Country: Poland
Distance: 422 km
Travel time: 18 days
On postcard: Gdynia, Sopot, Gdansk
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PL-362325 391 - ая открытка
Country: Poland
Distance: 633 km
Travel time: 5 days
On postcard: Town Hall Tower, Kraków
Town Hall Tower in Kraków, Poland (Polish: Wieża ratuszowa w Krakowie) is one of the main focal points of the Main Market Square in the Old Town district of Kraków.
The Tower is the only remaining part of the old Town Hall (Ratusz, see painting, below) demolished in 1820 as part of the city plan to open up the Main Square. Its cellars once housed a city prison with a Medieval torture chamber.
Built of stone and brick at the end of the 13th century, the massive Gothic tower of the early Town Hall stands 70 metres tall and leans just 55 centimetres, the result of a storm in 1703. The top floor of the tower with an observation deck is open to visitors.
The original Gothic helmet adorning the tower was consumed by fire caused by a lightning in 1680. The ensuing reconstruction of the tower took place between 1683 and 1686. The work was directed by the royal architect Piotr Beber, who designed new and imposing Baroque helmet, which survived only until 1783. At that time, the helmet began to crumble, and was replaced by a smaller structure (right) sponsored by Archbishop Kajetan Sołtyk.
The entrance to the tower is guarded by a pair of stone lions carved at the beginning of the 19th century. They were brought to Kraków from the Classicist palace of the Morstin family in Pławowice during the renovations of 1961–1965, during which the bay windows on the second floor of the tower were incorrectly reconstructed by a local TV personality, architect Wiktor Zin. Over the entrance is the original Gothic portal with the city coat-of-arms and the emblem of Poland. For many years the basement beneath the tower has been used as the performance space called the Stage beneath the Town Hall of the renowned Teatr Ludowy.
The tower serves as a Division of the Historical Museum of Kraków featuring permanent display of photographs of the Market Square Exhibition.
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Country: Belgium
Distance: 1,264 km
Travel time: 11 days
On postcard: Frogs from National park of Poland
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Country: Poland
Distance: 559 km
Travel time: 5 days
On postcard: Oborniki Śląskie
Oborniki Śląskie [ɔbɔrˈniki ˈɕlɔ̃skʲɛ] (German: Obernigk) is a town in southwestern Poland. It is located in the northeastern part of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship and is part of Trzebnica County. It is the seat of the administrative district (gmina) called Gmina Oborniki Śląskie.
The town became a resort and spa in the 1830s while part of the Kingdom of Prussia.
The town lies approximately 12 kilometres (7 mi) west of Trzebnica, and 22 kilometres (14 mi) north-west of the regional capital Wrocław. As at 2006 it has a population of 8,426.
Etymology
One theory of the town's name is that it derives from Obora (Polish for "cow-shed"), denoting a village whose people were engaged in cattle-breeding. Another theory suggests it derives from O bor, meaning forest, indicating it was taken from pine and fir forests that were growing on loess deposited land. However, the town is surrounded by oak trees, not by pine or fir. The town's name remained largely unchanged through its history, including variations like Obora, Obornik, Obiring, Obernigk. The suffix Śląskie ("Silesian") was added after 1945 to differentiate the town from Oborniki in Greater Poland Voivodeship.
History
The earliest known human traces in this area comes from the Mesolithic Kurgans characteristic for early Bronze Age Lusatian culture have been found nearby, as well as artifacts such as Mesolithic flint tools and Neolithic axes.
Oborniki was first documented in a note calling for Obora to pay a tithe to the Bishopric of Wrocław in 1305. Cistercians once lived near the town, which was based on Magdeburg rights, although it did not actually have the status of a town. In the early 14th century, the town was transferred from the Bishops of Wrocław to Duke Konrad I of Oels (Oleśnica).
Along with the rest of Silesia, Oborniki came under the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Bohemia, part of the Holy Roman Empire, during the Late Middle Ages. The region was inherited by the Habsburg Monarchy of Austria in 1526 and taken by the Kingdom of Prussia in 1742 during the Silesian Wars. It was administered in the Prussian Province of Silesia as Obernigk.
Karl Eduard von Holtei lived in Obernigk for a few years and married Luise Rogée there in 1821. He described the town in his poems. Because of its good climate in the Katzengebirge (Trzebnickie Hills), Obernigk began to develop from a provincial village into the spa Bad Obernigk under the guidance of the landowner Carl Wolfgang Schaubert in 1835.
In 1856 the town was located along the railway line between Breslau (Wrocław) and Posen (Poznań). When cholera broke out in Breslau in 1866, many inhabitants fled to Obernigk. The town became part of the Prussian-led German Empire in 1871.
Until the end of World War II, Bad Obernigk was part of Landkreis Trebnitz in the Province of Lower Silesia, Germany. Because of its spas and sanatoriums, it was popular with the citizens of Breslau and other cities in Lower Silesia.
The town was transferred from Germany to Poland in 1945 and had its remaining German-speaking population expelled; it received town privileges in the same year.
Flag and Coat of Arms
The flag of the city was approved by the Heraldic Commission, and has been the official emblem of Oborniki Śląskie since June 2002.
The flag presents the city's coat-of-arms on a green and yellow background. The coat-of-arms of the city is a green fir with a brown trunk, a symbol referring to the historic character of the town during World War II, on a yellow background.
PL-342564 354 - ая открытка
Country: Poland
Distance: 460 km
Travel time: 3 days
On postcard: Poznań Town Hall
Poznań Town Hall or Ratusz is a building in the city of Poznań in western Poland, located in the Old Market Square (Stary Rynek) in the centre of the Old Town neighbourhood. It served as the city's administrative building until 1939, and now houses a museum. The town hall was originally built in the late 13th century following the founding of the medieval city in 1253; it was rebuilt in roughly its present-day form, in mannerist style, with an ornate loggia, by Giovanni Battista di Quadro in 1550–1560. The display of mechanical fighting goats, played out daily at noon above the clock on the front wall of the building, is one of the city's main tourist attractions.
History
The town hall was originally constructed as the administrative building of the city founded on the left bank of the Warta in 1253 (seeHistory of Poznań). It was completed around 1300, during the reign of Wacław II Czeski, and was first documented in Latin in 1310 asDomus Consulum. It was a one-storey Gothic building built upon a raised quadrangle. The cellars remain from this period of construction. The building was extended in the 15th century, and at the turn of the century a tower was built at the north-western corner. The interior was remodeled between 1504 and 1508.
In 1536 the city suffered a major fire, which did serious damage to the town hall. Repair work was carried out in 1540–1542, particularly to the tower, but it remained unsafe. In 1550 the city' council commissioned Giovanni Battista di Quadro to carry out a major rebuilding. The work lasted until 1560. Di Quadro added an upper storey, extended the building towards the west, and added attic walls and a three-storey loggia. A new clock (installed 1551) was made with three full faces and one half-face, and with goats added as a "comic element" (see next section).
In 1675 the tower, clock and goats were destroyed by lightning. The tower was rebuilt in 1690 to a height of 90 metres (300 ft). The top of the tower was destroyed in a hurricane of 1725. In 1781–1784 major renovation was carried out on the building thanks to the efforts of the city's "Committee of Good Order", and it obtained the basic form which it presents today. A Classical-style tower roof was designed by Bonawentura Solari, and on the top was a white eagle with a two-metre wing span. On the eastern elevation Franciszek Cielecki painted Jagiellonian kings, and under the central turret was placed a cartouche with the king's initials "SAR" (Stanislaus Augustus Rex).
The next major renovation was carried out in 1910–1913 (during the period of German rule), when black rustication was used to give the building a more "northern German" style. The original late renaissance polychromy was destroyed. An additional storey was added and the goats, which had been absent since 1675, were restored to the tower in 1913. In October 1943 the Town Hall was the scene of Heinrich Himmler's Posen speeches. Following major damage in the Battle of Poznań (1945), the Town Hall was again rebuilt in 1945–1954, when the Renaissance character of the elevations was restored (and extracts from the constitution of the Polish People's Republic were added to the text displayed on the attic wall). The eagle, which had been kept hidden during the war, was returned to the tower in 1947. The mechanism that drives the goats was replaced in 1954, and again at the end of the century. Renovation carried out in 1992–2002 largely restored the building to its post-1784 appearance.
The goats and bugle call
Today the mechanical goats' butting display is performed daily at noon, preceded by the striking of the clock and the playing of a traditional bugle call (hejnał). At other hours between 7 am and 9 pm the same call is played on a carillon, installed in the tower in 2003. The daily appearance of the goats is one of Poznań's best-known tourist attractions.
A legend behind the original addition of the goats to the clock mechanism states that a cook, while preparing a banquet for the voivode and other dignitaries, had burnt a roast deer, and attempted to replace it by stealing two goats from a nearby meadow. The goats escaped and ran up the town hall tower, where they attracted the attention of the townspeople when they began to butt each other (according to some versions, this drew attention to a fire which might otherwise have done significant damage). Because of the entertainment provided, the voivode pardoned both the cook and the goats, and ordered that two mechanical goats be incorporated into the new clock being made for the building.
Another legend is associated with the hejnał. This says that Bolko, son of the tower's trumpeter, once took care of a crow whose wing had been shot through. The boy was then awoken at night by a gnome wearing a crown and purple cape, who thanked the boy for his kindness and handed him a small gold trumpet, telling him to blow it when in danger. After these words the gnome transformed into a crow and flew away. Years later, after Bolko had taken his father's place as trumpeter, when an attacking army was scaling Poznań's walls, Bolko remembered the present, ran to the top of the tower and began to play the trumpet. Dark clouds began to gather on the horizon, which turned out to be an enormous flock of crows that fell upon the attacking army and forced it to retreat. The trumpet was lost when Bolko dropped it in his astonishment, but the call which he played is still performed.
Rooms
The interior of the town hall consists of cellars, a ground floor and two upper storeys. The building currently serves as a Museum of the History of the City of Poznań (Muzeum Historii Miasta Poznania), a subdivision of the National Museum in Poznań.
Cellars and ground floor
The cellars were built between the 13th and 14th centuries. There was originally one large room with a supporting column in the centre; this was later divided into four rooms. Keystonesfeature the coat of arms of Poznań (crossed keys) and the Bohemian coat of arms (white lion with double tail) dating from the times of Wacław II Czeski. Until the 17th century the cellars were used to store goods, and in the 17th and 18th centuries they contained a prison and torture chamber. In the 19th century they were in use as a restaurant. They were later used as museum rooms, and are currently being renovated.
The ground-floor rooms were originally built in Gothic style, but rebuilt in Renaissance style by G. B. di Quadro; only one room retains the original vault. The architect also added two rooms with lunette vaults. One of the original uses of these rooms was for the town archives.
Upper floors
The second floor of the building was originally used for utility functions; following World War II damage it was rebuilt as exhibition space, with ceilings modelled on those from the houses on the Old Market Square. However the first floor contained the grandest rooms, used for official purposes by the city's authorities – these include the Great Hall (Vestibule), the Royal Hall and the Courtroom, described below.
Great Hall
The Great Hall or Vestibule is designed in Renaissance style by G. B. di Quadro. It was originally used for important sittings of the city court. Over the entrance is a quotation from Aristotle's Politics, and on the hall side a quotation from the Third Psalm. The hall retains its original vaults with lunettes, supported by two columns and by corbels. The coffers and columns are ornamented (the ornamentation on the ceiling is sgraffito). The coffers in the northern part of the room have polychrome stucco decoration showing Hercules and Samson, David and Goliath, and Marcus Curtius. The lower coffers show the coats of arms of Poland, Lithuania, the House of Sforza (Bona Sforza was Polish queen consort to 1548), the Habsburgs (Catherine Habsburgwas queen consort from 1553) and Poznań, as well as an angel holding a board with the date 1555, the year the work was completed. Artists' signatures, house marks and representations of their tools can also be found. The southern part contains representations of animals and mythical creatures (elephant, lion, leopard, aegle, rhinoceros, griffin, Pegasus) and deities signifying heavenly bodies (the sun, the moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars,Jupiter and Saturn in the Ptolemeic system. Also in cross-shaped coffers are the heads of Moses and of Christ, the latter accompanied by another house mark.
On the western wall are two portals dating from 1508, which combine Gothic and Renaissance features. Gold-plated doors contain the Bohemian coat of arms, possibly dating from the time of Wacław II Czeski. Notable exhibits include a Venetian globe (1688), and busts of Roman emperors from the 3rd and 4th centuries, excavated in Italy in the 18th century.
The hall is currently used for concerts and for special weddings.
Royal Hall
The Royal Hall (Sala Królewska) was once richly decorated similarly to the Great Hall, and was used for meetings of the city council. It was partly restored in 1954 following war damage. Its name derives from the portraits of kings which once decorated the hall (the portraits on display today come from the National Museum's collections). The hall features a Renaissance sandstone fireplace (1541), moved here from the adjoining weighing house when that building was demolished in 1890 (it was rebuilt in its original style after World War II). There is also a portal dating from 1536, moved from a house on the Old Market Square (Stary Rynek 87).
Courtroom
The sala sądowa (courtroom) was used for minor court hearings. It retains Renaissance "mirror vaults", with polychrome decoration dating from between the late 16th and early 19th centuries. On the northern wall are personifications of four continents. On the wall to the right of the entrance is the painting Aeropagus Maioris Poloniae by Wacław Graff, which alludes to a court of 1726. Opposite the entrance is a marble statue of king Stanisław August Poniatowski, dating from 1783.
External features
The front of the building, facing east, features an ornately decorated, three-storey loggia. Between the arcade columns on the ground floor are five pairs of female figures, the first four pairs representing virtues: patience (paciencia), with a lamb and prudence (prudencia) with a mirror; charity (charitas) with two children and justice (iusticia) with scales and a sword; faith (fides) with a chalice and sword and hope (spes) with a thurible and the sun; andcourage (fortitudo) with a broken column and temperance (temperancia) pouring water from a vase into a bowl. The last pair is of two famous women from the Ancient World: Lucretia (Lucrecia) with a spear through her own breast, and Cleopatra (Cleapairi), with snakes twisted around her arms.
Between the ground and first floors runs a fresco in Latin text serving as a warning to judges. Below the first floor there is a series of medallions with figures from the Ancient World: the brothers Gaius Gracchus and Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus, Lucius Junius Brutus, Archimedes, Vitruvius, Virgil,Homer, Justinian I, Horace, Spartacus, and the tyrannicides Harmodius and Aristogeiton.
Above the loggia is an attic wall, which features a list of rulers of the Jagiełło Dynasty from Władysław II Jagiełło and Jadwiga of Poland to Sigismund II Augustus. In the centre is a small tower, at the foot of which the goats appear for their daily display. Below this is a clock, connected with the mechanism that controls the goats. Below that is the monogram of Stanisław August Poniatowski ("SAR").
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Country: Poland
Distance: 401 km
Travel time: 11 days
On postcard: Siedlce
Siedlce (Yiddish: שעדליץ Shedlits, Russian: Седльце Sedl'tse (Latinized)) is a city in eastern Poland with 77,392 inhabitants (as of 2010). Situated in the Masovian Voivodeship (since 1999), previously the city was the capital of a separate Siedlce Voivodeship (1975–1998).
The city, which is part of the historical province of Lesser Poland, was most probably founded some time before 15th century and was first mentioned under the name of Siedlecz in a document of 1448. In 1503 Daniel Siedlecki erected a new village of the same name nearby and a church in the middle. In 1547 the town, created out of a merger of the two villages, was granted Magdeburg rights by King Sigismund the Old. Until 1807, when it was confiscated by the Russian authorities, it remained a private property of several notablemagnate families, among them Czartoryski and Ogiński.
During the World War II more than 50% of all buildings in the city, including a historical city hall, were destroyed. The Jewish population perished in the Holocaust.
Jewish history
Up to the Second World War, like many other cities in Europe, Siedlce had a significant Jewish population. At some times, indeed, Jews were the majority of its population.
The presence of Jews at Siedlce is attested from the middle 16th Century - inn keepers, merchants and artisans. A Jewish hospital existed in the town since the early 18th century. In 1794, a Beit Midrash (study hall) was founded in the town and 1798 the Jewish cemetery was extended, testifying to the increase of the community. These changes coincided with the town coming under Austrian rule with the Third Partition of Poland. Austrian rule lasted until 1809. It was passed to Russian rule in 1815 formally (in 1813 de facto), that lasted for over a hundred years. Until 1819 the Jewish community of Warsaw, 90 kilometres to the west, was formally subject to the authority of the Siedlce rabbis.
For much of the 19th Century - a time when the town's population steadily increased - Jews were the majority of Siedlce's population: 3,727 (71.5%) in 1839; 4,359 (65%) in 1841; 5,153 (67.5%) in 1858; 8,156 (64%) in 1878. Later on, the percentage of Jews decreased due to non-Jewish migration: according to Russian census of 1897, out of the total population of 23,700, Jews constituted 11,400 (so around 48% percent). The first Polish census, in 1921, recorded 14,685 Jews living in Siedlce. Their number remained steady in the interwar period, and in 1939, on the eve of the Second World War, there were some 15,000 Jews living in the town.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, secular political and cultural activity was evident among Jews in Siedlce, as in the whole of Eastern Europe. In 1900 the Bund started activity in the town, as did the Zionist movement, and many of the town's Jews were adherents of Polish Socialist Party. Between 1911-1939 two Yiddish weeklies were published in the town, and a Jewish highschool was founded during the First World War.
In the last decades of Tsarist rule the unrest (in particular, the events of the Bloody Wednesday, supported by many activists in the town, resulted in the Russian-organized a pogrom on 8–10 September 1906, in which 26 Jews perished. In the wake of the First World War the town was affected by the Polish-Soviet War, being occupied by the Red Army in 1920 and taken over by the Polish Army in 1921. In 1939, Jews constituted some 37% of the town's population. Germans exiled some thousand Jews from elsewhere in Poland to Siedlce in 1940, especially from Łódź, Kalush and Pabianice. In March 1941 - still before the formal decision to implement the "Final Solution" of wholesale extermination the Jews - German forces rampaged for three days in Siedlce, killing many of its Jewish inhabitants. In August of the same year the town's Jews were herded into a ghetto and on October 1, 1941 were completely cut off from the outside world. In August 1942 some 10,000 of the Siedlce Jews were deported to Treblinka together with around 10 thousand gentile population for the Siedlce forced labour camps and murdered there. The town's remaining 7,000 Jews were sent off to extermination on November 25, 1942.
The Siedlce Jewish community was not restored after Nazi defeat, and the town's later history lacked the hitherto conspicuous Jewish component. Survivors of the town's population established an association in Israel which in 1956 published a comprehensive memorial book on the community's history. Y. Kravitz, one of the survivors, published in 1971 his memoires entitled "Five Years of Living Hell under Nazi Rule in the City of Siedlce".
Culture
In the city is a painting by El Greco, "The Ecstasy of St. Francis". It is the only painting of his in all of Poland. The city is a cultural center for the entire country, there are held festivals, exhibitions, and concerts of a nationwide dimension. The principal animators of culture operating in the city are: Culture and Art Center (CKiS), Municipal Cultural Centre (MOK). The town has three museums, and three independent Public Libraries. In Siedlce is also the study working cinema run by the CKiS and multiscreen cinema Novekino network. A number of artistic groups operate in Siedlce, like the dance companies LUZ and Caro Dance and Choir of the City of Siedlce and the Theatre ES. The City also has an art gallery, located in the University.
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Country: Poland
Distance: 485 km
Travel time: 16 days
On postcard: Centennial Hall
The Centennial Hall (German: Jahrhunderthalle, Polish: Hala Stulecia (formerly Hala Ludowa - People's Hall)) is a historic building in Wrocław, Poland. It was constructed according to the plans of architect Max Berg in 1911–1913, when the city was part of the German Empire. As an early landmark of reinforced concrete architecture, it was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2006.
The building is frequently visited by tourists and the local populace. It lies close to other popular tourist attractions, such as the Wrocław Zoo, the Japanese Garden, and the Pergola with its Multimedia Fountain.
History
It was in the Lower Silesian capital of Breslau on 10 March 1813 where King Frederick William III of Prussia called upon the Prussian and German people in his proclamation An Mein Volk to rise up against Napoleon's occupation. In October of that year, at the Battle of Leipzig, Napoleon was defeated.
The opening of the hall was part of the celebration commemorating the 100th anniversary of the battle, hence the name. Breslau's municipal authorities had vainly awaited state funding and ultimately had to defray the enormous costs out of their own pockets. The landscaping and buildings surrounding the hall were laid out by Hans Poelzig were opened on 20 May 1913 in the presence of Crown Prince William of Hohenzollern. The grounds include a huge pond with fountains enclosed by a huge concrete pergola in the form of half an ellipse. Beyond this, to the north, a Japanese garden was created. The Silesian author Gerhart Hauptmann had specially prepared a play Festspiel in deutschen Reimen, however the mise-en-scène by Max Reinhardt was suspended by national-conservative circles for its antimilitaristic tendencies.
After the memorial events, the building served as multi-purpose recreational building, situated in the Exhibition Grounds, previously used for horse racing. It was largely spared from the devastation by the Siege of Breslau and after the city 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 government. In 1948, a 106 m (348 ft) high needle-like metal sculpture called Iglica was set up in front of it. The hall was extensively renovated in 1997. Recently the Polish translation of the original German name, Hala Stulecia, is also used with reference to the history of the building.
Centennial Hall hosted EuroBasket 1963 and a preliminary round group of the EuroBasket 2009 tournament.
The hall continues to be in active use for sporting events and concerts.
Construction
The cupola modeled on the Festhalle Frankfurt was made of reinforced concrete, and with an inner diameter of 69 m (226 ft) and 42 m (138 ft) high it was the largest building of its kind at the time of construction. The symmetrical quatrefoil shape with a large circular central space seats 7,000 persons. The dome itself is 23 m (75 ft) high, made of in steel and glass. The Jahrhunderthalle became a key reference for the development of reinforced concrete structures in the 20th century.
The hall was originally provided with a Sauer pipe organ built by Walcker Orgelbau, which then, with 15,133 pipes and 200 stops, ranked as the world's largest. On 24 September 1913, Karl Straube was the first to play it, performing Max Reger's Introduction, Passacaglia and Fugue for Organ Op. 127, specially composed to celebrate the occasion. Most parts of the organ were transferred to the rebuilt Wrocław Cathedral after World War II.
Access
The hall lies east of the city centre, but can easily be reached by tram or bus.
The hall is open daily to visitors for a small entrance fee.
PL-279110 248 - ая открытка
Country: Poland
Distance: 384 km
Travel time: 7 days
On postcard: Warsaw
Warsaw (Polish: Warszawa ) is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River roughly 260 kilometres (160 mi) from the Baltic Sea and 300 kilometres (190 mi) from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population as of June 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855, and the Warsaw metropolitan area at approximately 2,631,902. The area of the city covers 516.9 square kilometres (199.6 sq mi), while the city's agglomeration covers 6,100.43 square kilometres (2,355.39 sq mi) (Warsaw Metro Area – Obszar Metropolitalny Warszawy). Warsaw is the 9th largest city in the European Union by population.
"Warszawianka" is widely considered the unofficial anthem of Warsaw. On 9 November 1940 the City of Warsaw was awarded the Silver Cross of Poland's supreme military decoration for courage in the face of the enemy, the Order Virtuti Militari for the heroic defence in 1939.
Warsaw is also known as the "phoenix city", as it recovered from extensive damage during World War II (during which 80% of its buildings were destroyed), being rebuilt with the effort of Polish citizens. Warsaw has given its name to the Warsaw Confederation,Warsaw Pact, the Duchy of Warsaw, Warsaw Convention, Treaty of Warsaw, Warsaw Uprising and the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
Etymology and names
Warsaw's name in the Polish language, Warszawa (also formerly spelled Warszewa and Warszowa), means "belonging to Warsz",Warsz being a shortened form of the masculine name of Slavic origin Warcisław; see also etymology of Wrocław. Folk etymology attributes the city name to a fisherman Wars and his wife Sawa. According to legend, Sawa was a mermaid living in the Vistula River who Wars fell in love with. Actually, Warsz was a 12th/13th century nobleman who owned a village located at the site of today's Mariensztat neighbourhood. The official city name in full is miasto stołeczne Warszawa (English: "The Capital City of Warsaw").A native or resident of Warsaw is known as aVarsovian.
Other names for Warsaw include Warschau (German and Dutch), Varsovia (Spanish and Latin), Varsovie (French), Varsavia (Italian), וואַרשע/Varshe (Yiddish), ורשה/Varsha (Hebrew),Варшава/Varshava (Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian and Serbian), Varšava (Slovak, Czech, Latvian, Slovenian, Serbian and Croatian), Varšuva (Lithuanian), Varsó (Hungarian), 華沙(Huáshā, "flower sand") (Traditional Chinese) and فرصوفيا/fersofia (Arabic).
History
Early history
The first fortified settlements on the site of today's Warsaw were Bródno (9th/10th century) and Jazdów (12th/13th century). After Jazdów was raided, a new similar settlement was established on the site of a small fishing village called Warszowa. The Płock prince Bolesław II of Masovia, established this settlement, the modern Warsaw, about 1300. In the beginning of the 14th century it became one of the seats of theDukes of Masovia, becoming the capital of Masovia in 1413. Fourteenth-century Warsaw's economy rested on crafts and trade. Upon the extinction of the local ducal line, the duchy was reincorporated into the Polish Crown in 1526.
16th to 18th century
In 1529 Warsaw for the first time became the seat of the General Sejm, permanent from 1569. In 1573 the city gave its name to the Warsaw Confederation, formally establishing religious freedom in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Due to its central location between the Commonwealth's capitals of Kraków and Vilnius, Warsaw became the capital of the Commonwealth, and of the Polish Crown, in 1596, when King Sigismund III Vasa moved the court from Kraków to Warsaw.
In the following years the town expanded towards the suburbs. Several private independent districts were established, the property of aristocrats and the gentry, which were ruled by their own laws. Three times between 1655–1658 the city was under siege and three times it was taken and pillaged by the Swedish, Brandenburgian and Transylvanian forces.
In 1700, the Great Northern War broke out. The city was besieged several times and was obliged to pay heavy contributions. Warsaw turned into an early-capitalistic principal city.
Stanisław August Poniatowski, who remodelled the interior of the Royal Castle in Warsaw, also made Warsaw a centre of culture and the arts. This earned Warsaw the name of the Paris of the east.
19th and 20th centuries
Warsaw remained the capital of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth until 1795, when it was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia to become the capital of the province of South Prussia. Liberated by Napoleon's army in 1806, Warsaw was made the capital of the newly created Duchy of Warsaw. Following the Congress of Vienna of 1815, Warsaw became the centre of the Congress Poland, a constitutional monarchyunder a personal union with Imperial Russia. The Royal University of Warsaw was established in 1816.
Following the repeated violations of the Polish constitution by the Russians, the 1830 November Uprising broke out. However, the Polish-Russian war of 1831 ended in the uprising's defeat and in the curtailment of the Kingdom's autonomy. On 27 February 1861 a Warsaw crowd protesting against the Russian rule over Poland was fired upon by the Russian troops. Five people were killed. The Underground Polish National Government resided in Warsaw during January Uprising in 1863–64.
Warsaw flourished in the late 19th century under Mayor Sokrates Starynkiewicz (1875–92), a Russian-born general appointed by Tsar Alexander III. Under Starynkiewicz Warsaw saw its first water and sewer systems designed and built by the English engineer William Lindleyand his son, William Heerlein Lindley, as well as the expansion and modernisation of trams, street lighting and gas works.
“The history of contemporary civilisation knows no event of greater importance than the Battle of Warsaw, 1920, and none of which the significance is less appreciated. — Sir Edgar Vincent d'Abernon
The Russian Empire Census of 1897 recorded 626,000 people living in Warsaw, making it the third-largest city of the Empire after St. Petersburg and Moscow.
Warsaw became the capital of the newly independent Poland in 1918. In the course of the Polish-Bolshevik War of 1920, the huge Battle of Warsaw was fought on the eastern outskirts of the city in which the capital was successfully defended and the Red Army defeated. Poland stopped by itself the full brunt of the Red Army and defeated an idea of the "export of the revolution".
World War II
During World War II, central Poland, including Warsaw, came under the rule of the General Government, a German Nazi colonial administration. All higher education institutions were immediately closed and Warsaw's entire Jewish population – several hundred thousand, some 30% of the city – herded into the Warsaw Ghetto. When the order came to annihilate the ghetto as part of Hitler's "Final Solution" on 19 April 1943, Jewish fighters launched the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Despite being heavily outgunned and outnumbered, the Ghetto held out for almost a month. When the fighting ended, almost all survivors were massacred, only few managed to escape or hide.
By July 1944, the Red Army was deep into Polish territory and pursuing the Germans toward Warsaw. Knowing that Stalin was hostile to the idea of an independent Poland, the Polish government-in-exile in London gave orders to the underground Home Army (AK) to try to seize control of Warsaw from the Germans before the Red Army arrived. Thus, on 1 August 1944, as the Red Army was nearing the city, the Warsaw Uprisingbegan. The armed struggle, planned to last 48 hours, went on for 63 days. Stalin gave orders to his troops to wait outside of Warsaw. Eventually the Home Army fighters and civilians assisting them were forced to capitulate. They were transported to PoW camps in Germany, while the entire civilian population was expelled. Polish civilian deaths are estimated at between 150,000 and 200,000.
The Germans then razed Warsaw to the ground. Hitler, ignoring the agreed terms of the capitulation, ordered the entire city to be razed to the ground and the library and museum collections taken to Germany or burned. Monuments and government buildings were blown up by special German troops known as Verbrennungs- und Vernichtungskommando ("Burning and Destruction Detachments"). About 85% of the city had been destroyed, including the historic Old Town and the Royal Castle.
On 17 January 1945 – after the beginning of the Vistula–Oder Offensive of the Red Army – Soviet troops entered the ruins of Warsaw, and liberated Warsaw's suburbs from German occupation. The city was swiftly taken by the Soviet Army, which rapidly advanced towards Łódź, as German forces regrouped at a more westward position.
Modern times
In 1945, after the bombing, the revolts, the fighting, and the demolition had ended, most of Warsaw lay in ruins.
After the war, under a Communist regime set up by the conquering Soviets, large prefabricated housing projects were erected in Warsaw to address the housing shortage, along with other typical buildings of an Eastern Bloc city, such as the Palace of Culture and Science. The city resumed its role as the capital of Poland and the country's centre of political and economic life. Many of the historic streets, buildings, and churches were restored to their original form. In 1980, Warsaw's historic Old Town was inscribed onto UNESCO's World Heritage list.
John Paul II's visits to his native country in 1979 and 1983 brought support to the budding solidarity movement and encouraged the growinganti-communist fervor there. In 1979, less than a year after becoming pope, John Paul celebrated Mass in Victory Square in Warsaw and ended his sermon with a call to "renew the face" of Poland: Let Thy Spirit descend! Let Thy Spirit descend and renew the face of the land! This land! These words were very meaningful for the Polish citizens who understood them as the incentive for the democratic changes.
In 1995, the Warsaw Metro opened. With the entry of Poland into the European Union in 2004, Warsaw is currently experiencing the biggest economic boom of its history. The opening match of UEFA Euro 2012 is scheduled to take place in Warsaw.
PL-214335 137- aя открыткa
Country: Poland
Distance: 580 km
Travel time: 4 days
On postcard: Dwarfs of Wrocław
Wrocław’s dwarfs is the name given to the charming small figurines that first appeared in the streets of Wrocław in 2001. Since then, their numbers have been continually growing, and today they are undoubtedly one of the greatest tourist attractions of the city. Those who would like to combine sight-seeing in Wroclaw with tracking the dwarfs, are offered special brochures and guided tours.
The number of dwarfs in the city is not finite, with new ones appearing in the streets each year, whilst others are stolen or vandalized despite being protected by sophisticated security devices.
In 2001, to commemorate the Orange Alternative movement, a figurine of a dwarf: the movement’s symbol, was officially placed on Świdnicka Street, where the group’s happenings used to take place. The dwarf was founded by Agora (the publisher of Gazeta Wyborcza: a Polish broad sheet). It is probably one of the few cases in the world where such a subversive group has been honoured by the city authorities, who commissioned the placing of a statue of a dwarf in the city centre. In 2003, the Mayor of Wrocław, in an attempt to continue the new tradition, unveiled a small plaque on the door of The Dwarfs’ Museum. It can be found at the height of human knees on the wall of a historic tenement called: Jaś, which is situated between the Market Square and St. Elizabeth’s Church.
The figures of the dwarfs, which are smaller than the Orange Alternative monument on Świdnicka Street, were placed in different parts of the city. The first five: designed by Tomasz Moczek, a graduate of The Academy of Art and Design in Wrocław, were placed in August 2005. These were the Fencer near the University of Wrocław, the Butcher in Stare Jatki arcade, two Sisyphuses on Świdnicka Street and the Odra-Washer-Dwarf, near Piaskowy Bridge. The name of the last dwarf is related to Pracze Odrzańskie: an estate on the outskirts of the city. Since that time, the number of figures has continued growing, predominantly in the Old Town.
A ceremony unveiling two other dwarfs took place on the day of June 18th, 2008. They were situated on Świdnicka Street, next to W-skers: a dwarf in a wheel chair. The figures represent two disabled dwarfs: the Deaf-mute and the Blind. They are part of the Wrocław Without Barriers campaign, which aims at drawing attention to handicapped people living in Wroclaw. Five days later, at the Hematology and Pediatric Oncology Clinic in Wrocław, another dwarf was erected. It was to be the third female dwarf: Marzenka, whose design was based on the logo of the Mam marzenie charity.
PL-163230 77 - ая открыткa
Country: Poland
Distance: 650 km
Travel time: 14 days
On postcard: Wrocław
Вро́цлав (старое русское название — Бреславль; польск. Wrocław [ˈvrɔt͡swaf], нем. Breslau, сил.Wrocłow, н.-сил. Brassel, лат. Vratislavia, Wratislavia) — историческая столица Силезии, один из самых крупных и самых старых городов Польши, расположенный на обоих берегах среднего течения Одры, на Силезской низменности.
Через город протекает 5 рек: Одра и 4 её притока. До Второй мировой войны в городе было 303 моста, сейчас их осталось около 220.
В настоящее время Вроцлав является столицей Нижнесилезского воеводства, и центром Вроцлавского повята также включающего в себя 9 гмин: Черница, Длуголенка, Йорданув-Слёнски, Конты-Вроцлавске, Кобежице, Меткув, Собутка, Свента-Катажина, Журавина. Вроцлав состоит из пяти районов: Псе Поле, Сьрудмесьце, Старе Място, Кжики, Фабрычна.
Регион Силезия, в котором находится город Вроцлав, впервые был упомянут Тацитом в 98 году и Птолемеем в 150 году в его труде Magna Germania. В IV — начале V столетия в окрестностях Вроцлава расселилось одно из племён вандалов — силинги, откуда, вероятно, Силезия получила своё название. Название Вортицлава и Вратислава появилось около 900 года как название славянского поселения с рынком-торжищем. Оно находилось на острове вблизи места слияния трёх притоков Одры. К 990 году Вроцлав и вся Силезия были завоёваны польским князем из династии Пястов Мешко I. В 1000 году его сын Болеслав Храбрый основал епископство Вроцлав. По его приказу был построен замок на Соборском острове, примерно на месте сегодняшней церкви Мартина. Внутри замка построили собор. В округе замка образовался маленький город, в котором жило около 1000 человек. В 1109 г. немецкий император Генрих V послал войско против Болеслава Кривоустого. Немецкое войско потерпело поражение, а поле битвы стало известно в истории как «Собачье поле». После смерти Болеслава в1138 году Вроцлав стал столицей польского (до 1201 г.) княжества Силезия. Немного позже на южном берегу реки, на месте сегодняшнего университета, поселились первые немецкие поселенцы. Там они построили новый город, который в 1259 г. стал столицей независимого герцогства Силезия.
Во время нашествия монголов Вроцлав в 1241 г. был взят ими и разрушен. Восстановленный город в1261 г. получил магдебургское городское право.
Название Бреслау (в старых немецких документах Preßlau, на местном диалекте до 1945 г. Prassel) использовалось одновременно с латинским Vratislavia. Название Вратиславия происходит от имени богемского князя (герцога) Вратислава I, который, скорее всего, является основателем города. Польское название Wrocław того же происхождения. Это название и до 1945 г. встречалось на польских картах, когда город ещё не был польским. Буква «W» в гербе города считается вензелем основателя города, Вратислава (Wratislaw)
Основание города
По легенде, город был основан чешским князем Вратиславом (правил в 915—921 гг.). Название города — сокращённая форма его имени. Около 990 года город с остальной частью Силезии перешёл во владение династии Пястов. Первым правителем Польши из династии Пястов был Мешко I, а вторым — его сын Болеслав I Храбрый. В 1000 году император Священной Римской империи Оттон III и польский князь Болеслав Храбрый учредили в городе римско-католическое епископство. Вскоре после этого в городе появился первый католический собор. Хоть город существовал и ранее, эта дата официально считается началом его истории — в 2000 годуотмечалось празднование тысячелетия Вроцлава.
Вторая мировая война
Бреслау стал одним из немногих городов, оказавших упорное сопротивление наступающим частям Красной Армии весной 1945 года.
В первые две недели боёв Красная Армия потеряла 162 танка и около 4.000 человек пехоты. С начала марта, под влиянием первых неудач, Красная Армия изменила тактику и занялась постепенным подавлением опорных пунктов огнем артиллерии по квадратам и применением тактики выдавливания противника в центр города с использованием штурмовых групп при поддержке саперных подразделений. В качестве отборных штурмовых частей были введены в бой три батальона морской пехоты Краснознамённого Балтийского флота. Огнём артиллерии была выведена из строя посадочная полоса на Кайзерштрассе. Была повторена попытка строительства нового аэродрома в центре города, но она была успешно пресечена действиями советской артиллерии и штурмовой авиацией. Немецкие войска оказывали яростное сопротивление, с боем оставляя дом за домом, однако судьба города уже была решена.
4 мая 1945 г. вдохновитель обороны Бреслау Гаулейтер Ханке был эвакуирован из города самолетом «Fieseler Fi.156 Storch», чтобы занять пост Рейхсфюрера СС, вместо смещенного Гиммлера. Спустя неделю он пропал без вести в районе Праги.
6 мая комендант Бреслау, генерал Герман Нихоф, подписал акт о капитуляции.
Потери в живой силе вермахта составили 7.000 человек, потери Красной Армии — 9.000 человек. Потери Советских танков и САУ составили около 200 единиц, из них 70 %, в первые 2 недели боев. Более 2/3 городских строений были разрушены.
Потери гражданского населения составили около 80.000 человек, включая фольксштурм и подразделения гитлерюгенда. 9 мая город официально перешел под Польское административное управление.
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