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78<br />
SILESIAN CHURCHES OF PEACE<br />
Książ Castle<br />
Książ Castle (Zamek<br />
Książ) ul. Piastów<br />
Śląskich 1, Wałbrzych,<br />
tel. (+48) 74 664 38 34,<br />
www.ksiaz.walbrzych.<br />
pl. Legend has it that the<br />
original castle at Książ was<br />
built at the end of the 13th<br />
century by Bolko I, Duke of Świdnica and Jawor, but it is<br />
best known as the fiefdom of the Hochberg family, who<br />
purchased it in 1508 and owned it until 1941.<br />
The castle we see today took shape during the 16th<br />
century, when the central tower, walls and ramparts were<br />
added to the original building of the ducal seat, which was<br />
itself greatly extended. Though the Thirty Years War saw<br />
the castle suffer invasion and conquest (first by Saxons,<br />
then Swedes), it survived intact under the masterful<br />
stewardship of young Hans Heinrich Hochberg (the same<br />
Hochberg who donated trees from the Książ forests to<br />
build the Świdnica Peace Church) who at war’s end would<br />
redefine the castle, making it more of a stately home than<br />
a fortress: much of the defensive wall was taken down,<br />
and landscaped gardens replaced ramparts.<br />
The transformation from Gothic to Baroque was carried<br />
out by Conrad Maximilian Hochberg during the early<br />
part of the 18th century, when the Baroque east wing<br />
(including the Maximilian Hall, the finest part of the<br />
castle) was added, the Summer Pavilion erected, the<br />
main tower remodelled and the gardens extended. The<br />
Neoclassical western and northern wings were added<br />
in the 1910s, much to the whims of Maria Teresa Olivia<br />
Cornwalis-West, or Daisy, as she was known. An English<br />
aristocrat (whose brother would later be stepfather<br />
to Winston Churchill), Daisy married Hans Heinrich XV<br />
Hochberg in 1891.<br />
Debt was to be their - and the castle’s - undoing. Owing<br />
a fortune in tax the German state seized much of the<br />
Hochberg estate in 1937. The castle itself was taken in<br />
1941, partly to pay taxes, partly as punishment for the<br />
perceived treason of Hans Heinrich and Daisy’s eldest<br />
children: one served in the British army, the other the<br />
Polish. After the war the castle was neglected and lay<br />
partly in ruin for many years until a limited renovation in<br />
1956; full rebuilding work did not commence until 1972.<br />
The latest period of restoration was completed only in<br />
2005. Much of the castle is open to visitors, including<br />
the Maximilian Hall, the Games Salon and the exquisite<br />
China Salon, with its delightful murals. [The main tower,<br />
with its amazing views of the grounds and gardens, is<br />
only open to those who sign on for a guided tour.] Best of<br />
all, however, is simply exploring the multi-level gardens<br />
and terraces, amongst the finest in Poland. If time allows,<br />
you should also visit the stables of the castle’s famed<br />
stud, which puts on dressage shows and rents horses<br />
for riding, as well as offering riding lessons. The castle<br />
is 70km from Wrocław, just past Świdnica. You need to<br />
take a local train from Świdnica to Wałbrzych, and bus<br />
No. 8 (towards Książ) from there. The bus stops at the<br />
castle gates in the morning and evenings, and about 250<br />
metres away during the day. Q Open 10:00 - 17:00. From<br />
October open 10:00 - 17:00, Sat, Sun 10:00 - 18:00.<br />
Closed Mon. Last entrance 1 hour before closing. Admission<br />
to castle, terraces and stables 23/16zł; castle<br />
and terraces only 18/13zł; terraces only 10/7zł. Guided<br />
tours 30/25zł per person (with an opportunity to visit<br />
the Tower for an extra 10/7zł).<br />
Wrocław lost half of its population. So great was the human<br />
cost that population growth in the region was stunted for<br />
two centuries afterwards: it only really began to recover in<br />
the latter part of the 19th century.<br />
Though the Hapsburgs allowed Wrocław to retain its religious<br />
privileges and to remain a protestant town, throughout the<br />
rest of Silesia they quickly began to evict protestant priests,<br />
confiscating their churches. However, Swedish diplomats had<br />
inserted a clause into the Peace of Westphalia that granted<br />
three Silesian towns - Świdnica, Jawor and Głogow - the right<br />
to retain a protestant church, provided it was built beyond the<br />
city’s walls, and that the Emperor personally grant permission.<br />
Obtaining this permission took years, cost a fortune in tributes,<br />
and required skilful diplomacy. Finally, in 1651, three plots - one<br />
in each of the three cities - were designated as suitable for<br />
the building of the churches, and Emperor Ferdinand III gave<br />
his seal of approval for the construction of the first, at Głogow.<br />
The first thing that strikes the visitor to either of the surviving<br />
churches is that they do not look all that much like churches.<br />
This - if you’ve been keeping up at the back of the class - was<br />
very much the point. The rules for their construction - as written<br />
into the Peace of Westphalia - were strict, and broken only<br />
on pain of death. Not only did they have to be built beyond the<br />
city walls, they had to be built of wood. They were not allowed<br />
to have bell towers or spires and they were to be paid for by<br />
the local communities themselves. (As the whole of Silesia<br />
was still recovering from the ravages of the war, there was no<br />
money for construction: it was eventually raised by appealing<br />
to protestant communities all over Europe).<br />
No restrictions, however, were placed on interior decoration<br />
(this is often thought to have been an oversight), and<br />
as a result the architect of the three churches, Albricht von<br />
Sabisch (1610-88) - as any jaw-dropped visitor to Świdnica<br />
or Jawor will testify - went seriously bananas. Both churches<br />
were later fur ther embellished with towers and spires (by<br />
which time Silesia was firmly part of the very protestant<br />
Kingdom of Prussia), resulting in the extraordinary monuments<br />
we view today.<br />
The first Church of Peace to be built was that at Głogów,<br />
105 kilometres northwest of Wrocław, where work got<br />
under way in October 1651; the first service took place on<br />
October 25th 1652. The church was not lucky: it fell down in<br />
high winds in 1654, though was quickly rebuilt. It then burnt<br />
down in 1758 (local legend states it was struck by lightning)<br />
and was replaced by a brick church. A bomb destroyed that<br />
during World War II, leaving just a shell which was pulled down<br />
in the 1950s by Poland’s communist government. A sketch<br />
of the church (the only one in existence) can be seen in the<br />
similar-looking, though much smaller church in the village of<br />
Pogorzeliska, 40 kilometres south.<br />
Peace Church in Jawor, Adam Kumiszcza, pl.wikipedia.org<br />
Wrocław <strong>In</strong> <strong>Your</strong> <strong>Pocket</strong> wroclaw.inyourpocket.com<br />
Found some 160km northwest of<br />
Wroclaw, the town of Żagań was the<br />
site of one of the most celebrated<br />
prison breakouts of all time.<br />
Immortalised in the 1963 Hollywood<br />
blockbuster The Great Escape, the<br />
daring break from the Nazi prisonerof-war<br />
camp Stalag Luft III has since<br />
been ingrained into English and<br />
Commonwealth culture. Opened in<br />
1942 outside the German town of<br />
Sagan (now Polish Żagań), the camp<br />
was designed to hold thousands of<br />
captured allied airmen, including the<br />
moviegoods.com most persistent escapees inside<br />
Copyright: MGM the Reich’s network of prisons.<br />
Undeterred by tight security a hardcore band of 250 POWs, led<br />
by Squadron Leader Roger Bushell, planned to tunnel out of the<br />
complex before setting off independently for neutral territory.<br />
Even though the chances of success were slim, Bushell hoped<br />
that the very notion of 250 allied airmen loose inside the Third<br />
Reich would be enough to create an internal security headache,<br />
hence diverting important Nazi military resources.<br />
Having assembled a team of forgers, craftsmen, tailors and<br />
engineers, Bushell’s ‘escape committee’ spent months building<br />
a trio of tunnels, all the time averting detection in what<br />
was to become a game of cat and mouse with the camp<br />
guards. Using improvised materials as diverse as tables,<br />
water cans and spoons, the men created tunnels that were<br />
a triumph of ingenuity. Prisoners moved underground on<br />
trolleys, having entered through a concealed access point<br />
in a shower drain. The tunnels were fitted with electric light,<br />
ventilated by air pumps and shored up using approximately<br />
4,000 bed boards stolen from around the camp.<br />
Displaying a meticulous attention to detail, Bushell and his<br />
cabal ensured escapees were provided with civilian clothes,<br />
forged papers, currency and maps. Around 200 tonnes of<br />
sand and earth were excavated, then carefully deposited in<br />
the exercise yards by POWs with long bags hidden inside their<br />
trouser legs, or inside the two other storage tunnels.<br />
The tunnel was completed on March 24/25, 1944, but<br />
unexpected air raids and tunnel cave-ins allowed only 76<br />
men to make it through before camp guards uncovered the<br />
escape. Those who did make it through set off on foot or by<br />
rail, though poor directions and pitch darkness meant many<br />
escapees hoping to catch trains couldn’t find the station until<br />
daybreak - by which time the dye had been cast. <strong>In</strong> total only<br />
two Norwegians and one Dutchman made it to safety.<br />
On hearing of the escape a fuming Hitler initially ordered all<br />
escapees to be shot upon recapture, as well as the camp’s<br />
architect, security officer and the guards on duty at the<br />
time. The Geneva Conventions prevented this original order<br />
from being carried out, however 50 of the escapees were<br />
executed, 17 were returned to Sagan, four were sent to<br />
Sachenhausen and two were delivered to Colditz.<br />
Hollywood’s Take<br />
Film buffs should take into account that the screen version of<br />
events took several artistic liberties - much to the irritation of<br />
many survivors. The film is actually a highly fictionalized recounting<br />
of the more famous of two escapes from the camp.<br />
For those familiar with the film there wasn’t a motorbike chase<br />
(actor Steve McQueen, a motorcycle fanatic and accomplished<br />
rider requested it be added), nor were any Americans involved; all<br />
U.S. prisoners had been moved to another camp several months<br />
earlier. <strong>In</strong>explicably, the Bushell character was renamed Bartlett<br />
in the film (he’s played by Richard Attenborough), a fact visitors<br />
should keep in mind if you find yourself visiting the graves which<br />
are in Poznań since “Bartlett” won’t be found.<br />
wroclaw.inyourpocket.com<br />
THE GREAT ESCAPE<br />
What to See<br />
Museum of the Prisoner of War Camps (Muzeum<br />
Obozów Jenieckich) ul. Lotników Alianckich 6,<br />
Żagań, tel. (+48) 68 478 49 94, www.muzeum.zagan.<br />
pl. If you’re a fan of the movie “The Great Escape” or even<br />
if you are just a fan of WWII flicks, Zagan will be a real treat.<br />
The infamous Stalag Luft III which is situated out in the<br />
woods on the outskirts of the town housed Allied prisoners<br />
of war. The camp is only a few kilometres from the city<br />
centre and manages to pay tribute both to the actual March<br />
25th, 1944 escape, and to the movie, despite the fact that<br />
their stories differ considerably. The Museum of the Prisoner<br />
of War does a fine job recounting and recreating the<br />
camp conditions and the escape (also paying tribute to the<br />
film). We recommend that you first of all visit the museum<br />
before exploring the surrounding area. You’ll find a number<br />
of recreations meticulously constructed to reproduce the<br />
camp in all its particulars. The watch-tower and barracks<br />
replicas are a bit chilling as are the guard posts and signs<br />
that read “Warning!! Upon entrance of this zone guard will<br />
shoot”. The “Harry” Tunnel (the one used during the Great<br />
Escape) has an impressive recreation in the front courtyard<br />
completed by young engineering students sponsored by<br />
the EU. The two prominent memorials in front will bring a<br />
sober reminder of the true purpose and symbolism of the<br />
camp. The first is a small memorial to the “Long March”<br />
in which the surviving prisoners were brutally forced to<br />
march through the snow west into Germany to evade the<br />
Russian advance. The second is a huge and heart-breaking<br />
sculpture of an emaciated starvation victim curled in the<br />
foetal position having succumbed to the deprivations of<br />
the camp’s environment. For those who haven’t seen the<br />
film, all but three of the escapees were recaptured and<br />
most were summarily executed. So, while it is an amazing<br />
and inspiring film and place to visit, don’t expect a happy<br />
Hollywood ending.<br />
While you’re in the area, the town of Żagań itself has a few<br />
sights of its own including the Augustine Monastery and<br />
complex, the ancient city walls, the Town Hall and a slew of<br />
old churches. Take a stroll before heading back to the train<br />
station and lighten your mood with a little sight-seeing before<br />
saying goodbye to living history. QOpen 10:00 - 16:00, Sat,<br />
Sun 10:00 - 17:00. Closed Mon. Admission 5/3zł. Guided<br />
tours 30zł per hour (regardless of number of people). Guided<br />
tours in English should be booked in advance.<br />
Getting There<br />
To reach the camp by train you will need to make a change<br />
en-route. A train departs Wrocław Główny train station<br />
at 07:09 arriving in Zagan at 09:36, but you have to<br />
manage a quick change in Legnica (26.50zł). From Żagań<br />
train station take a local bus from the stop in front of the<br />
station in the direction of Iłowa or Gozdnica and get off at<br />
‘Modernbud’; this puts you 300 metres from the camp. Alternatively,<br />
take a bus in the direction of Wesoła getting off<br />
at ‘Staszica’ and you’re about the same distance. Tickets<br />
cost 2zł. For later train departures to Zagan from Wrocław<br />
Główny, the advantages of which are debateable, check<br />
the English version of www.rozklad.pkp.pl.<br />
To return to Wrocław on the same day there is a direct<br />
train from Zagan at 15:46 (22zł), which arrives in Wrocław<br />
at 18:20. Miss that and you’ll need to catch the 17:14,<br />
which again changes in Legnica, arriving in Wrocław at<br />
20:10 (22zł).<br />
September - December 2012<br />
79