WROCŁAW - In Your Pocket

64 SIGHTSEEING
Racławice Panorama
Racławice Panorama (Panorama Racławicka)
C-3, ul. Purkyniego 11, tel. (+48) 71 344 23 44,
www.panoramaraclawicka.pl. The Panorama is not just
a painting. It’s a pilgrimage. The 140m-long canvas depicts
the legendary General Tadeusz Kościuszko’s victory over the
Russian forces at Racławice in 1794, and took just over nine
months to complete. Peasants wielding scythes rush the
ranks of Russian hussars in a heroic bid for independence.
They win the battle, but the uprising comes to nought. Poland
won’t be truly self-governing until the early 20th century. The
painting was born in a burst of patriotic fervor in Lwów (now
Lviv, Ukraine) a hundred years after the battle. Painters Jan
Styka and Wojciech Kossak wanted to create a monument to
Polish national spirit. Their work, displayed in a rotunda built
especially for it, was a popular - and financial - success. After
World War II, the Soviet Union, which had absorbed the city of
Lviv, sent the painting to Wrocław. Its subject, however, was
a bit too nationalistic for the local Communist authorities,
who rejected several bids to display it. The current building
was completed in 1967, but the Panorama itself was not
installed for display until 1985. Today school groups and
hordes of others file in daily for a 30-minute taped lecture
on the painting and its history. Headsets with commentary
in 17 languages (including English, French, Russian, Spanish,
German and even Esperanto) are available at no extra
charge. Presentations are held every half hour. Around 1,600
people per day turn up to admire the painting, so don’t think
you’ll just be able to walk in straight away - expect queues.
Q Open 09:00 - 17:00. From October open 09:00 - 17:00.
Closed Mon. From November open 09:00 - 16:00. Closed
Mon. Admission 25/18zł, family ticket 18zł.
Stare Jatki
Wrocław’s most engaging
street can
be found connecting
Kiełbaśnicza with
Odrzańska, and
though most of the
structures on Stare
Jatki date from the
17th and 18th centuries,
the line of
low level buildings
were constructed
on medieval foundations
- some elements
from the
13th century are
still visible on the
south side of the street. Today the alleyway is home
to numerous artists’ studios, though in past times
the principal industry here was meat, the wooden
stalls packed with the carcasses of butchered
beasts. The defining feature of Stare Jatki is the
collection of cast iron farm animals at the start of
the street. Sculpted by Piotr Wieczorek and erected
in the 1990s this ‘Memorial to Slaughtered Animals’
was funded by the local government (aside from the
cock, paid for by the owner of Pod Zielonym Kogutem
bar), and serves not only as one of Wrocław’s most
photographed attractions, but also as an obstacle
course for party casualties pouring out of Klub Na
Jatkach.
Monuments
Alexander Fredro A-3, ul. Rynek Ratusz. Walking
around Wrocław’s Rynek it’s impossible to miss the form
of the elegant looking fella cast in stone sitting outside the
Spiż microbrewery. That’s Alexander Fredro, one of Poland’s
most distinguished literary figures. His statue replaced that of
Kaiser Wilhelm who had stood on that spot during Wrocław’s
incarnation as the city of Breslau. Although unharmed by the
bombs and bullets of the war Wilhelm fell foul of the iconoclastic
fury that was to follow in peacetime, and most likely
ended up being tossed into a blast furnace. When Fredro was
unveiled to the people of Wrocław in 1956 his plinth came
without the aristocratic initials HR. Following popular condemnation
the communist authorities relented and Fredro
has since stood gazing forth in all his noble brilliance. Like
the Mickiewicz monument in Kraków, or Zygmunt in Warsaw,
the Fredro statue has grown to symbolize the city, and is the
principal meeting point for both canoodling couples, students
bashing bongo drums and political agitators.
Monument to the Victims of the Katyń Massacre
(Pomnik Ofiar Zbrodni Katyńskiej) D-3, Słowacki
Park. Anyone who has an unindoctrinated knowledge of
World War II history or who has spent more than 15 minutes
in Poland, is probably familiar with the subject of this memorial
which remembers the 22,000 Polish military officers,
policemen, intelligensia and POWs murdered by the NKVD
on Stalin’s orders in 1940. Designed by Warsaw sculptor
Tadeusz Tchórzewski, the striking monument depicts the
sword-wielding Angel of Death on a high pedastal over the
figure of Katyń Pieta - the Matron of the Homeland despairing
over the body of a murdered prisoner of war. Symbolic
granite walls/graves flank the scene, with the names of the
POW camps and places of mass murder inscribed on them.
Anguished, terrifying and gruesome in turn, with detail down
to the bullethole in the back of the fallen officer’s head, this
evocative monument was unveiled in 1999 and can be found
in the park next to the Racławice Panorama.
The Anonymous Pedestrians (Pomnik Przejścia)
A-5, Corner of ul. Piłsudskiego and ul. Świdnicka. When
you’re tired of gazing at Wrocław’s multitude of cherubs,
gargoyles and bearded national heroes clutching important
pens and looking frightfully serious, hike on down to the
junction of Piłsudskiego and Świdnicka and have a look at an
entirely different take on public art. The wonderfully lifelike
bronze statues descending into the earth that make up ‘The
Anonymous Pedestrians’ are a memorial to the introduction
of martial law on December 13, 1981, and the hordes of
people who disappeared (‘went underground’) in the middle
of the night courtesy of the militia. The work of Jerzy Kalina,
the 14 statues were erected here in the middle of the night in
2005 on the 24th anniversary of the introduction of martial
law, though the prophetic moulds were actually made several
years before the events they commemorate.
The Naked Swordsman (Fontanna Szermierza)
B-2, Pl. Uniwersytecki. The University of Wrocław presents
plenty of superb photographic opportunities, but the most
popular has to be the naked swordsman proudly standing at
the entrance of the main building. The work of Hugo Lederer,
the splendid sculpture was erected in 1904 and prompted
complaints from parish priests that students would be morally
corrupted by the statue’s naked form. Early grumblings
were countered by the legend that the statue represents
an extravagant gambler who squandered all but his sword
in drunken card games - thus serving as an example to the
university’s 14,000 students. Town mayor, George Bender,
agreed and the statue has stood ever since.
Wrocław In Your Pocket wroclaw.inyourpocket.com
Museums
Archaeology Museum (Muzeum Archeologiczne)
A-2, ul. Cieszyńskiego 9, tel. (+48) 71 347 16
96, www.mmw.pl. Like all the best museums in Poland,
Wrocław’s Archaeological Museum is located inside a
building that’s a museum in itself. In this instance the
city’s former 15th-century Arsenal plays host to the usual
suspects found lurking in most museums of its type. There
are English captions now for many exhibits, while others,
such as the gargoyles and the reconstructed thatched
house fascinate without the need to know more. There are
three permanent exhibitions - Medieval Silesia with the
reconstructed thatched house mentioned earlier, Ancient
Silesia - Stone Age and early Bronze Age and Ancient Silesia
- Bronze and Iron Age. On display are everyday objects
from these times such as military items, ornaments and
tools. QOpen 10:00 - 17:00, Sun 10:00 - 18:00. Closed
Mon, Tue. Admission 7/5zł, Wed free.
Architecture Museum (Muzeum Architektury)
C-3, ul. Bernardyńska 5, tel. (+48) 71 344 82 78,
www.ma.wroc.pl. A unique exhibition inside the gorgeous
16th-century former Bernadine monastery, the city’s architecture
museum is more of a record of all that was lost in
the city during WWII than a true museum of architecture.
Permanent displays include beautiful examples of stained
glass from the 12th century through to some spectacular
Art Nouveau pieces, a breathtaking collection of tiled ceramic
stoves, intricate door handles, Turkish floor tiles and
a selection of truly ghastly gargoyles. There’s a large model
of the city as it was in 1740, which clearly shows its status
as a fortress surrounded by water, and the occasional
temporary exhibit to keep the eyes peeled for. QOpen
11:00 - 17:00, Wed 10:00 - 16:00, Thu 12:00 - 19:00.
Closed Mon. Admission 10/7zł. Groups over 10 people 5zł
per person, Wed free.
Ethnographic Museum (Muzeum Etnograficzne)
H-5, ul. Traugutta 111/113, tel. (+48) 71 344
33 13, www.muzeumetnograficzne.pl. The best part of
the Ethnographic Museum is on the top floor. Life-size dolls
are arranged in quaint scenes of life in Silesia before 1945.
It won’t take you long to see it, but the national costumes
and farm equipment offer a glimpse of life you won’t find
in urban Wrocław. And the museum’s strange fondness for
the definite article in the English labels is worth a giggle.
Admission free with a ticket to the Racławice Panorama.
QOpen 10:00 - 16:00, Thu 09:00 - 16:00. Closed Mon.
Admission 5/3zł. Groups over 10 people 2zł per person,
Sat free.
National Museum (Muzeum Narodowe) D-3, Pl.
Powstańców Warszawy 5, tel. (+48) 71 372 51 50,
www.mnwr.art.pl. Wrocław’s National Museum houses
one of the largest collections of Polish art. Before the 18th
century this means almost exclusively religious art: altarpieces,
urns for relics, busts of saints and the like. Later
parts of the collection also include applied arts and quite a
few pieces on national themes (uprisings and saints figure
heavily in Polish history). By far the most interesting bit is
the 20th-century collection. Innovative installation artists
like Magdalena Abakanowicz and Józef Szajna make this
an exciting period in Polish art. Q Open 10:00 - 17:00,
Sat 10:00 - 18:00. Closed Mon, Tue (except last Tue of
each month). From October open 10:00 - 16:00, Sat, Sun
10:00 - 17:00. Closed Mon, Tue (except last Tue of each
month). Admission 15/10zł. Groups over 10 people 5zł
per person, Sat free. Entry free with a ticket to the nearby
Racławice Panorama.
wroclaw.inyourpocket.com
SIGHTSEEING
All Saint‘s Day
mayanais, Flickr.com
Readers expecting a wild time of week-long costume
parties and rollicking Halloween debauchery may be
shocked to discover a rather sobering, sombre scene
the during the evenings of November 1 and 2 in Poland.
Known nationally as All Saints’ Day (Dzień Wszystkich
Świętych) and All Souls’ Day (Dzień Zaduszny, or Dzień
Wszystkich Zmarłych) respectively, these two days of the
calendar year are dedicated to prayer and paying tribute
to the deceased by visiting their graves. In accordance
with tradition, Catholic families all over Poland will make
pilgrimages to the resting places of their relatives, tending
the graves with a care that is truly touching, before
laying wreaths, flowers and candles that will be kept lit
throughout the length of the holiday. As night descends,
the country’s graveyards are aglow with the warm light
of literally thousands of flickering candles, creating an
eerie, incredibly evocative atmosphere that should not be
missed by anyone with a heart that still beats.
While visitors to Wrocław may not have ancestors buried
here, a trip to one of the city’s cemeteries during this unforgettable
ceremony is, indeed, requisite. While we could
wax poetic about the unearthly glow of the immense
candlelight, the murmur of prayer and psalms, the subtle
smells of the incense, fresh flowers and burning wax, the
shades of ravens in the trees, the wet grass and mists,
and the surreal duality of the supernaturally charged, yet
tranquil atmosphere, we’d prefer you just experience it
for yourself. We also challenge you to find a lonely, unlit
grave and place a candle on it (it won’t be easy).
Below are Wrocław’s most centrally-located Catholic
cemeteries.
Osobowicki Cemetery (Cmentarz Osobowicki)
E-1, ul. Osobowicka 47-59. To get to this
large cemetery north-west of the centre, catch tram
numbers 14 or 24 from the ‘Rynek’ stop, getting off at
one of the two stops named ‘Osobwicka.’ Or just follow
the hundreds of people. Q Open 07:00 - 20:00. From
November 12 open 08:00 - 18:00.
St. Lawrence’s Cemetery (Cmentarz św.
Wawrzyńca) I-3, ul. Bujwida 51. To get to this cemetery,
catch tram 17 (you can catch it from the ‘Rynek’ or
‘Świdnicka’ stops) or 9 (from Galeria Dominikańska or
the train station), getting off at the ‘Grunwaldzka’ stop.
Q Open 24hrs.
September - December 2012
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