Poland I: Breslau
May. 17th, 2009 11:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakThe Görlitz conference ended yesterday evening. Now, Görlitz is literally next to the Polish border. (You can cross a bridge and are there without having to show your ID or passport. Which in itself is an awesome sign that sometimes, there is something like progress in history.) In a week, I have another thing to attend, in Krakow. As the journey from and to either of these places is rather long if you live in Munich, and as neither the Aged Parents nor myself have ever visited Poland, we decided to use the opportunity. They had visited Dresden yesterday, picked me up in Görlitz this morning, and off we went across the border, spending most of the day in Breslau and then driving to Warsaw where we arrived late in the evening and will spend two days, until moving on to Krakow.
Breslau is one of those cities which started out as Polish (ca. 900 AD, though it did't get "official" until ca. 1000 AD), then became what could roughly called German (meaning territory wise it was ruled by the German, and later Austrian Emperors, and then more recently, i.e. mid-18th century, the Austrians duked it out with the Prussians) in the 13th century, remaining that way for six hundred years, and then it became Polish again. It was a crucial point for the trade routes, and the architecture left by the various people who lived there is simply magnificent. (Today's Breslauians, or rather Wroclawians, are very friendly, which given more recent Polish/German history always feels like simultanously a great relief and kindness to me.) And I continue to be lucky with the weather. So, behold:
This is the old city of Breslau, seen from the university roof top:
The most famous room in the university of Breslauy is the Aula Leopoldina. Now, would you have liked to attend class here?
Or maybe here?
That's the university's main building from outside:
And that's the Jesuit church next door:
Now let's leave the sciences and the counter reformation for a while and let's have a look what results those trade routes had on the main market place, or Rynek. Most of the buildings you're about to see used to belong to the big merchant families of the Renaissance, and served to store those Siberian furs, Indian spices and jewelry from Poland itself.
(Yes, those are my parents, being amazed. So was I.)
The old city hall, in the middle of the square:
Today, the old city hall mostly holds restaurants, and has done for a good while. Hence the following detail of its facade - a drunken city alderman returning to his wife, who is waiting for him in a, err, handy fashion:
Back to the framing houses of the square:
And now let's have some details of these houses:
Let's move back time in again, and back to the clerical sphere. Not all churches are Baroque extravaganzas, far from it. There is a lot of Gothic style as well, especially on the Dominsel, the cathedral island. Secular powers weren't allowed to drive or ride there, they had to walk. Also, while there are a lot of historically accurate explanations as to where all the churches came from, I rather like the legendary one, which credits 77 churches and 33 monestaries in the Breslau area to a twelfth century nobleman who supported Boleslaw IV somewhat before the later got on the throne, which resulted on the predecessor cutting the nobles' tongue out and blinding him. When Boleslaw did get to the top, he restored his old champion's wealth. The bishop of Breslau promised he'd regain his eye sight if he founded seven churches and three monestaries. Going over the top just to be on the safe side, the noble founded and funded 70 churches and 30 monestaries, all without regaining his eyesight. When he complained to the bishop, the bishop admonished him to follow instructions precisely. Which the guy did the second time around, founding seven churches and three monestaries more, and thus actually regaining his eyesight. The fate of his tongue remains unreported.
Now, here's cathedral island:
The main cathedral:
And one last look at the beautiful Breslau before we leave it:
Anyone I still owe emails too or may have answered too briefly: conferences followed by travelling are my excuse - please wait a while longer?
Breslau is one of those cities which started out as Polish (ca. 900 AD, though it did't get "official" until ca. 1000 AD), then became what could roughly called German (meaning territory wise it was ruled by the German, and later Austrian Emperors, and then more recently, i.e. mid-18th century, the Austrians duked it out with the Prussians) in the 13th century, remaining that way for six hundred years, and then it became Polish again. It was a crucial point for the trade routes, and the architecture left by the various people who lived there is simply magnificent. (Today's Breslauians, or rather Wroclawians, are very friendly, which given more recent Polish/German history always feels like simultanously a great relief and kindness to me.) And I continue to be lucky with the weather. So, behold:
This is the old city of Breslau, seen from the university roof top:
The most famous room in the university of Breslauy is the Aula Leopoldina. Now, would you have liked to attend class here?
Or maybe here?
That's the university's main building from outside:
And that's the Jesuit church next door:
Now let's leave the sciences and the counter reformation for a while and let's have a look what results those trade routes had on the main market place, or Rynek. Most of the buildings you're about to see used to belong to the big merchant families of the Renaissance, and served to store those Siberian furs, Indian spices and jewelry from Poland itself.
(Yes, those are my parents, being amazed. So was I.)
The old city hall, in the middle of the square:
Today, the old city hall mostly holds restaurants, and has done for a good while. Hence the following detail of its facade - a drunken city alderman returning to his wife, who is waiting for him in a, err, handy fashion:
Back to the framing houses of the square:
And now let's have some details of these houses:
Let's move back time in again, and back to the clerical sphere. Not all churches are Baroque extravaganzas, far from it. There is a lot of Gothic style as well, especially on the Dominsel, the cathedral island. Secular powers weren't allowed to drive or ride there, they had to walk. Also, while there are a lot of historically accurate explanations as to where all the churches came from, I rather like the legendary one, which credits 77 churches and 33 monestaries in the Breslau area to a twelfth century nobleman who supported Boleslaw IV somewhat before the later got on the throne, which resulted on the predecessor cutting the nobles' tongue out and blinding him. When Boleslaw did get to the top, he restored his old champion's wealth. The bishop of Breslau promised he'd regain his eye sight if he founded seven churches and three monestaries. Going over the top just to be on the safe side, the noble founded and funded 70 churches and 30 monestaries, all without regaining his eyesight. When he complained to the bishop, the bishop admonished him to follow instructions precisely. Which the guy did the second time around, founding seven churches and three monestaries more, and thus actually regaining his eyesight. The fate of his tongue remains unreported.
Now, here's cathedral island:
The main cathedral:
And one last look at the beautiful Breslau before we leave it:
Anyone I still owe emails too or may have answered too briefly: conferences followed by travelling are my excuse - please wait a while longer?
no subject
Date: 2009-05-18 06:34 am (UTC)If you have the time and inclination, looking for the works of Stanisław Wyspiański in Krakow is worth doing.
no subject
Date: 2009-05-18 02:49 pm (UTC)