Wrocław, Poland

This weekend the International Students Club took off to Wrocław (pronounced "Vraht-swaf") Poland and its environs. I was impressed. Wrocław, known in the German-speaking world as Breslau, is the main city in the region known as Silesia. Silesia has been a rather important strategic area for various peoples over the years, and has been fought over by Czechs, Germans, Austrians, Russians, and of course, Poles. It's really a very nice region, and I enjoyed everything but the weather. Wrocław is very nice, and, as is typical in Poland, dominated by churches. Our brilliant guide Wojciek (spelled almost certainly incorrectly -- I will fix this later) discussed the ecumenism of the town due to the different nations that have ruled Silesia over the course of the last millenium. "Cathedral Island" is home to 3 different Catholic sects, (who have differing rites and allegiances to the pope), a Russian Orthodox bishopric, a protestant church, a synagogue, and a Greek Orthodox church. This is unique in Poland, and unusual in Europe -- it may be unique in Europe as well; I can't recall, but it seems reasonable.

The first night we stayed in Świdnica, about 2 hours from Wrocław, and we traveled around a hollowed-out mountain that Hitler used to built, well, something. Nobody seems to know, though it was suspected that the Nazis either built V-2 rockets or were working on a nuclear program there, as the rocks around Silesia are some of the most stable and most shielded areas in Europe. It is also unknown how comprehensive the system of tunnels around Silesia was, as the Nazis destroyed most of them during their retreat from the area in 1944 and 45.

I found it interesting that after 60 years, we still don't have any idea of the extent of a declassified German WMD program. How presumptive must people be to assume that since we haven't found one in Iraq after 3 years, one never could have existed.

Świdnica is also home to the oldest Protestant Church built for Protestants in the world, which is ironic in one of the most Catholic nations of Europe. Of course, at the time, this was a German-dominated area.

The King of Sweden agreed to finance the Church of Peace, but maintained that it would have to be built on the outskirts of town, built entirely of wood, and had to be built within one year. It is 350 years old, and marvelous.


Here is the Wikipedia article on Wrocław and its history.
Here is the Świdnica website, in English.
Here is the Wrocław website, in English.