54,000 inhabitants.
The city of Görlitz has a unique destiny to some extent. One of the richest and most influential Lower Silesian cities became one of the symbols of Europe after the Second World War: it was divided into two parts between two states, Poland and the GDR. After Poland's accession to the EU, the border remained conditional, and the two banks of the Nisa were connected by a bridge, which was built on the site of an ancient bridge, which in ancient times was the main and only trade route for many kilometers. The historic center of Görlitz has been almost completely restored, thanks to various government awards and an unknown donor who for many years sent the city a check for a round sum for Christmas for restoration, but the outskirts of the city are still popular with filmmakers when it comes to filming the post-war devastation. In general, Görlitz is a well-known actor city at the international level. he even has a nickname: Gurleywood. And this is also one of his faces. What can you see and do here?
A bit of history
The first mention of Görlitz, or rather "Villa Gorelitz" refers to 1071, perhaps it was a Slavic fortress. Now there is a cathedral on this site. The city near the castle appeared around 1200. And soon a real trading center of the Middle Ages appears here due to its special location at the intersection of trade routes - royal and Bohemian, along which goods were transported between Saxony / Thuringia and Silesia / Poland, the Hansa and the Upper German cities and Bohemia and Hungary. The trade in woad from Thuringia (Erfurt region) and locally produced cloth flourished especially. City rights the city acquires at the beginning of the 14th century. Architectural evidence of this time - houses with huge halls, built in the style of the late Gothic and early Renaissance. The halls served to check the fabric: a bundle of fabric was rolled out from top to bottom and quality inspection was carried out.
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| View of the river Nisa and the new Old Bridge |
Cloth trade and staple rights helped the city quickly become not only an important center of trade, but also grow, embellishing itself with magnificent houses. Already in the middle of the 14th century, the city entered into a trade alliance with other regional "trading powers" - Bautzen, Kamenets, Lubau, Zittau and Lauben, forming the Union of Six Cities, headed by Görlitz. The 15th and 16th centuries are the real heyday of the city. Numerous lords are far away, the city is ruled by merchants. Unfortunately, in the 16th century there was an uprising, then a fire, in the 17th century - a real disaster - the Thirty Years' War. Almost nothing remains of Görlitz of those times.
But the city is restored again, enduring fires and disasters, but each time it comes out of these situations more beautiful and more stylish. And now the city, which has survived so many wars and regimes, gives us the opportunity to enjoy more than 4,000 architectural monuments of different periods, from Gothic to Art Nouveau.
Now Gerlitz is called " European city Gerlitz-Zgorzelec" to show the unity of the divided.
What to watch
The system of city fortifications has been preserved in the city, the historical center is surrounded by towers, and boulevards and streets have been laid on the site of the former walls.
Kaisertrutz
- a massive round barbican tower with walls reaching almost 5 meters in thickness. It was built in 1490, and the name appeared in the Thirty Years' War, when the Swedes inside the tower resisted the emperor's troops besieging them. In the 19th century the tower was restored. Now it houses a museum - the city's collection of art, with art gallery German masters of the 18th-20th centuries. The museum also has a historical department (the history of the city). Over time, Kaisertrutz has become a real symbol of the city.
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| Kaisertrutz |
Reichenbach Tower - the most beautiful fortress tower of the city, first mentioned in 1376. In 1485 it was built on with a cylindrical top. Decorated with 12 coats of arms: at the bottom of the city from the union of six cities, which included Görlitz, Bautzen, Lobau, Zittau, Kamenz and Lauban, the latter is now in Poland. Above - which state formations belonged to Görlitz: German Empire, Meissen Mark, Brandenburg Arch, Electorate of Saxony, Prussia, Silesia. There was also the coat of arms of Bohemia, but now it is covered by the coat of arms of Lobau. The tower hosts an exhibition of medieval city defenses and has an observation deck.
Immediately behind the Reichenbach Tower begins a square called Obermarkt, or the Upper Market, which appears in 1245 as a result of the growth of the city. On the north side, you can see the houses built after the fire in 1717, later added to the 1st floor.
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| Obermarkt |
Of particular note is house 27, with an arch leading to Ferretergasse . The telling name of the alley (translated as “the alley of traitors”) recalls the conspiracy of cloth workers in 1527. One of the conspirators, Peter Liebig, lived in this house and held a secret council. The plot was uncovered and everyone was executed, and the following sign was installed on Liebig's house: >D.V.R.T.1527< (предательская красная дверь).
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| Fountain of George |
Napoleon's house
- Upper market 29, named after the French emperor, who from the balcony of this baroque house on August 20, 1813 hosted the parade of the troops. There used to be an inn here, which has seen many celebrities in its life: King Augustus the Strong of Poland and Russian Tsar Alexander I have been here. Now it is a turofis.
Here, on the square in front of the church, there is a copy of the Roland fountain (1590) with the figure of a warrior (1670), the original is in the museum on the street. Neisse.
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| Trinity Church |
Church of the Holy Trinity on the Obermarkt - one of the most important sights of the city. The monastery church was built by the Franciscans in 1234. When the church began to be built, both it and the monastery with it were located outside the city, and after the construction was completed - inside the fortress walls, after the appearance of Obermarkt. About a century and a half later, the old church was rebuilt and a Gothic choir appeared.
Only in the 15th century, the central nave with mesh vaults and the chapel of St. Barbara were completed. But a hundred years later, in the middle of the 16th century, the reformation came to Görlitz, the number of monks decreased and the last of them handed over the buildings of the monastery to the city in 1563. They housed a school. It operates to this day. The church also ended up in the treasury of the city. Despite the customs of that time, the tower was completed and all the internal Gothic decoration was preserved. During the transition of Saxony to Catholicism, thanks to Augustus the Strong, a baroque pulpit and an altar appeared in the church.
Of the surviving decorations of the church, it is worth noting: the pews for the monks of 1484, in the chapel of St. Barbara, the sculptural group “The Entombment” made of sandstone by Hans Olmütz from 1492, the colored wooden sculpture “Resting Jesus” and the folding altar “Mary in the rays of the sun”, known as "Golden Madonna", 1511. This fold belongs to one of the most beautiful carved altars in the Upper Lusatian region.
In the former cloister, pay attention to the frescoes on the walls: the plot of musical angels presents us with quite original musical instruments.
Shenhof- the house of a wealthy citizen, built by the city architect Wendel Roskopf in 1526. It is considered the oldest and most beautiful Renaissance building in the region. Now the Silesian Museum is located here, and you can not only learn everything about the history of Silesia, but also see the house from the inside with its main hall with Ionic columns, richly decorated rooms.
town hall It is a complex of buildings of different times and different styles. Near Schönhof is the oldest part with a tower from 1378, and in the 16th century, Wendel Roskopf the elder added a building in the Renaissance style. Later, a huge building was added, decorated with the emblems of the cities of the "Union of Six Cities", and the old parts were built on one floor. The new town hall belongs to the beginning of the 20th century, Neo-Renaissance style.
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| town hall |
The imposing spiral staircase leading to the main portal was also built by Roskopf in 1537. Nearby is the pulpit, from which the decisions of the city council were once announced and the statue of Justice, reminiscent of justice, which was also administered in the town hall building.
The column with Justice of 1591 is a copy, the original stands in the city museum in the city museum of art at the end of the square along Neusstrasse 30 in the Baroque House. To the right above the stairs is the coat of arms of the Hungarian and Bohemian king Matthias Korvin. In 1488, he became the owner of Görlitz, then the city became part of Bohemia.
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| Statue of justice and coat of arms of Matthias Korvin |
Unusual and tower clock
. The two clock faces were made in 1524 after the completion of the octagonal tower. At the bottom is a dial that shows the time, before it was 24 hours. Later, after the appearance of 12-hour dials, it was replaced in 1584 by Bartholomew Scultetus. It is still in effect. He connected the clock with the phases of the moon. The outer circle of the upper dial shows another 24 hours, central part- the phases of the moon, and the inner one - the calendar. Since the calendar has changed, the middle part is not valid. On the lower dial in the center is the head of a sentinel who opens his mouth and eyes every minute. This sculpture is associated with a legend according to which one watchman on the city wall was not very zealous in his duty and was caught doing it.
The golden lion, lying on top, used to announce with a roar the changes in the phases of the moon.
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| The clock on the town hall |
Houses on the Untermarkt built in such a way that cloth could be traded. This is what shady arcades serve for, in the shade of which numerous restaurants and cafes are now located. The house next to Schönhof was the center of the cloth trade of the entire region in the Middle Ages. The house has its own chapel and a late Gothic hall with painted ceilings, which is now used for banquets.
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| City Hall and Schönhof |
Baroque house, Neusstrasse 30. former home Citaus linen and damask trader Christian Amajs, built in 1726. The opening in the roof points to the place where there was a lift for transporting fabrics to the upper floor. Now located here science Library upper Lausitz, numbering about 100,000 volumes, as well as a collection of maps and an archive of newspapers.
In the city art collection you can get acquainted with the interiors of the 18th-19th centuries, applied art of the 15th-19th centuries, folk crafts of Upper Lusatia.
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| Variety of decor |
Zeile they call here the houses standing in the center of the Untermarkt, as well as the building of the Chamber of Weights and Measures of 1600 attached to them. In 1706-14, the stock exchange building (now a hotel) also appears. For a long time it was in these houses that the trading heart of the city beat. All merchants living here or visiting here met here. Here goods were measured for trade in the market, here they negotiated the price for raw materials. In 1722, a fountain of Neptune was placed opposite Zeile.
The lower market has long been turned into the real heart of the city. If earlier business and social life was in full swing here, now it is full of cafes and restaurants, where it is pleasant to sit in any weather: arcades save. The main city museums are concentrated here, so spiritual food is also present. It's beautiful here.
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| whispering arch |
whispering arch is another fun attraction in Görlitz. This is a late Gothic portal to Untermarkt 22, which has an interesting acoustic feature: if you put your ear on one end of the arch, you can hear what is whispered at the other end.
Another eye-catching building on the Untermarkt is former city pharmacy . This Renaissance building was built in 1550. Its feature is sundial Zacharias Scultetus. By order of the city council, the clock on two dials should depict the time not only of Görlitz, but also Babylonian, Nuremberg and Roman time. The master depicted all three times on the left dial, called Solarius. On the right side, there is a dial called Arachne (spider) on the right side, which correlates the planets with the days of the week, the solar houses and the signs of the zodiac.
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| Church of St. Peter on the former Castle Hill |
Church of Saints Peter and Paul on the former castle hill, dominates the town. The construction of the church on this site began almost immediately after the founding of the city, approximately in 1230. The modern five-nave hall church with star-shaped vaults appeared in 1423-97. Thin graceful columns pass into a star vault, created by Konrad Pfluger, a student of the famous medieval architect Arnold of Westphalia, the author of the Albrechtsburg castle in Meissen, giving the whole structure an upward aspiration and lightness. Both neo-gothic towers are 85 meters high - at the end of the 19th century.
The fire of 1691 destroyed everything inside, except for the lattice at the baptismal chapel. 30 folding altars, books, liturgical objects and organs were destroyed. All the rest of the decoration of the church comes from a later period: an altar made of sandstone and marble with sculptures from 1695. The golden pulpit dates back to 1693, the choir furniture is also of this period. In general, a fabulous sum of 235,000 talers was spent on the restoration of the church. The church also has a remarkable late Gothic crypt.
By 1703 is solar organ , the work of Johann Conrad Buchau (body), while the musical instrument itself was made by Eugenio Casparini (actually Eugen Kaspar, a native of Lausitz). The name of the organ comes from 16 suns located throughout the body. Moreover, 4 of the suns are sham, 12 are organ pipes arranged in the form of rays. Casparini's organ was rebuilt several times at the end of the 19th century. Nevertheless, the Görlitz solar organ is a unique instrument with a great sound. Concerts are held periodically, and once a day tours of the church are organized to the sound of the organ and an excursion to the organ itself.
Woad's Warehouse (Waidhuis) - the oldest surviving secular building in the city, the construction of which dates back to the 13th century. What was not in this building in different time. There was a school, a brewery, a woad warehouse (hence the name). The building was rebuilt many times, built on (lukarny appeared), changed. It was the first to be restored. historical monument on the money of that same mysterious donor.
Saint Nicholas Tower - a round tower 45 meters high, 7 floors. It was built in 1348. Now this is all that remains of the city gates that were here, destroyed in 1848. Behind the tower is the church of St. Nicholas, which gave its name to the tower and the gate with a cemetery where famous residents of the city are buried. It is also fashionable to find the original house-museum there: the executioner's house (by the way, one of the few surviving half-timbered houses).
On the outskirts of the historical center there are many different attractions. From the cathedral along the river you can walk to the park in which City Reception Hall , built in 1908 by architect B. Zering. Right next to it - commemorative sign, marking the place through which the Fifteenth meridian passes. Görlitz time is Central European time.
Another interesting place outside the historical center - the so-called Holy Sepulcher . This is a chapel built in the late Middle Ages, copying the chapel of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. The chapel was built at the expense of Burgomaster Georg Emmerich, who, due to certain circumstances, had to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and do a good deed. So he built the chapel, inspired by the original. It was supposed to remind of the victory over the Hussites who were devastating this region.
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| Chapel of the Holy Sepulcher (photo from the Internet) |
fat tower built in 1250, decorated with the city coat of arms: a late Gothic relief from 1477 with a double-headed eagle and a Bohemian lion. The thick tower, 45 meters high, was once part of the Frauentor Gate. Now you can climb observation deck and explore the city.
Opposite the Tolstaya Tower is located Chapel of Saint Anne , built in 1508-12 under the master Albrecht Stieglitz as a personal chapel for the wealthy merchant Hans Frenzel, at whose expense it was designed so that it looks more like a princely chapel.
Marienplatz is located and Museum natural history - the central museum of this kind in Oberlausitz. The museum presents a fairly large collection and exhibits (15,000 thousand animal models, one and a half million insects, 12,000 minerals, a herbarium of 100,000 plants and a professional library of 89,000 volumes. The museum was founded on the basis of the Society for the Study of Nature, which was created back in 1881 and restored in 1991.
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| Museum of Natural History |
Wertheim, Hertie, Karstadt , - whatever it is called, this is one of the most famous buildings of Görlitz. The trading house was built in the Art Nouveau style in 1912/13, in the likeness of the Berlin trading houses Wertheim - a courtyard with a glass dome, galleries. By the way, then it was called "Ostrich Trading House".
On the this moment it is the only large trading house from the period before the First World War that has been preserved in its original condition in Saxony.
The interior decor of the trading house attracted the creators of the film "The Grand Budapest Hotel", and the shooting of the hotel (hall) took place right here. Luckily, the store was empty by then. He is still looking for the owner. There are rumors that there are those who wish, but the names are not disclosed.
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| Church of Our Lady |
On the Postal Square Postplatz, there is a three-nave Church of Our Lady , built in 1449-86. It is an invaluable piece of evidence of late Gothic architecture. The western portal, richly decorated with figures, above the arch of the portal is the scene of the Annunciation. It is worth noting the detail - stained-glass windows in west tower, which in 1735 was decorated with baroque pommel.
Street departs from Postplatz berlinerstrasse, which is the main shopping artery of the center.
The street is already the architecture of the times of Grunderism, it is half pedestrian: there are no cars, there are trams.
There is a curious fountain on the street, which stands as a reminder of the Hohenzollern cafe that used to be in this place.
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| Illuminated Town Hall |
Museums
Museum of Silesia
. Open Tuesday - Sunday, 10:00-17:00. Ticket 7 euros.
Baroque house at Neussestraße 30
. Open Tuesday - Sunday, 10:00 - 17:00, Fridays until 20:00 (April - December), 10:00 - 16:00 (January - March). Ticket 5 euros.
Kaisertrutz.
Open Tuesday - Sunday, 10:00-17:00, Fridays until 20:00 (April - December), 10:00-16:00 (January - March). Ticket 5 euros.
Reichenbachturm
- Open Tuesday - Sunday, 10:00-17:00, Fridays until 20:00 (April - December). Ticket 3 euros. TO combined ticket with a museum in the "Baroque House" and Kaisertrutz - 7 euros.
Museum of Natural History.
Open Tuesday - Sunday, 10:00-17:00. Ticket 3 euros. The first Sunday of the month is free.
4 thousand architectural monuments
Another advantage of Görlitz lies in its unique appearance. The historical center of the city was completely preserved during the Second World War and appears to tourists in the form in which the city was formed after the great fire of 1525. The mixture of Gothic churches, Renaissance buildings, Art Nouveau buildings and cloisters give Görlitz a certain resemblance to the northern Italian Renaissance city-states.
While many cities in the former GDR tried to regain their appeal after the reunification of Germany by decorating dull panel high-rise buildings, the Görlitz authorities set about restoring the historic center. Many stories are told here about visitors to the city who fell in love with it so much that they bought and restored this or that old building. There are about 4 thousand architectural monuments in Görlitz, many of them need restoration.
The special charm of Görlitz is its proximity to such cities, beloved by tourists, as:
- Dresden - 1 hour 36 minutes by train, ticket price - 19.80 euros;
- Prague - 3 hours 45 minutes by train, ticket price - 29 euros;
- Vienna - 7 hours 14 minutes on the night train "hotel on wheels", ticket price - 93.60 euros;
- Bad Schandau - 2 hours. 30 minutes. by train, ticket price - from 22 euros.
University of Applied Sciences Zittau / Görlitz – UTB University of Applied Sciences in Saxony with two branches: 35 kilometers apart in Zittau and Görlitz e . Currently teaching here There are about 3800 students, including about 500 foreigners from 32 countries.
The University of Zittau/Görlitz was founded on 13 July 1992 as the "University of Technology, Economics and Social Policy.
Since 1993, the University of Zittau / Görlitz has been cooperating with the Technical University of Liberec (Czech Republic), the Economic University in Wroclaw (Poland) and the Technical University in Freiburg (Germany).
All this was created so that the students of the three countries could freely stay in the scientific and cultural environment, without feeling the restrictions due to a foreign language.
The university consists of six faculties:
Electrical engineering and computer science (includes areas: electrical engineering, computer science, mechatronics),
Management and culture (includes areas: culture and management, healthcare management, tourism management, economics and languages, translator (Polish / German),
Engineering,
Mathematics and applied sciences (includes areas: ecology, chemistry, environmental protection),
Social Sciences (includes areas: psychology of communication, child psychology),
Economics and organization of industrial production (engineering: international management).
For foreign students, a group has been specially created to help throughout their studies. There are also preparatory courses German language in the city of Zittau, which prepare future students of the University before admission (more specific information can be found on the page:
http://www. hszg . de / ru / podgotovitelnye - kursy / podgotovitelnye - kursy. html ).
Studying for a bachelor lasts 3 years (6 semesters), for a master - 2 years (4 semesters, includes a mandatory semester abroad - part of the costs is financed by the university).
Studying at the University is paid: 74.40 Euro per semester (the price includes student (chip card) and access to WiFi on campus).
5. Naturechutz Tierpark Gorlitz (downtown)
Animals in this Tierpark , characterized by a geographical focus, there is a zoo since 1957. Asian domestic and wild animals live here, as well as ancient and modern, domestic and wild animals, typical of the Upper Puddle.
Children's birthdays can be celebrated at the zoo, the table is set at the Aist restaurant, after which the children are allowed to feed the animals.
6.Zittau (from Görlitz 35km)
The mountains Zittau are a picturesque gem for Saxony.Its huge sandstone mountains and high volcanic mountains make it unique.This is the perfect place for families and groups hikes, with over 300 km of well-markedroutes. Climbing enthusiasts are attractedabout 80 peaks with interesting climbing routes of any complexity.
7.Oybin(from Görlitz 40km)
Oybin -located in a valley - this is the pulsating center of the Zittau mountains, surrounded by a ring of green mountains.The visitor will find in Oybin beautiful half-timbered houses, well-maintained green parks and many great hotels, restaurants and cafes.Attractiveness for children "Fairy Tale Game". Carved, movable wooden figures show images from fairy tales.
The most notable attraction in the beautiful mountain resort of Oybin is a 14th-Century monastery built on the mountain.
8. Karpacz (from Görlitz 80km)– ski resort located in southwestern Poland
in the Krkonoše mountain range at the foot of Sniezka Mountain (1602 m) - the most high peak Sudetes.
Since the 14th century, Karpacz has been known as a settlement of gold miners. In the interwar period of the twentieth century, the city became famous as a center for skiing. Since then, the number of tourists going on vacation to Karpacz has been growing and growing.
Karpacz is the largest winter sports center in the Sudetes and summer holidays, especially for those who prefer active pastime. Excellent climatic conditions and unique nature, special microclimate, the purest water, fresh air, saturated with the life-giving balm of coniferous forests growing on the slopes of the mountains and containing trace elements and essential oils, contribute to the production of hemoglobin in the blood and increase appetite. For many years, the air in this area has been considered curative for allergies, respiratory diseases and leukemia.
Ski area -820 - 1350 m
Number of lifts - 7
Number of tracks - 7
The resort has a lot of ski slopes, different in terms of difficulty, convenient lifts. The most popular chair lift to the top of Kopa (1375 m above sea level) serves three ski slopes: "Jan" (400 m) - easy, "Zlotowka" (3100 m) - difficult and "Liczyżepa" (3000 m) - very difficult. If you climb Kopa, then from there you can get to Sněžka. There are illuminated trails.
Read in full: http://tonkosti.ru/%D0%9A%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BF%D0%B0%D1%87
An undoubted attraction are two toboggan tracks (1065 and 800 meters) operating all year round, regardless of weather conditions. In addition, there is a picturesque ski track "Khomatova" for cross-country skiers. There are opportunities for off-piste skiing. Every year, in the month of February, competitions "congress on anything" are organized for tourists.
Source: http://www.votpusk.ru/country/kurort.asp?CN=PL&CT=PL06#ixzz2rUhsGqBQ
Apart from active rest, the Karpacz resort offers a variety of interesting walks. You can admire the picturesque mountain waterfalls that do not freeze even in winter, visit the Wang Church, which is located in the highest part of Karpacz. The 12th-century wooden structure, built without a single nail, was transported from Norway.
Here you can feel like a real cowboy. The fabulous Western City (city of cowboys) offers to ride a horse, shoot a gun, drink whiskey and have a snack.
If you are relaxing with children, then for them in Karpacz there is a Museum of Toys and Dolls, which presents exhibits from the beginning of the last century to the present, from the funny Pinocchio to the beautiful Barbie.
The developed infrastructure of Karpacz also offers discos, an indoor swimming pool, cozy bars, restaurants and pizzerias.
"Gurlywood" - this is also the name of this city located in Saxony, to the east of which it cannot be found in Germany.
Recently voted Europe's best cinematic location, Görlitz has hosted numerous scenes from the Oscar-winning film The Grand Budapest Hotel, episodes of Jackie Chan's Around the World in 80 Days, Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds and a host of other films. - both German and foreign production.
Many houses and temples in this city, first mentioned in 1071 in a charter of King Henry IV, were built in the 16th century. Significant influence on the city's appearance was also exerted by its inclusion in 1816 in the Prussian province of Silesia.
Here the German Christian mystic Jacob Boehme experienced his visions and penetrated into the innermost depths of nature. Here the talent of the painter was manifested by the Greek artist Pavlos Rodokanakis. Here Wilhelmina Herzlieb, publisher and friend of Goethe, who became the prototype of Ottilie in the novel Electoral Affinity, lost her mind and passed away.
Görlitz escaped destruction during World War II, but after the capitulation of Nazi Germany, he was significantly reduced in size: his East End, which received in 1950 official name Zgorzelec, was handed over to the Polish authorities.
The combination of cultures conditionally separated by the Neisse River along with rich history and magical atmosphere gives the local streets a special attraction for romantic walks among about four thousand protected monuments of architecture - from the Gothic, through the Renaissance - to modern.
Local specialties like the "Silesian Kingdom of Heaven" (Schlesisches Himmelreich) or Wellwurst sausages will appeal to the hearts and stomachs of lovers of solid meat food. Fans of pastries are recommended the famous Silesian pies, while fans of a heady foamy drink should taste the products of the local Landskronbrauerei brewery.
Kaisertrutz
One of the thirty-two watchtowers, preserved from the time of construction in 1490, got its name during the Thirty Years' War after the siege of the Swedes by the imperial troops. Restored in the 19th century, the Kaisertrutz tower, which today is one of the symbols of Görlitz, later housed the department of urban history. In mid-2015, an art gallery was opened on the third floor, which contains paintings, drawings, sculptures, and ceramics by masters who are somehow connected with the history of the city.
A post shared by (@beak.fotografie) on May 14, 2017 at 12:38pm PDT
Untermarkt
In this oldest part of Görlitz, called the "Lower Market", the town hall is located, which is architectural ensemble in various styles, the tower of the oldest part of which was built in 1378. In the immediate vicinity of the town hall is a stone fountain of Neptune (Neptunsbrunnen), installed in 1756 on the site of a wooden well decorated with figures of virtues. Nearby is another must-see attraction, namely the Flüsterbogen or Whispering Arch, which has some interesting acoustic features.
Romantic cities in Germany: Görlitz updated: August 13, 2019 by: Marco Bayanov
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The city of Görlitz is already on German territory, but it is still Silesia, more precisely, its western part, which is called Puddle. Unlike the rest of Silesia, Lusatia never belonged to any Polish princes, nor the Habsburgs - its pre-Silesian history looks like this:
1032-1367 - part of the Margraviate of Meissen;
1367-1635 - as part of Bohemia;
1635-1815 - as part of Saxony. And only after passing to Prussia, most of the Lusatia was administratively united with Silesia into one province. The post-war border between Germany and Poland along the Odre-Neisse again divided this small region into parts, and the Görlitz district center was completely divided in half, and the Polish half of the river became a separate city Zgorzelec.
Lusatia differs from other German regions in the presence of a Slavic ethnic minority - Lusatian Sorbs (60 thousand people). From the school geography course, everyone knows about the existence of this unknown people, but hardly anyone has seen its representatives live, or at least samples of material culture. I won’t help in this either, because in an hour of walking around the city I didn’t notice anything like that, even bilingual signs.
Where Görlitz is located is also unlikely to be remembered offhand, so you need to give a map and historical reference. So, we are in the most southeastern corner of the former GDR, on the border with Poland and not far from the Czech Republic, just south of the Wroclaw-Dresden autobahn:
Görlitz (pop. 55,000) received city rights in 1268, having developed from a settlement on the Via Regia trade route. The Mongols did not come here, and in the 13-14th century the city quickly rose as a center of trade and textile crafts. The fortress walls withstood the siege during the Hussite wars, and in the 15th century Görlitz also did not live in poverty, however, often entering into feudal conflicts with neighboring cities. The city reached its heyday in the 16th century, as part of Bohemia - churches and rich houses were built in the Renaissance style, the population reached 10 thousand, reformism achieved complete success here. The 17th century for Görlitz, as for the whole of Europe, became much less successful, and the city suffered greatly from the Swedish occupation in 1641. The secondary rise came already in the 19th century - the era of industrialization. Came to the city Railway opened new plants and factories. In the 20th century, Görlitz was once again lucky to emerge from world wars without much destruction, so that its historic center has been well preserved to this day. However, suddenly finding itself on the periphery after the war, first of the GDR, and then of united Germany, the city still cannot get out of the depression, eventually losing more than a third of the pre-war population.
In the case, it was necessary to examine both parts of the previously unified city - German and Polish, and then somehow compare, but there was only enough time for one. So let's take a walk in the German half.
When entering a new state, it is always alarming - you are afraid of the evil guards of the border and order, who can find fault with anything, while you have no rights and knowledge of how to fight back. Moreover, I do not speak German (in Poland, I managed to fight off one cop, knowing a hundred or two words, including the magic "curva-mats!"). In short, I parked in a trump spot right next to the pedestrian bridge, and looked around for a long time to see if there was any catch: I can still understand the inscription under the P sign like "park nur mit aushweiss", but other explanatory signs are already a Chinese letter for me . But everything worked out, and I started the inspection from the place where the bridge across the river is drawn:
First of all, of course, I crossed the border bridge to the Polish side and back. There are practically no pedestrians in the morning: either the Poles and Germans do not work for each other at all, or they start early - at five minutes to 9 the bridge is empty:
This is the Polish side. It can be seen that the district was a suburb - there are few historical buildings, among which the main place is occupied by an old mill, standing by the river from time immemorial. Interestingly, the pedestrian bridge appeared quite recently - in 2004, and before that there was no need for it - why open an extra border crossing? And the previous bridge was blown up in 1945 by the retreating Nazis.
The Neisse River looks shallow and quiet, but during a flood it can break firewood (already demolished one bridge in 1897), so the embankments are properly strengthened:
To the south of the bridge, on the Polish side, the houses of Grechesky Boulevard stand as a single facade:
The status of Zgorzelec was not determined until 1950; the Germans had already been expelled, and the Poles had not yet settled. At the same time, refugees from Greece appeared in Poland, fleeing the civil war, and it was decided to settle them in an empty city. In total, 10-15 thousand Greeks arrived, and for a long time, until returning to their homeland, they played a significant role in the life of the city. This is how, for centuries, the inconspicuous county Görlitz found itself in the thick of the great migration of peoples.
Opposite the Greek Boulevard is the German Uferstrasse, which also faces the river with a single facade, except perhaps more greenery:
And on the right hand of the bridge rises the main city dominant - the Peter and Paul Church:
Having managed to get used to the fact that in Poland all the large Gothic churches are Catholic, I wanted to call this church a far church. But the vast majority of German churches belong to the Protestants, therefore - Pfarrkirche. The church was built for a long 70 years (1425-97), replacing the ancient Romanesque basilica on this site. With a length of 72, and a height of spiers of 84 meters, this church, according to Wikipedia, is the largest in Saxony. It’s hard to believe, because we just saw a couple of hundred-meter churches in Wroclaw: was it really built on a grand scale in Silesia? But this church is five-nave: three naves of equal height, and two side naves a quarter lower. The latter are supported by powerful buttresses, and a chapel is attached to the south side:
The three-tier facade bears obvious traces of restoration, but the deep arched portal is older than the church itself - it remains from the former Romanesque church. Small windows almost repeat the arched shape of the portal:
I didn’t go inside, although the interior is solemn and stylish, and a very beautiful organ called the Solar (1703) is installed in the choir stalls:
Let's return to the general plan - next to the church there is a building that cannot be missed. This is the Waidhaus, the oldest civil building in Görlitz, known since 1131. It was used in different ways, in particular, in the 16th century it served as a warehouse for wool dye raw materials, the so-called. dyeing woads (hence the name). After the renovation in 1994, the foundation for the protection of monuments and crafts settled in the house:
Move on. In the Middle Ages, the city was surrounded by a double row of fortifications, which were dismantled only in 1848. Two fragments and several bastion towers remained of them. One of them, Nikolaiturm, is located directly opposite the facade of the church and, do not believe it, it is two hundred years older than it:
I did not come closer, but turned south, going along Peterstrasse to the Lower Market Square (Untermarkt). On its western side are both city halls - the old and the new. The middle of the already small area is occupied by a dense island of houses (Die Zeile - Line), so the town halls are visually separated, and each, as it were, heads its own separate area. The old town hall was closed by scaffolding on the day of my arrival, so I'd better show how it looks after the repair:
The town hall has been operating in Görlitz since 1369, but its building is, of course, younger. If you look closely, there are elements of many styles in its appearance - from Gothic to Neo-Renaissance, which is the result of many reconstructions, repairs and renovations. The building acquired its modern form in 1516, when the clock tower was completed. It has several dials; the lower pair dates from the 16th century, and contains, in addition to the clock, the solar and lunar calendars. On the building itself, several old details have been preserved - a portal, a bay window, a balcony.
In the neighborhood of the old town hall, in 1903, an impressive new building was erected, in the neo-Renaissance style, with a richly decorated multi-tiered facade:
The lower tier with an arched gallery remained from the former houses of the 17th century; under the cornice of the second, the coats of arms of the other five cities of the Lusatian League, which included the medieval Görlitz, were installed, and the coat of arms of Görlitz himself was placed on top of the pediment - from afar and not visible.
On the left in the picture you can see the building of the former stock exchange (1706) with a magnificent portal, now the Börse Hotel. If Northern part The line is formed by one building, but on its southern side there is a single facade of tall houses (No. 9-14). All of them were somehow connected with trade: there used to be shopping arcades here, and the corner building is called Waage ("Scales") - in it the pedantic Germans registered and taxed all goods entering the market:
An attentive reader will see in these buildings a mixture of styles, going as if from the bottom up: the Gothic foundations of the very first houses, the Renaissance portals with columns, the baroque decor of the upper tiers. At the same time, such eclecticism does not hurt the eyes at all, and the building looks stylish and beautiful. Along the perimeter of the square there are also many interesting old houses in the Baroque and Renaissance styles; for example, these two handsome men of the 16th century on the north side (No. 23-24):
It’s a pity there was no time to linger and take a closer look at all the details - the Görlitz Untermarkt is more interesting and authentic compared to the squares of Polish cities that we visited the day before. East of the square, back to footbridge down Neißstraße. For the most part, it is built up with newer, baroque buildings of the early 18th century, which appeared here after the fire of 1726:
This is the south side of the street, with houses number 25-30. You can tell a lot about each of them, for example, in the yellow house (No. 27, Bürgerliche Brauhaus) for two hundred years, local brand beer was brewed. But architects are most interested in the second house on the right (No. 29, "Biblical House"), which is considered the standard of the Görlitz Renaissance (built in 1572, it survived the fire).
Down the street is also an interesting group of houses. Almost every one of them had brewing rights, so they have high basement floors. And on house No. 20, a wall painting of the 17th century was restored, which is characteristic of the Upper Puddle:
Let's go back to the Untermarkt and go to the west, past the old town hall. To the left of it stands the so-called. Schonhof. Despite the bright coloring, this is almost the oldest authentic house in the city, which has survived to this day in its Renaissance form without alterations since 1526. Now it houses the city museum:
In ancient times, salt and spices were traded here, and in the 19th century Obermarkt turned into a kind of front square: there is a lot of open space, and among the baroque buildings in general, there is more art nouveau brilliance. General plan, view to the west:
In the background, you can see the Reichenbacher Turm bastion tower, which has guarded the western gates of the city since the middle of the 14th century. Like the other two, this tower is completed by a baroque dome with a bell, on the balcony of which you can climb. In the foreground is another fountain (there are more than a dozen of them in the city; we have already seen one on the lower square - the fountain of Neptune. Unfortunately, this fountain is only a copy of the 17th century sculpture, the original of which stands in the courtyard of the museum.) It is also noticeable in the picture that all corner buildings belong to the Art Nouveau era at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Obviously, during the next renovation of the square, it was decided not to restore the old corner buildings, but to replace them with new ones in the Art Nouveau style, which was then fashionable, providing high corner bay windows with a spire, thereby giving the square a more solemn look. I think it turned out very well.
The northern side of the Obermarkt has a more uniform, baroque appearance (view from west to east, in the opposite direction):
The most interesting here is the pink house in the middle, with a triangular pediment and a balcony above the portal (No. 29, Napoleon's House). It was from this balcony that on August 20, 1813, the French emperor held a review of his troops before the Dresden battle.
It can be seen that the town hall tower stands in the woods, and to the right, on the south side at the beginning of the square, the bell tower of the Church of the Holy Trinity rises. There was a Franciscan monastery on this site from the beginning of the 13th century, and the monks built their first church in 1245. It was expanded and rebuilt several times, acquiring a modern late Gothic look by 1508. With the advent of the Reformation, the Franciscans gradually curtailed their activities, and in 1564 the monastery was closed, transferring property to the city, which set up a school in its place. True, it is not very clear why the schoolchildren needed a bell tower, which was built on in 1607 - apparently, the Protestants somehow oversaw this school, because a hundred years later they returned the sacred status to the temple, arranging a parish in it. And today the church looks like this:
Most likely, schoolchildren were still not housed in the church itself, but in neighboring monastery buildings, because the Gymnasium Augustum has been operating at their address since the same 1564 to the present day. In 1856, the cells were replaced by a Neo-Gothic building specially built for the gymnasium. This is only its western wing,
and from the facade it looks more like a palace than a gymnasium:
Having passed the Upper Market along the entire length to the west, we exit to the already mentioned Reichenbach tower, 49 m high. The tower looks gloomy, since the last renovation happened quite a long time ago - in 1936. It shows the emblems of six states, which included Görlitz in its history , as well as six cities of the Lusatian League (a pair of coats of arms on each of the three sides):
This is another square, Demianiplatz, named after the first Görlitz burgomaster. This square forms the border of the old and new city - behind it the imperial quarters of the 19th and 20th centuries already begin. To the left of the tower is a giant round bastion - Kaisertrutz, with which it was previously connected by a fortress wall. By its appearance, one can imagine how strong the defensive structures of the city were. After the reconstruction of 1932, the museum of the history and culture of Upper Lusatia was located in the bastion:
Turning south from here, for some reason I missed the building of the city theater and went straight to Marienplatz - the symbol of the new city:
This square was formed already in the 19th century, having won its place due to the demolished city walls. From the former fortifications, only the bastion Tolstaya Tower (Dicker Turm) remained, covering the former Stone Gates to the city. This is the third and last of the towers we have already seen.
At the southern end of the square stands the large department store Kaufhaus zum Strauß, built in 1913 in Art Nouveau style in the image and likeness of Berlin's famous Wertheim on Leipzig Platz. Shooting against the sun was inconvenient, but all its beauty is still inside:
However, far from everything in the new city is modern - between the theater and the department store there is such a single facade, and entirely neo-Renaissance:
We follow the tram to the south. Immediately behind the department store (even a piece of it was in the picture), there is another church - Frauenkirche (Virgin Mary):
This ancient (1473) Gothic church eventually ended up in the noisiest and most crowded place in the city - between two shopping malls, post office and tram line. It is not very remarkable - small, three-nave, simple inside and out (although with an organ), but all the main Gothic elements are present - two portals, a belfry, buttresses and even an apse with a sacristy:
However, it has become one of the symbols of the city. Having rounded the church, the tram enters the large Postal Square, with monumental buildings of the Prussian era on the sides (bank, district court, main post office) and the Muschelminna fountain in the middle. Of all this, I photographed only the post office building (1887):
At this point, time ran out, and I had to round off. As you can see, the city turned out to be very interesting; lovers of the Renaissance and Baroque strongly recommend to visit it. I myself now regret that I spent negligibly little time on such a pleasant and informative walk - only 1:08. Yes, I didn’t miss much in the end, but I moved almost at a run instead of a leisurely, thoughtful inspection. On mature reflection, henceforth you should not plan to visit more than two cities a day :)
