Visiting Oleśnica (wersja polska poniżej)

It seems that Lower Silesia is rarely chosen as a travel destination in comparison with other parts of Poland. My impression is that Lower Silesian monuments, many of them of highest quality, aren’t particularly well-known, be it Kamieniec Ząbkowicki with its impressive romantic residence by Schinkel, quite unique „Churches of Peace” in Świdnica and Jawor, or a highlight of Silesian baroque architecture – Cistercian monastery of Krzeszów. Although, as a school-girl, I was lucky enough to travel to these places, I had no idea about Oleśnica’s interesting heritage. Most of the valuable objects there are gathered in the church of Saint John the Evangelist. More about them can be found here: http://olesnica.archidiecezja.wroc.pl/start/index.php?option=com_wrapper&view=wrapper&Itemid=72. Sadly, the church remains closed most of the time – I suppose the best idea would be to go there at half an hour before the Eucharist or right afterwards. For this reason, I managed to take only few pictures of the interior, and I didn’t even take a closer look at the supposedly most valuable object thereof – a mannerist pulpit by an accomplished Dutch artist, Gerhard Hendrik (more on that in a monograph by Piotr Oszczanowski, Złoty medalion oprawiony czterema diamentami. Rzeźby Gerharda Hendrika z Amsterdamu z początku XVII wieku w Oleśnicy, Wrocław 2012). Worth-visiting is also the chained library, one of only few similar ones in Europe. Also this I haven’t seen yet, but now I know that there are appointed tours every two weeks for which one can subscribe by calling the local museum (Oleśnicki Dom Spotkań z Historią, http://muzeum.olesnica.pl/en/) at +48 71 716 52 23.

A detail from decoration of an organ matroneum with putto serrounded with musical instruments and an inscription "Lobet ihn mit Pauken" ("Praise Him with drums"), Ps. 150

I can recommend visiting the latter as well. It is a small museum making use of new technologies which apart from creating a general positive image allow for example to browse nineteenth century postcards from Oels in a perfect resolution. Bored children can be entertained with e.g. playing a video game action of which is set in medieval Oels – parents know how valuable such an activity can be at some point of a tiring day. The objects displayed come largely from a private collection of Krzysztof Dziedzic, editor in chief of „Panorama Oleśnicka” and an expert on the local history. I find it quite special in and of itself. Controversial yet interesting to an extent is a part of exhibition devoted to Oleśnica’s post-war history. A commentary from an outsider’s point of view is almost non-existent, the only testimony to those hard times give memoires written in the 60s by Polish settlers from right after the war and now read out loud by actors. Many parts of these texts are strongly influenced by the propaganda language of the time. It is hard to determine to what extent that propaganda formed authors’ real personal views, and in how far its presence had to do with the context in which the memoires were written down – they were created specifically for a literary contest, organised in the 60s by a local library.

'From Oels with love' - an old postcard with a visible date: November 5, 1899

A streetlamp decorating the interior of a local cafe (!)

If we leave the strict historic centre, we will soon reach the remnants of the modernist German architecture saved from the devastation WWII brought to the city. For me, the rich iconographic programme of the former evangelical school (in Słowackiego street) was particularly interesting – see couple of pictures below.

Owl as a symbol of wisdom - decoration of the former evangelical school

Bees as a symbol of hard work - decoration of the former evangelical school

Motto decorating the former evangelical school - "No pain, no gain"

The backdrop of my one-day trip to Oleśnica was very poor bus communication between the city and Wrocław where I was staying. I found numerous connections on the internet but the reality was different. Two buses in a row didn’t come (although they ride under a private company) and altogether I had to wait almost two hours for transport. So it wouldn’t be advisable to count on the last bus to Wrocław but rather come to the station a little earlier, just in case, or best – go by car instead.