Thursday, 7. July: Part II: Wroclaw, Poland

Wroclaw, the capital of Lower Silesia, is known as Polish Venice because it is composed of 12 islands and over 100 bridges.

After a snack of fruit and cookies, we went to the center of town. We saw a model of Wroclaw in the middle ages with high walls, a moat and towers. We also saw the original moat and parts of the wall. Next we walked past two old churches, the Dominican Church attended by most students, and Mary Magdalene Church, the first Protestant church with the penance bridge.(Better picture here.)

Behind this church was the Feniks Department Store built in 1902-1904 in the art nouveau style, originally with a globe on top.We walked to the town square, one of the largest in Poland, which was marked out in the middle of the 13^th century. The old city hall was built in stages between 1290 and 1504. An astronomical clock is on the front of the building. In front was a copy of the stone whipping post originally built in 1492 at which corporal punishment was carried out until the end of the 18^th century. On the side are the steps down to the Swidnicra Restaurant with not much head room and reliefs above the door of a drunk man on one side and the his wife on the other side waiting to clobber him with a shoe. Below him are two demons; below her, two dogs.

The Salt Square is a smaller square connected to the main market square. Originally salt was sold here; now fresh flowers are sold. Somewhere in the main square is the Millenium fountain built in 2001.

St. Elisabeth’s Church built in the14th century is in the northwest corner of the square. In front of it are two small houses known as the Hansel and Gretel houses where the undertakers for the cemetery lived. The dome on top burned down in the 1970s and was replaced by a cast iron top which looks like a baby bottle. A memorial to Diedrich Bonhoffer, who was born near here, stands in the little square in front of the church.

In the 1980s under communism college student dressed in tall orange caps to protest various aspects of communism, marching peacefully around Market Square. They also painted images of gnomes on top of the official paint that covered up anti-government graffiti. It’s hard to justify executing people for painting gnomes on walls, but the sheer number of gnomes on walls drew everyone’s attention to how many anti-government slogans were being covered up. Beginning in the 1990s small bronze statues of gnomes were placed around the city to commemorate this.

Just behind St. Elisabeth’s Church is Stare Jatki, formerly Butcher’s Alley but now containing mostly artist stalls. A small ditch runs along the pathway which was used formerly to catch the blood. At the start of the path were a variety of bronze animals commemorating the former use of the area. The goose had laid a golden egg. The goat had left a few ‘eggs’ of its own. Obviously the sculptor was very familiar with goats.

On the way to the restaurant we walked past an old Polish car, the Maluch 126. Only one other car was made more cheaply, the Warburg, built partially with cardboard. We ate at a Polish cafeteria named STP an acronym for the Polish words fast, delicious, and cheap. It was really good.

Afterwards we walked through the communist restaurant, red decor with pictures of communist leaders and propaganda, and items such as this shield used to disperse crowds by military police. Somewhere around here was also a monument to Chopin and a fountain in the pedestrian zone.