the Pious, supported by nobles, knights, and mercenaries, was decisively defeated by the Mongols. This, however, was a turning point in the war as the Mongols, having killed Henry II, halted their advance into Europe and retreated to Hungary through Moravia.
During the High Middle Ages, Legnica was one of the most important cities of Central Europe, having a population of nearly 16,000 inhabitants. The city began to rapidly develop after the sudden discovery of gold in the Kaczawa River located between Legnica and the town of Złotoryja. In 1675 , it was incorporated into the Habsburg-ruled Kingdom of Bohemia. In 1742, the city was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia after King Frederick the Great’s victory over Austria in the War of the Austrian Succession. It remained, as a city with a German majority, a part of Germany until the end of World War II, when all Silesia east of the Neisse (Nysa), was transferred to Poland following the Potsdam Conference in 1945 after demands by the Polish delegation that Poland be compensated for the loss of the Kresy.
Legnica is an economic, cultural, and academic center in Lower Silesia, alongside Wrocław. The city is renowned for its varied architecture, spanning from the early medieval to the modern periods, and its preserved Old Town, featuring the Piast Castle.
Lubiąż Abbey, Lubiąż. A former Cistercian monastery, it is about 54 km northwest of Wrocław. The abbey, established in 1175, is one of the largest Christian architectural complexes in the world and is considered a masterpiece of Baroque architecture in Silesia. Built over centuries, the abbey, the largest Cistercian abbey in the world, has a roof area of approximately 25,000 square metres. The façade, measuring 223 m (732 ft) in length, is the longest in Europe, after that of El Escorial in Spain. In the crypts are 98 well-preserved mummies of Silesian dukes.
In 1327, the Silesian duke Henry VI the Good declared himself a vassal of King John of Bohemia. When he died without male heirs in 1335, his lands, including Leubus, fell to the Kingdom of Bohemia. The monastery complex was devastated by the Hussite Wars, and the monks were expelled by warlike Duke Jan II the Mad in 1492, who turned the abbey into a hunting lodge. The Cistercians were not able to return until Jan II retired. In the 16th century, the abbey had to contend with the Protestant Reformation and the inheritance of the Bohemian Crown lands by the Austrian House of Habsburg.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, the monastery was converted into a baroque palace with some grand rooms – Ducal Hall (1735 with 10 panel paintings of the Piast and Habsburgs plus impressive sculptures), Refectory (panoramic fresco) and Dining Room (also frescoed).
The Cistercians were expelled from Lubiąż in 1810 by King Frederick William III of Prussia. During World War II, the buildings of the former abbey were used for secret research laboratories and manufacturing facilities, among other things, for the development of radar components (by Telefunken). Then they saw the production of engines for the V1 and V2 rockets (using prisoners as labour). At the end of the war, the former abbey housed soldiers of the Red Army, and then a Russian military psychiatric hospital, with significant damage (e.g., wooden furnishings were burned in stoves). Decades of neglect followed.
Since 1989, the abbey has been under renovation and has become a significant tourist destination. Each year in early June, a Festival of alternative culture, called SLOT Art, takes place here.
WROCLAW
St. Elizabeth’s Church. This three-naved church features white walls with red brick ribs, arches, and columns. The central nave is narrow and high, backed by a beige marble altar and fine stained glass. The ribs over the apse are multi-coloured with remnants of frescoes. Some of the side chapels may be the highlight with inlaid wood and ornate gilt frames. Free
Market Hall (Hala Targowa). Housed in an old brick building with a clock tower, this atmospheric market smelled great. It is relatively small with a wide selection of everything (more flowers than anything else), plus some incredible small eateries.
Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. Dim and dark inside, as the only windows are high and stained with dark glass. The three naves have brick walls and grey stone arches. It is known for the altar of Bishop Andreas Jerin (b. 1585-96). The centre is a silver Crucifixion surrounded by four wings of the saint patrons of the church. When the wings are closed, the eight paintings feature scenes of St. John the Baptist. It was plundered in 1632 and again in 1945, but the altar had been preserved elsewhere. Since 2017, it has been on display at the National Museum in Wrocław.
Wroclaw University Botanical Garden. This garden has few distinguishing features except possibly the ivy covering all the brick buildings that surround it. PLN 15, 10 reduced
Centennial Hall in Wrocław. Built in 1905 of reinforced concrete to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Leipzig, when Napoleon was defeated. The city was then part of the German Empire. It was designed to serve as a multifunctional structure to host exhibitions, concerts, theatrical and opera performances, and sporting events. The hall continues to be used for sporting events and concerts.
The cupola, modelled on the Festhalle Frankfurt, was made of reinforced concrete, with an inner diameter of 69 m (226 ft) and a height of 42 m (138 ft), making it the most significant building of its kind at the time of construction. The symmetrical quatrefoil shape with an ample circular central space seated 7,000 persons. The dome itself is 23 m (75 ft) high, made of steel and glass. The Jahrhunderthalle became a key reference for the development of reinforced concrete structures in the 20th century.
At the centre of the structure, a superior dome with a lantern is situated. Looking from the inside, a visible pattern of the Iron Cross is visible. At the top of the dome;, for this reason, th centre of the structure was shrouded during the Communist era in Poland.
The grounds include a huge pond with fountains enclosed by a massive concrete pergola in the form of half an ellipse. Beyond this, to the north, a Japanese garden was created.
It was also listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2006.
After the war, when the city (together with most of historical Silesia) had become part of the Republic of Poland according to the 1945 Potsdam Agreement, the hall was renamed Hala Ludowa (“People’s Hall”) by the communist authorities. In 1948, a 106-m (348-ft) high needle-like metal sculpture called Iglica was erected in front of it. The hall was extensively renovated in 1997, in 2010 and again in 2019.
Following the 2009–11 renovation, the arena can now accommodate up to 10,000 people.
The hall was initially equipped with a Sauer pipe organ built by Walcker Orgelbau, which, with 15,133 pipes and 200 stops, then ranked as the world’s largest. Most parts of the organ were transferred to the rebuilt Wrocław Cathedral after World War II.
Sky Tower. Sky Tower is the tallest building in Poland in the category of height to roof and category of highest floor, and the second tallest structure overall after the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw. A publicly accessible viewpoint is located on the 49th floor of the completely round building.
According to the initial architectural plans, Sky Tower would be a residential, office, and commercial complex consisting of seven buildings of varying heights. Like many construction sites around the world, Sky Tower was affected by the 2008 economic crisis, and construction of the tower ceased for a full year. In 2009, it was redesigned with a lower overall height of 212 meters. In 2012, a shopping center opened in the Sky Tower complex.
Park Handlowy Bielany. Twelve kilometres south of the city, this shopping mall offers the usual amenities.
Sanctuary of St. Jadwiga, Trzebnica. This 3-nave baroque church has over the top decoration – the altar, altars in the side chapels, the large of sarcophagus under a black marble canopy, large statues on top of marble stands, paintings in gilt frames of St Jadwiga on all the columns, carved wood confessionals,
and elaborate side altars adorning every column – marble, gilt, statues each surrounding a painting and round medallion. Art hangs everywhere, including the Ways of the Cross. Free
It is approximately 25 kilometres north of Wrocław.
