It's no wonder Americans don't know Lower Silesia from Upper Silesia, or even where either Silesia is located. Now in Poland, it was for centuries part of the German nation or more precisely, some of the duchies and kingdoms that became Germany only in 1815. But when the victorious Allies gave eastern Poland to the old Soviet Union back in 1945, they compensated the dislodged Poles by taking away from Germany the Silesian region (and more), handing it over to the Warsaw government. Thus, the displaced Poles from the east (around Lvov, now in the Ukraine) moved in and threw out all the Germans from this area, now in southern and western Poland. So the cities and castles look German, but their inhabitants speak Polish. The countryside and mountains are universal in appeal, good for hiking, biking, skiing, rock climbing and paragliding.
Little visited by Americans, this part of the world is replete with dark castles and ducal palaces, reachable best by the new highways Poland is building with European Union money. If you're driving in Central and Eastern Europe, it's a good area to visit while en route from, say, Berlin and Dresden to Budapest or points south and east. Lower Silesia is actually north of Upper Silesia, as the directions refer to the way the Odra (Oder in German) River flows, from south to north, ending up emptying into the Baltic at Szczecin (German: Stettin).
Highlights
Since the area was German until 1945, at least two of the castles played roles in the saga of World War II. The owner of the neo-Renaissance Kliczkow Castle was implicated in the July 1944 attempt to assassinate Hitler, and when it failed, he was arrested and his property seized by the Third Reich. Hermann Goering, Hitler's plundering Air Marshall, tried to get at its treasures but the advancing Soviet Army beat him to it. The current buildings grew from an original 13th-century fortress and since 2000 it has been a pleasant hotel and conference/leisure center (details under Lodgings, below).
Czocha Castle is dark and gloomy, like the dwelling places of evil counts and vampires should be, but its forbidding gates lead to an attractive village-like street of stables and outbuildings, one of which is a very good restaurant. The guide here says parts of a German decoding machine used against the Russians were spirited away from the dungeons here and later captured by American troops, leading to the uncovering of Soviet spies in the United States, but I haven't had time to verify any of the story one way or the other. Czocha Castle, www.zamekczocha.pl.
Two marvelous places of worship, the Churches of Peace, one each in Swidnica (Holy Trinity, 1656-57, seating 7,500) and Jawor (Holy Ghost, 1654-55, seating 6,000), are on UNESCO's World Heritage list and well worth a visit. Built at the end of the Thirty Years' War, they are said to be "the largest timber-framed religious buildings in Europe" (though a church in Finland argues on a a technicality to say it is "the world's largest wooden church"). Built in 1652, the Churches of Peace resulted from Catholic Austrian Emperor Ferdinand II allowing their construction in a rare show of religious tolerance toward Lutherans. Even so, the emperor allowed only three churches to be built (the third burned down in 1758) and they had to be outside the town walls and to be constructed in just one year using only wood, without nails. And yet they still stand after more than 350 years. Incidentally, the Lutheran owners say these were the first churches in the world that were built by Protestants for Protestants, earlier churches that Protestants took over having been Roman Catholic beforehand. Services take place at 10am on Sundays and church holidays in the Swindica edifice. Churches of Peace, http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1054.
The highlight in the town of Boleslawiec is the Manufaktura ceramic factory, with a dazzling array of pottery in every shape and form. When I visited there in October, two busloads of American military wives from a US base in Germany were buying boxes of dinner sets and other wares while many of their husbands were off fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, one woman told me. "It's a way of keeping our minds occupied with something other than just plain all-day worrying," she said. Much of the work is sponge-stamped, not hand painted, keeping the prices lower than otherwise. Blue is the predominant color, and ceramics have been the town's raison d'etre since at least 1511. Russian Marshall Kutuzov, who vanquished Napoleon, died here in 1813. Manufaktura, ul. Gdanska 30, 59-700 Boleslawiec, tel. 011 48 75/732-2062, www.polish-pottery.com.pl.
In Ksiaz, pride of place is takenby its castle, often called "the pearl of lower Silesia," dating back to the 13th century. At its peak during the period 1509 and 1941, when owned by the house of Hochberg, the owners replaced many fortifications with beautiful terraces. The Soviet Red Army occupied the castle after 1945 and the contents were lost or destroyed at that time. But from 1952, restoration work has been underway, with results that are gorgeous to behold. It's one of Europe's largest castles, third biggest in Poland and the largest in Lower Silesia, with more than 400 rooms. Check out the magnificent 18th-century Maksymilian Hall. There's a pretty good restaurant here, too, as well as the Zamkowy Hotel with 73 rooms. Ksiaz Castle, www.ksiaz.walbrzych.pl.
Jelenia Gora is perhaps Lower Silesia's prettiest town, with an attractive Old Market, knightly tournaments on occasion in Chojnik Castle, and two international festivals, one of Street Theater, the other of Organ Music. The Old Town Hall and its square are quite pretty. The town is 900 years old and was relatively undamaged during World War II. German name: Hirschberg im Risengebirge. Jelenia Gora Town Office, tel. 011 48 75/754-6100, www.jeleniagora.pl.
Students of architecture (or oddities) might enjoy visiting the Wang Church, a 12th-century Norwegian wooden church on Lake Vang there, moved from Norway when German museum curators thought it needed saving, and given to the Lutherans living here in the Karkonosze Mountains in 1841 because they had no church of their own. (The idea was that of the Countess Frederica von Reden, a local girl from Bukowiec, who persuaded the Prussian king at the time to give it to her.) Originally scheduled for Museum Island in Berlin, the church was more or less hijacked by the Countess. It was transported here by ship, barge and wagon, and still serves as a Lutheran church for regular worship. Wang Church, ul. Na Sniezke 8, 58-540 Karpacz, tel. 011 48 75/761-9228, www.wang.com.pl.
Dining Out
I suggest the restaurants at both the Kliczkow and Czocha castles, in that order (see Lodgings, below). The Kliczkow venue serves all three meals, the Czocha only lunch and dinner.
Lodgings
The most pleasant of many castles and palaces here now relying on tourism for income is Kliczkow Castle, where you can indulge in the spa's indoor pool (the spa new in 2007), or check out the facilities for tennis, horse riding, bicycling or hiking, as well as canoeing or fishing. There are 89 rooms, each with satellite TV, phone and bath. There is a very good restaurant and a so-so lobby café, outdoor seating in the courtyard. Said to be the largest hotel in an historical building in Poland, it is undeniably attractive. Double rooms start at 390 zlotys ($156), breakfast and use of pool and fitness club included. Kliczkow Castle, Kliczkow 8, 59-724 Osiecznica, tel. 011 48 75/734-0700; www.kliczkow.com.pl.
The Hotel Bornit (opened 1999) is an ideal ski resort in one of Poland's most interesting mountain sports areas, and its town is the nation's best-known center of cross-country skiing. There's an international race here every March for about 4,000 skiers on two runs, 25 and 40 kilometers, respectively. Double rooms start at 320 Zlotys ($128) in season, 280 zlotys ($112) off season, prices including breakfast, VAT, use of indoor pool, bowling, etc. Hotel Bornit, ul. Mickiewicza 21, 58-580 Szklarska Poreba, tel. 011 48 75/647-2503, www.bornit.interferie.pl.
Contacts
Any and all information on Lower Silesia is available at Lower Silesia Tourist Organization, ul. Igielna 13, 50-116 Wroclaw, tel. 011 48 71/344-1109; www.dot.org.pl (Polish-language only).
The rate of exchange at time of writing was 2.50 zlotys to the US dollar.
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