Brzeg

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Brzeg
Brzeg coat of arms
Brzeg (Poland)
Brzeg
Brzeg
Basic data
State : Poland
Voivodeship : Opole
Powiat : Brzeg
Area : 14.70  km²
Geographic location : 50 ° 52 ′  N , 17 ° 29 ′  E Coordinates: 50 ° 52 ′ 0 ″  N , 17 ° 29 ′ 0 ″  E
Height : 134-150 m npm
Residents : 35,890
(Jun. 30, 2019)
Postal code : 49-300 to 49-306
Telephone code : (+48) 77
License plate : IF
Economy and Transport
Street : Wiązów - Namysłów
Rail route : Opole – Wroclaw
Nysa - Brzeg
Next international airport : Wroclaw
Gmina
Gminatype: Borough
Residents: 35,890
(Jun. 30, 2019)
Community number  ( GUS ): 1601011
Administration (as of 2015)
Mayor : Jerzy Wrębiak
Address: ul. Robotnicza 12
49-300 Brzeg
Website : www.brzeg.pl



Brzeg ([ ˈbʒɛk ]; German Brieg ) is a district town in the powiat Brzeski of the Polish Opole Voivodeship . From 1311 to 1675 Brieg was the residential city of the duchy of the same name and from 1907 to 1945 an independent city in the German Empire .

Geographical location

The Oder in Brzeg

The city is located in Lower Silesia on the left bank of the Oder, 148 m above sea level, 42 kilometers southeast of Wroclaw , about halfway between Wroclaw and Opole .

The city goes back to a fishing village "Wissoke Brzegh", which already existed around 1200 and was built to be flood-proof on the high bank of an old Oder crossing - in medieval documents it was therefore also referred to as "civitas altae ripae". The village was later included in the city fortifications, as was an old wooden castle. The motive for the re-establishment of the city at this point was probably the favorable location at an important crossroads: An important road, the extension of the "Hohen Strasse" (also called Via Regia ), ran from northwest to southeast on the elevated south bank of the Oder Breslau to Opole, which forked into Upper Silesia, on the one hand continued to Cracow, on the other hand branched off to Vienna and Hungary through the Moravian Gate. This road crossed the south-north path in Brieg, which led from Prague via Glatz, Nimptsch and Strehlen and, after crossing the Oder near Brieg, continued to Gnesen and then to the Baltic Sea.

history

Foundation of the colonist town

The city of Brieg was founded under German (Halle-Neumarkter) law before 1250 as part of the medieval colonization of the East . The founders were the locators Gerkinus von Goldberg, Ortlif and Heinrich von Reichenbach, commissioned by the ruling Piast Duke. The latter gave the young city his family coat of arms, the Wolfssense, as a city coat of arms. The founding deed has not survived, but the deed of sale from 1250, which Duke Heinrich III. issued to the locator Konrad von Neisse, who replaced the third still living locator Ortlif. This so-called Frankenberg document, which was held for years for the founding document due to an edition error by the well-known Leipzig historian Kötzschke, contains the most important provisions of the founding document in an extract. The grid-shaped street network with the ring and the town hall as the center was enclosed in an oval shape by a city wall. The right-angled layout of the city center with the large ring, typical of an East German colonization city, is due to the important economic routes crossing each other. The walling was renewed around 1300 and reinforced with bastions during the Thirty Years' War, but especially after the Prussian occupation in 1742.

Residence town of a piastic sub-duchy

The Piast Castle
The arcaded courtyard in the Piast Castle

From 1311 to 1675 , Brieg, located on the "Hohe Straße" , was the residence of the Dukes of Brieg , Liegnitz-Brieg and Liegnitz-Brieg-Wohlau, i.e. part of the lines of the Silesian Piasts . Under Duke Ludwig I (1352-1398) the most important Gothic buildings in the city were built or at least started: the Catholic. Castle or Hedwig Church (1389), which was the seat of a collegiate monastery and whose crypt held seven magnificent Piast coffins until 1945 (today in the castle), and the Protestant parish church of St.Nikolai (1370–1417), a three-aisled pillar basilica, both of which are massive Towers were given neo-Gothic helmets in 1885. Its baroque organ , built from 1724 to 1730 by Michael Engler from Breslau , was one of the most beautiful and, in terms of music history, one of the most important of its kind in Germany.

The heyday of the Renaissance

Between 1428 and 1432, Brieg was plundered and sacked several times by the Hussites . Brieg, which was badly damaged in these Hussite Wars, was then shaped by the Renaissance, especially under Duke George II (1547–1586), under whom the city probably experienced its heyday, much more than the Gothic . Even Duke Frederick II. In 1544, which had introduced the Reformation laid the foundation stone for the palace, the George II. Drove forward with great zeal. Under the direction of northern Italian master builders (Jakob Pahr or Bavor, Bernhard Niuron), the “richest and most well-educated example of the Renaissance in the East” (G. Grundmann) was created in Brieger Castle .

Italian artist colony in the 16th century

The Piast Castle
The town hall in Brzeg was built in the Renaissance style between 1570 and 1577.

The flourishing royal court in Brzeg attracted artists and builders, especially from Italy, from the middle of the 16th century. There has been evidence of an association of northern Italian architects, masons and stonemasons in Brieg since 1546, including the Niurons . The Italian colony was founded by Antonio di Theodoro and Jakob Bavor d. Ä. Bavor (or in German Jakob Pahr the Elder ) led the construction of the Brieger Palace with his brother Peter Bavor from 1544 to 1549. As Jacob Bavor d. Ä. In 1576 he left Brieg for Mecklenburg to begin the reconstruction of Güstrow Castle , Bernhard Niuron was his successor and son-in-law. Another well-known member of the Italian artist colony in Brzeg was the bricklayer Hans Lucas Lugan. He came from Lugano, was born there around 1563. Lugan seems to have been recalled by George II from Breslau to take over the construction of the ducal palace in Nimptsch in 1585 under the direction of Bernhard Niuron . The German master builder Kaspar Khune, the most important German stonemason in Brzeg, also joined the Italian artist colony, was appointed court stone mason and also worked as a master builder. The sculptor Giovanni Maria Nosseni (* 1544 in Lugano) also belonged to the artist colony. He later worked with Bernhard Niuron on the Dresden palace. Nosseni was appointed Brieger Hofsteinmetzmeister in 1563. He died as an electoral Saxon architect in Dresden in 1620. As early independent entrepreneurs, the colony members helped each other to obtain work orders and income far beyond Silesia. In addition to their construction work, especially on the castle and the town hall in Brzeg, almost all of them were also involved in commercial work. In this way they gained reputation and fortune and were able to assert themselves in the city for more than fifty years against growing German competition.

From 1564 to 1569, the ducal master builder Jakob Pahr (or Bavor ) also directed the construction of the high school not far from the castle. This went back to a Latin school, which in turn had built on a parish school founded in 1290. Jakob Pahr and his son-in-law Bernhard Niuron also built the town hall, which was built in the Renaissance style (1570–1577) after the town fire in 1569. Several Renaissance-style town houses and the only preserved gate of the city wall, the Odertor (1596), survived the Thirty Years' War.

The Habsburg and Prussian times

Brzeg on a Silesian map from 1650

After the death of the last Piast duke, Georg Wilhelm, in 1675, Brieg fell together with the duchy as a settled fiefdom to Bohemia, whose kings had been the Habsburgs since 1526. With the abandonment and non-recognition of the succession of Georg Wilhelm's illegitimate son Martin, the Piast dynasty , the great times of Brieg as a royal residence came to an end. Like all of Silesia, Brieg became Austrian. Against the Brandenburg inheritance claims, which stem from the treaty of 1537, Habsburg, to which the Piasts were subordinate, prevailed. At that time the city had around 3,600 inhabitants, almost all of whom were Protestant. The few Catholics were assigned the Hedwig Church. The first Jesuits settled in the city in 1680 and soon afterwards founded their own grammar school, which lasted until 1776. The Jesuits began building the baroque cruciform church in 1735, which was consecrated in 1746, but the towers were not completed until 1856. The Jesuits set further baroque accents by erecting the Trinity Column (1731) and the statue of St. Nepomuk (1729) on the Oder Bridge.

As Brieg lost its importance as a residence, the uniqueness of the city was also lost. In 1741 the battle of Mollwitz raged outside the city gates , the first battle of the Silesian War , which Count Schwerin won against an Austrian army. Like all of Silesia until the following year 1742, the city was conquered by Prussia in this First Silesian War, and the castle was badly damaged by shelling. The Piast Castle, landmark of the old residence, went up in flames and then became a magazine. The sober practicality that characterized the Prussian state also prevailed in Brieg. The city became a "hardworking worker" in the entire Prussian state, because barracks, warehouses and cloth factories were now being built. It stepped back clearly behind Oppeln and Breslau ; the former “Illustre Gymnasium (Bregense)” with a university constitution became a higher school like others. However, Brieg became the government capital of Upper Silesia from 1756 to 1807 and was one of the strongest fortresses in East Germany until it was conquered by Bavarian and French troops in January 1807 . The fortifications were razed in 1807 and mostly green spaces and parks were created on these areas later.

Brieg 1839, lithograph by Heinrich Wilhelm Teichgräber

From 1819 to 1850 Brieg was the seat of the Oberbergamt and experienced a strong economic boom through the construction of the railways and the expansion of the Oder to a large shipping route . As early as 1842, the first train ran on the newly opened railway line to Wroclaw , which is now considered the oldest railway line in Poland. The routes to Opole, Neisse and Wansen followed.

The population increased from 4,406 in 1757 to 27,486 in 1905.

In 1907 Brieg became a city ​​district . The administration of the Brieg district also remained in the city. Despite the important industries located in the outskirts of the city - machines, leather, paper goods, sugar, sugar confectionery - thanks to the promenades, gardens and the city park, Brzeg was a “garden city” and also a city of schools.

Second world war and end of war

In 1939 the city had 31,419 inhabitants (74 percent of them were Protestant). During the Second World War , a satellite camp of the Groß-Rosen concentration camp was set up in Brzeg .

On February 6, 1945 Brzeg - half destroyed after days of fighting - was conquered and occupied by Soviet troops . After the war ended, the city was placed under Polish administration. The German residents were largely evicted by the local Polish administrative authority between 1945 and 1947 and replaced by Poles.

Temporarily assigned to the Wroclaw Voivodeship , Brieg came to the Opole Voivodeship in 1950 . In 1961 the city had 25,342 mostly Catholic residents, mostly from eastern Poland, and in 1970 the population was already over 30,000 again.

Population up to 1945

  • 1825: 9,992, including 2,670 Catholics and 417 Jews
  • 1875: 16.438
  • 1880: 17.508
  • 1885: 18.899
  • 1890: 20,154, of which 12,595 Protestants, 7,187 Catholics and 357 Jews
  • 1910: 29,095, including 19,418 Evangelicals and 9,110 Catholics
  • 1935: 27,344, of which 19,259 Protestants, 7,496 Catholics, 18 other Christians and 271 Jews
  • 1933: 29,816, of which 21,120 were Protestants, 7,919 Catholics, nine other Christians and 255 Jews
  • 1939: 29,580, of which 20,708 Protestants, 8,044 Catholics, 58 other Christians and 125 Jews

religion

The Protestant churches before the Second World War

St Nicolai Church

The city of Brieg had close ties to the Evangelical Church. She exercised the patronage not only over the Protestant church of the city, but as a former landlady also over the churches of the former treasury villages Leubusch, Gierdorf-Kreisewitz (here together with Count Pfeil) and Böhmischdorf. As church patron, the city had to appoint the pastors after hearing the parish and, on the other hand, to contribute to the maintenance of the church and rectory, one third in the city and two thirds in the villages. The city thus had a seat and vote in the parish council. Under canon law, Brieg was divided into two Protestant parishes , namely the Protestant-Reformed parish of St. Nikolai and the Evangelical-Lutheran parish of St. Lukas on Logaustraße. The Nikolai Church was on Lange Strasse.

The Protestant parish church of St. Nikolai

It was built as a basilica in the Gothic style between 1370 and 1417. The relatively narrow central nave dominates the two aisles and receives its light from above through the windows adorned with late Gothic tracery. Two mighty towers stretch their helmets up to a height of 75 meters; they were only built in 1885. The main ship was 29 meters high. The post-Reformation period had rebuilt the medieval Church of the Sacrifice of the Mass by setting up artistically carved chairs and adding galleries into a Protestant preaching church. The most beautiful ornament in the church is the organ . It was built from 1724 to 1730 by Michael Engler from Breslau. It is one of the most beautiful works in Germany, most important in terms of music history, and is still one of the few Bach organs.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Saint Luke

The church was built in 1897 on the basis of a general concession from King Friedrich Wilhelm IV for the Lutherans who were separated from the Prussian regional church. The community had existed since 1830 and last comprised around 650 souls. It was not limited to the urban area of ​​Brieg alone, but also to the Brieger district villages and the cities of Neisse and Neustadt.

Catholic Church before World War II

Church of the Holy Cross

The territory of the Catholic parish of Brieg included the entire city district of Brieg, as well as 15 village communities or estate districts, namely Briesen, Grabendorf, Giersdorf, Groß Neudorf, Grüningen, Hermsdorf, Kreisewitz, Linden, Neu-Briesen, Pampitz, Paulau, Rathau, Rothaus, Schreibendorf and Schüsselndorf. The parish of Brzeg belonged to the deanery Brzeg. It was based in Leuven . The number of parishioners in the civil parish was 8,500, of which around 7,000 lived in the city. About 23% of the total population were Catholic. In addition to the civil parish, there was also a very strong local parish and a small parish in the prison. There were a number of churches and chapels in the area of ​​the city parish. The parish church "Zum Heiligen Kreuz" was built between 1735 and 1741 by the Jesuits as a college church for the planned but not realized college building in the baroque style. It was solemnly consecrated in 1746 and made a parish church in 1819. However, the towers were not completed until 1856. The castle church "Zur Heiligen Hedwig" was the oldest church in the city, but in its current form only a small remnant of the once magnificent collegiate church, which was largely destroyed in 1741 during the siege by the Prussians. A few decades later it was rebuilt in its current form. As a special treasure, besides the stone sculpture of St. Hedwig from the 14th century, it contains the metal sarcophagi of the last Piast dukes from the 17th century.

Jewish community until 1945

The former synagogue building in Brzeg

There was a synagogue in Brzeg since 1799 and a rabbi since 1816 . The congregation was not large; it reached its largest number with 417 members in 1825. In 1933 the Jewish congregation in Brieg had 255 members. The situation of the Jews became more difficult from year to year under the National Socialist regime , especially since not everyone had the opportunity to leave the country - which often had to be done with assets left behind. In 1938 the Jewish community in Brzeg numbered only 160 people. Of these, 60 men and nine women were gainfully employed, including 37 merchants, nine salaried employees, four traders, three cattle and horse dealers each, innkeepers and salespeople, two cutlery dealers and brokers each. After they had initially been banned from taking the final exams, they were later even banned from attending higher schools altogether. The “ front-line combatant privilege ” initially protected Jewish teachers and civil servants who had participated in World War I and who verifiably fought in two battles. Later on, all officials were fired and their economic activities were curtailed. The initial boycott of Jewish shops was followed by the expropriation of their companies and the so-called “ Reichskristallnacht ” of November 9, 1938. The fact that a “ Jew's star ” had to be worn after leaving the apartment was tantamount to an ostracism. In Brzeg the interior of the synagogue was also destroyed and the property of Jewish citizens was attacked, but property damage remained. After 1945, no more Jewish communities were re-established in Brzeg.

Cultural institutions before World War II

City Theatre

Around 1822 the city fathers of Brieger converted an old monastery into a city theater. This city theater had 500 seats and was a foster home for German drama, comedy and operetta. It was played by the "Schlesische Landesbühne". The theater was also used to organize concerts and to hold scientific and artistic lectures, poetry readings and festive events of all kinds.

Music care

Brieg was a city that loved to sing. The foundation stone for this has already been laid in the various schools. The schools had a relatively large number of teachers who had the skills to give good music lessons. This lively musical life in schools naturally had to have a positive effect on the general musical life of the city. There were numerous choral societies . The annual concerts of a remarkable level as well as the good results at district and district singer festivals gave testimony to their work. The Singakademie held a special position ; While the choral societies mainly used a cappella singing, the Singakademie arranged important vocal works with orchestral accompaniment.

Sports facilities

At the entrance to the city park there was a beautiful, spacious stadium with an arena , playing fields and tennis courts. In addition to many competitions, horse shows were also held there. The stadium also provided the perfect setting for the major folk festivals .

In addition to the Oder, water sports were served by the new outdoor pool in the south of the city. It had arisen from an excavation pond. With its 23 acres of water, it offered all possibilities for water sports. The wide sandy beach and the extensive sunbathing lawns could hardly contain the mass of those looking for relaxation on beautiful summer days.

In addition to the stadium, schools and sports clubs also had five municipal gyms on the mountain promenade, in the lyceum, in the new elementary school as well as in the grammar school and in the Piast school.

Industry, commerce and banking before the Second World War

Industrial companies

Before the Second World War, Brieg had a considerable number of large industrial establishments in relation to its population and spatial extent. In times of economic boom, these companies largely determined the city's economic life. Examples are:

Neugebauer sugar factory

This factory on Schönauerstrasse was founded in 1876 and acquired by the Neugebauer brothers a year later. The beets for processing came from the districts of Brieg, Strehlen, Breslau, Ohlau and Grottkau. In 1944 three million quintals of sugar beet were processed and 450,000 quintals of raw sugar was extracted from it. 220,000 quintals of dry pulp and 50,000 quintals of molasses were also produced.

Book factory W. Loewenthal AG

This company was founded in 1879 by the city elder Wilhelm Loewenthal, who died in 1922, and his brother Louis to manufacture notebooks and business books. After small beginnings, there was a huge factory on its own property at the freight yard since 1886.

Property size: 30,000 m². The company has been working since 1924 with 20 high-speed letterpress presses of the largest format, many modern ruling machines, stitching machines and cutting machines. Total number of machines: 400. Business books, notebooks and printed matter of all kinds were produced. In addition, albums, wallets, desk pads, folders and other haberdashery were produced. There was a large export department and foreign representations in many countries.

Pzillas machine factory

As early as 1862, this machine factory with iron foundry, boiler forge, etc. was built by the Brieger engineer Robert Pzillas in the area of ​​the old Brieger High Court on the Oder. It was later expanded to a modern shipyard with shipbuilding. Up to 200 ships could be repaired annually. In addition, orders for new buildings were carried out.

Maschinenfabrik Güttler & Co.

The machine factory was on Logaustrasse. She also owned an iron foundry and a boiler shop for the manufacture of locomotives, steam engines, brickworks and sawmill machines. It was exported to almost all Eastern European countries, the Balkans and overseas.

Leather factory FW Moll AG

The Moll leather factory was founded in 1811. It has always remained in the family. The company was equipped with modern machines and was one of the largest of its kind in Germany. The main production extended to lower leather and belt leather.

Roofing felt factory - Chemische Werke AG Brieg

Shortly after the First World War, Urban Roth acquired the Brieger roofing felt factory FALCH, which had been founded in 1851. A little later, a branch for "industrial supplies" was added for the sale of all consumer goods for industry (oils, greases, rubber hoses). In 1923 Roth founded Chemische Werke AG Brieg. This company mainly dealt with tar distillation and the production of bitumen emulsion as well as the processing of tar-asphalt mix for road construction. A well-known road construction department was attached to this company, which was one of the first companies in Silesia to manufacture black covers.

TT Heinze, book factory and book printing company

The company was founded in 1846 as a specialty and stationery shop. In 1885 there was a change from covering local needs to opening up larger sales areas in Silesia, Saxony and Berlin. The OHG received the actual boost from the conversion of the production method and the relocation of the production to the company's own new buildings on Dreiankerstraße. The conversion to large-scale production took place in just under ten years from 1895 to 1904. The company continued to grow, so that with a permanent workforce of more than 1200 it was the most important business book factory in the German Reich.

Commercial establishments

A cross-section of the economic life of the city from 1934 results in the following figures for craft and commercial enterprises:

number designation
02 Liqueur factories
02 Masseuses
02 Cigar factories
03 Men's goods shops
03 Fur stores
04th Pharmacies
04th Distillations
04th Hat and cap shops
04th Naturopaths
04th Soap shops
04th Wine bars
04th Brickworks
05 Veterinarians
06th Installers
06th Locksmiths
06th Wrought
07th Hairdressers
08th Fish shops
08th Clothing stores
08th Fashion stores
09 Dentists
09 Drugstores
09 Jam shops
09 dentists
10 Cartwheels
11 Saddlery
11 Upholstery shops
12 Cleaning businesses
13 plumber
15th Potter and stove maker
17th Cutlery stores
19th Haberdashery and white goods stores
19th Fruit and vegetable trades
19th Shoe factories and stores
19th Cigar shops
23 Master painter
24 doctors
33 Game and poultry dealers
40 Hairdressers
44 Butchers
46 bakeries
47 Tailoring
48 Shoemaking
54 Dressmakers
64 Inns
78 Grocery stores

Financial institutions

Former banks and savings banks in the city of Brzeg before 1945:

  • Reichsbank branch in Brieg, Gartenstrasse
  • Branch Brieg of Dresdner Bank , Ring
  • Brieg Bank Association, Mollwitzer Strasse
  • Bankhaus Eckersdorff & Co., Lange Strasse
  • Bankhaus Eichborn & Co., Lange Strasse
  • Kreissparkasse Brieg, Piastenstrasse
  • City bank Brzeg
  • City Savings Bank Brzeg

Traditional garrison town

As a fortress, Brieg has always been a garrison town . Before the First World War the infantry regiments 156 and 157 were in Brieg. The former was then moved to Upper Silesia. The last peace commander, Excellency Tiede, went to the First World War with the 157 Infantry Regiment . The barracks on Moltke, Sedan, Roon and Bismarckstrasse were named after him in 1938. After the end of the war, the air base in Grüningen was dismantled and destroyed due to the provisions of the Versailles Peace Treaty .

Until 1930 the city of Brieg remained without a garrison after the First World War. On August 4th of this year, the 5th Squadron of 8th Cavalry Regiment from Breslau / Carlowitz moved into Brieg. Further squadrons followed from Militsch and Oels in the following years. The Tiede barracks had to be rebuilt for this purpose. Horse stables, riding arenas, riding arenas etc. had to be newly created. Rittmeister Freiherr von Wangenheim became famous . At the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, with a broken collarbone, he helped the German team to victory and a gold medal. In 1933, the airfield at Hermsdorf was rebuilt and a large air base built. The airfield and air base were occupied by the air reconnaissance group 113.

Brieger soldiers of all ranks and ranks fought in all theaters of war on water, on land and in the air. Only a few were able to return to their homeland for a short time, most of them never saw their old homeland and garrison town again. Countless fell or were wounded and thousands shared the fate of the other displaced persons.

Reconstruction after the Second World War

Fountain in the city park
Today's buildings on the Ring

Brieg, which was badly damaged by the attack and siege in February 1945, changed significantly, especially in the city center. The first work after the end of the fighting consisted in the repair of the completely destroyed supply networks and the start-up of vital industrial, commercial and handicraft businesses. The city had to be made viable again. In addition, there was the constant stream of Polish people who had to be given work and bread.

Removing the debris was a huge task. For this purpose, the Germans who remained in Brieg were primarily used, unless they were otherwise needed as “specialists”. Housing construction was out of the question at first. The first thing to do was to repair the less damaged houses and make them habitable. Housing construction started relatively late.

Contrary to the initial intention of the Polish builders and unlike in Wroclaw and Opole, where efforts were made to restore the old house shapes with the beautiful gables, the houses on the north and south sides of the ring and on some streets that were newly built as a result of complete destruction are whole modern, d. H. without a crowning gable and with modern loggias and balconies and with oversized shop windows. The brightly colored treatment of the house fronts was new. The east side of the ring has been preserved unchanged. The north side has been completely rebuilt and has particularly comfortable shops. The only house on this side of the ring to which the picturesque old gable has been put back on is the former Suss-Haus, probably because this gable was the only one in Brzeg that had the characteristics of old Polish architecture. The south side of the ring has also been rebuilt in modern forms and with large shops. The old back houses and warehouses have been demolished. Wide, beautiful loggias look out onto the former dark courtyards. The west side of the ring has been completely demolished and created as a green space with a fountain and benches. The town hall still stands there in its old beauty.

The streets around the ring have also changed significantly. The long side of the city theater was exposed and an entrance on the side could be architecturally new and appealing. The synagogue has been preserved, but serves as a residential building. The abandoned monastery houses had to give way to a large green space at Stiftsplatz. The entire length of the southern side of the castle wing is visible.

The largest new building in the city after 1945 is the large hospital consisting of many individual buildings, which takes up the entire area of ​​the old cemetery. The old Catholic cemetery on Neuhäuserstraße is still in use, although a large number of German graves have been dug and re-occupied.

Attractions

Partial view of the castle portal
The renaissance castle portal
Ceiling painting in the Kreuzkirche

Piast castle

The Piast Castle, called the Silesian Wawel, was built on the site of a Gothic castle. The Wawel owes its current shape to the renovation in the Renaissance style by the Italian architects Jakub Pahr, Franz Pahr and Bernhard Niuron. It was destroyed during the siege in 1741 and rebuilt in 1966–1990. The richly decorated facade of the gatehouse, which is one of the most magnificent Renaissance buildings in Central Europe, has been preserved. The courtyard includes reconstructed three-story cloisters. Some halls have been preserved on the first floor on the east side. The building houses the Piast Museum. The history of the city and the Silesian Piast line, as well as Silesian sculpture and painting from the 15th to the 18th centuries are exhibited (collection of the National Museum in Wroclaw). These include paintings by the famous Silesian painter of the Baroque era, Michael Willmann . The museum's collection also includes the coffins of the Liegnitz-Wohlau-Brieger princes and the hunter's bow (14th century) excavated in Mleczna Street, which is considered to be the only surviving example of such a weapon in Poland.

St. Hedwig Castle Church

Choir of the former collegiate church built in the 14th century and converted into the mausoleum of the Liegnitz-Brieg-Wohlau Piast line in the 16th century. The destruction of the church, collegiate church and surrounding buildings in 1741 was followed by further renovations in 1783. The palace was built in the 20th century as part of the regotization. 22 copper and zinc coffins with remains of the Piasts from the Liegnitz-Brieg-Wohlau line have been preserved in the church crypt. The coffins from the 16th and 17th centuries are particularly valued as sepulkral art. They are exhibited in the museum.

Nikolaikirche

Gothic, three-aisled basilica built between 1370 and 1417 on the site of the former parish church. In 1884/85 the towers were raised and the church porches were rebuilt. The church, which was destroyed in 1945, was rebuilt in the 1960s. It is characterized by one of the tallest main ships in Silesia (about 30 m). From the old, richly furnished interior, bourgeois memorial plaques (from the Renaissance to the Baroque) have been preserved. In the choir is the Gothic triptych (winged altar), created in 1500. During the reconstruction, Gothic polychromy was discovered in the sacristy, the date of which is dated between 1418 and 1428. The medieval polychromy trail (blue markings) begins in the Nikolaikirche. The choir as well as the rooms behind the organ and in the side aisles are decorated with modern stained glass windows.

Exaltation of the Cross Church

Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross - single-nave Baroque church built on the site of the Dominican Monastery and Dominican Church that was destroyed in 1545. The idea of ​​building the church on the site of the former church comes from the Jesuits who moved to Brieg in 1681. The construction of the church between 1734 and 1739 was carried out according to the design by Józef Frisch. In the years 1739 to 1745 the Jesuit Johannes Kuben decorated the interior of the church with lavish monumental paintings. In 1856 and 1857 the church towers were raised according to the design of Count von Wilczek, and the facade was plastered.

town hall

Erected in the Renaissance style based on a design by Jakob Pahr and Bernhard Niuron between 1570 and 1577, rebuilt on the site of the Gothic town hall, which burned down in 1569. The interior contains the large ceiling hall with a larch ceiling from 1648 and on the north side the early Rococo councilor's hall from 1746. On the south side is the built-in Renaissance portal, which was moved here from the old building demolished in 1926 in Zamkowa Street.

Piast high school

The former grammar school "Illustre Bregense" was built between 1564 and 1569 by Jakob Pahr. It was destroyed in 1741, after which it was rebuilt several times. After being destroyed in 1945, it was rebuilt from 1963 to 1967. The arched gate built in the Renaissance style and the portal have been preserved.

Franciscan Church of Petri and Pauli

The Franciscan monastery church was first mentioned in 1285. The brothers of the mendicant order founded in 1210 belonged to the Saxon Franciscan Province ( Saxonia ). The church was expanded until 1338. As a result of the Reformation in 1534, the convent was abolished by Duke Friedrich II . In the next few years the church served as an arsenal and since 1930 as a warehouse. In the interior, the net vault of the main nave from around 1500 has been preserved. The church tower collapsed after the flood in 1997.

Trinity Column

Donated in 1731 by the builder of the Kreuzkirche, Johann Christoph Melchior from Neustadt, probably designed by Karl Schlein from Neisse.

Magnificent town houses

The ring in Brzeg
  • Old Rynek 2 building with revealed Gothic fragments
  • Renaissance old building at 4 Chopina Street from 1597, restored in 1883 and 1929
  • Old building erected in the 18th century at ul.Jabłkowa 5 and 7
  • Oder city gate, fragment of the city's former fortifications built in the Renaissance style, built by Bernhard Niuron in 1595, moved to Oderpark in 1895
  • The Jewish cultural property , cemetery at ul.Księdza Makarskiego and the building of the former synagogue (street corner ul. 3 Maja / ul. Długie )
  • Steel lattice bridge over the Oder from 1891, moved to Brieg in 1954 from Fordon near Bydgoszcz

traffic

At Brzeg station, the Nysa – Brzeg line branches off from the Bytom – Wrocław line . The Brzeg – Łagiewniki Dzierżoniowskie railway line is only used for a few kilometers to the airport.

Personalities

sons and daughters of the town

Well-known residents of the city

  • Peter Bitschen , Canon, died 1389. Canon of the newly founded Hedwig Church, author of the “Chronicon Principium Poloniae”.
  • Max Drischner , born on January 31, 1891 in Prieborn, Strehlen district, died on April 25, 1971 in Goslar, worked as a composer, cantor, organist and harpsichordist in Brieg from around 1920 to 1945
  • Peter Freitag , scribe in Breslau, made a copy of the Hedwig legend with 60 pen drawings for Brieger councilor Anton Hornig in 1451.
  • Max Friedlaender (1852–1934), musicologist.
  • Ernst Glawnig , royal Prussian councilor, district and town physicist, doctor at the workhouse and madhouse and council member. Born on July 5, 1749, died on August 19, 1808. Appointed doctor at the labor penitentiary in 1777, he was one of the first German doctors to advocate humane treatment and regular medical care for the mentally ill and their recruitment in Landheimen. The city honored him in 1825 by placing a memorial stone (old Protestant cemetery, south entrance of the Trinity Church) and in 1912 by naming a street.
  • Martin Hancke (* ~ 1574) writer in Brieg, Protestant hymn poet
  • Johannes Heermann (1585–1647), the "Silesian Job", comes from a furrier family in Daudten near Wohlau. He received his training in Fraustadt (1602), Breslau and Brieg.
  • Paul Hielscher , music director, professor, cantor and organist at the Nikolaikirche, born on February 5, 1864 in Breslau, studied in Berlin. 1894 cantor in Brieg. 1907 Federal Song Master at the Silesian Song Festival. 1909 to 1910 publication of the new Silesian chorale book (together with Lubrich and Derks). 1913 judge at the Kaiser-Wettsingen in Frankfurt am Main. 1922 specialist music advisor on behalf of the minister of education. Conductor of the Brieger Singakademie and the Jung men's choir. First chairman of the Silesian Singers Association. Outstanding music teacher who cemented Brzeg's reputation as a city of music and had a great influence on the musical life of the province.
  • Carl Friedrich Lentner (1746–1776), doctor and writer, lived temporarily in Brieg, where he worked at the local workhouse and died on May 21, 1776.
  • Friedrich von Logau (1604–1655), Baroque poet; lived at the Brieger Hof from 1644 to 1653.
  • Oskar Moll (1875–1947), director of the academy, born on July 21, 1875 in Brzeg.
  • Heinrich von Mühler (1813–1874), 1862 Minister of Culture, known as a poet; "I'm just getting out of the pub".
  • Carl Müller (1798–1840), founder of classical archeology, known for his excavations. Professor in Göttingen.
  • Heinrich Mützel (1797–1868), painter and lithographer, born in Brieg in 1797.
  • Julius Peppel , First Mayor from 1895 to 1910, born on May 9, 1851 in Danzig. 1877 mayor of Stallupönen, 1882 second mayor of Liegnitz, 1895 first mayor of Brieg. The city owes its surprisingly rapid upward development to him and the foundations for its further prosperity. Its population increased from 21,304 to 29,035 in 15 years. 1896 to 1905 purchase and incorporation of large areas of Briegischdorf and Rathau. 1896 to 1897 construction of the new barracks. 1897 Enlargement of the garrison (Infantry Regiment 156 and 157). Sewerage from 1899 to 1902, from 1902 the streets and squares were re-paved. 1900 Erection of the Kaiser Wilhelm I monument. 1906 Groundwater supply from Giersdorf. 1906 to 1907 construction of the power station. April 1907, Brzeg becomes an independent city. 1906 to 1908 acquisition of larger parts of Hermsdorf. 1908 Plant of the city park, which the grateful city later named "Julius-Peppel-Park" in his honor and where they erected a memorial to him shortly after his death.
  • Immanuel Johann Gerhard Schellery , Rector of the Brieger Gymnasium from 1771 to 1803, born March 22, 1735 in Ihlow (Saxony), died July 5, 1803 in Brieg. Memorial stone with an open book on the southwest corner of the Trinity Church. Author of numerous Latin writings, a detailed and a concise teaching on Latin, a two-volume revision of the “fundamenta stili cultioris” by Heineccius and, above all, Latin lexicons. Honoring by naming a street.
  • Wenzel Scherffer von Scherffenstein (around 1603–1674), Silesian poet; since 1630 organist at the castle church in Brzeg.
  • Jakob Schickfuß (1574–1637), Silesian historian, rector of the Brieger Gymnasium from 1604 to 1613, then councilor to the Duke of Brieg, and finally imperial chamber tax office
  • Friedrich Gotthelf Benjamin Schmieder (1770–1838), studied Protestant theology and was a philologist , book author , scholar and from 1804 until his death rector of the Royal High School in Brieg.
  • Ewald Gerhard Seeliger (1877–1959), writer
  • Bartholomäus Stein (around 1476 – around 1522), author of the “Description of Silesia and Breslau 1512”. Bartholomäus Stein is the man who read the first geographic college at a German university.
  • Johann von Czech, lived from 1595 to 1639. Ducal councilor in Brzeg. Well-known Silesian theosophist , adviser to the Piast dukes.
  • Hermann Weißstein , Privy Building Officer, born November 20, 1854 in Berlin, died June 16, 1924 in Brzeg. Building studies in Berlin, Munich, Vienna; Building inspector in Ortelsburg and since 1906 in Brieg. 1908 Foundation of the first Silesian village museum (Katzbachschlacht-Museum in Dohnau an der Katzbach). 1909 Restoration of the Hedwig Church and exhibition of the Piast coffins. 1910 Foundation of the Municipal Museum, of which he expanded and headed until his death. 1914 to 1917 rebuilding of state domains in the districts of Allenstein and Gumbinnen. Appointed privy councilor, awarded the Order of the Red Eagle. Well-known private collector, city councilor, member of the municipal building deputation, artistic advisor to the building police authority, head of the housing office, co-founder and treasurer of the adult education center, member of the representative college of the synagogue community.
  • Daniel Winkler (physician) (1599–1658), German physician, physicus in Brieg and personal physician to the Elector of Brandenburg
  • Ernst Friedrich Zwirner (1802–1861), master builder of the cathedral, attended the Brieger Gymnasium until 1819, became a master builder and completed Cologne Cathedral.

Town twinning

  • A sponsorship was concluded with the German city of Goslar in 1950 with the Germans expelled from Brieg. This sponsorship was extended to the city on May 7, 2000 as a partnership.
  • Since 1989 there has been a town partnership with the German town of Eckernförde .
  • since March 21, 2002 with the Czech city of Beroun
  • since 2006 with the French city of Bourg-en-Bresse

literature

  • Johann Georg Knie : Alphabetical-statistical-topographical overview of all villages, towns, cities and other places in the royal family. Prussia. Province of Silesia . Breslau 1830, pp. 917-919.
  • Karl Friedrich Schönwälder : Historical local news from Brieg and its surroundings .
    • Volume 1: Introduction. Suburbs. Surroundings , Brieg 1846 ( e-copy ).
    • Volume 2: Fortifying the City. Schloß- und Stifts-Platz , Brieg 1847 ( E-Copy )
  • Karl Friedrich Schönwälder: The Piasts to the Briege or history of the city and the principality of Brieg .
    • Volume 1: From the oldest news up to the year 1521. With the genealogy of the Princely House . Brieg 1855 ( e-copy ).
    • Volume 2
    • Volume 3, Brieg 1856.
  • Colmar Grünhagen : Documents from the city of Brzeg . Breslau 1870 ( e-copy ).
  • Document inventory of the city of Brzeg . In: Diplomatic contributions to the investigation of Silesian rights and history . Volume 1, Berlin 1770, pp. 9-34. .
  • Karl Friedrich Schönwälder: Former constitution of the city of Brzeg . In: Invitation to the Royal Easter Examination. High school in Brieg . Brieg 1850, pp. 1-14.
  • Karl Friedrich Schönwälder and JJ Guttmann: History of the Royal High School in Brieg. For the three hundred year jubilee celebration . Breslau 1869 ( e-copy ).
  • Siegismund Justus Ehrhardt : Presbyterology of Evangelical Silesia . Part II, 1st main section: Protestant church and preacher history of the city and the principality of Brzeg . Liegnitz 1782 ( e-copy ).
  • Friedrich Gottlieb Eduard Anders : Statistics of the Protestant Church in Silesia . Glogau 1848, pp. 83-91.
  • Kurt Bimler : The Piast Castle in Brieg (= Silesian Castles and Renaissance Palaces Volume 2). Wroclaw 1934.
  • Kurt Bimler: The Silesian massive fortifications . Volume 2: Principality of Brieg, districts of Brieg, Ohlau, Strehlen. Wroclaw 1941.
  • Werner Irrgang: Older history of the city of Brieg in its Silesian environment. Volume 1, Goslar 1988.
  • Werner Irrgang: Modern history of the city of Brieg. 1740-1980. Volume 2, Goslar 1980.
  • Ernst Günther: Illustrated guide through Brieg. With special consideration of local art monuments. With a map of the city. Brieg 1929.
  • Hermann Kunz: The castle of the Piasts on the Briege. A forgotten monument to old builders in Silesia. Brieg 1885.
  • Hermann Kühne: Brieg - His high school and his teachers. Historical and anecdotal. Nienhagen 2001.
  • Sigrid Nitschke: Brieg - Brzeg. ... and what remains is not just the memory. … A to, co pozostanie nie tylko jest wspomnieniem. Brzeg 1998. (German and Polish)
  • Andrzej Peszko, Christian Parma: Brzeg - Miasto z kotwicami w herbie / City with anchors in the coat of arms. Marki 2009. (German and Polish)
  • Max Pietruszka: The last days of Brzeg . A factual report from February 1945 , Hanover 1952.
  • Heinrich Schoenborn (Ed.): Brieg. A guide for locals and foreigners. With a city plan , Brzeg 1910.
  • Heinrich Schoenborn: History of the city and the principality of Brieg. An excerpt from the history of Silesia. Brieg 1907.
  • Maria Szypowska, Andrzej Szypowski: Brzeg. Warszawa 1969. (Polish)
  • Dorothea Tscheschner : A Silesian pearl. Brieg, Buildings tell ... , Berlin 2004.

Web links

Commons : Brzeg  - album with pictures, videos and audio files
Wikisource: Brig in the Topographia Bohemiae, Moraviae et Silesiae  - Sources and full texts

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b population. Size and Structure by Territorial Division. As of June 30, 2019. Główny Urząd Statystyczny (GUS) (PDF files; 0.99 MiB), accessed December 24, 2019 .
  2. ^ City website, Władze miasta , accessed on January 20, 2015
  3. ↑ http://www.genealogienetz.de/reg/SCI/Brieg/st-kr/stbrieg.html
  4. ↑ Hugo Weczerka (Ed.): Handbook of historical sites . Volume: Silesia (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 316). Kröner, Stuttgart 1977, ISBN 3-520-31601-3 , p. 54 ff.
  5. ^ Oda Michael: The master craftsman family Bernhard, Peter and Franz Niuron. Your work in Silesia, Brandenburg, Saxony and the Principality of Anhalt as reflected in historical sources . Dissertation University of Halle 2006, p. 10 ff. ( Online ).
  6. ↑ Wolfgang Benz , Barbara Distel (ed.): The place of terror . History of the National Socialist Concentration Camps. Verlag CH Beck, Munich (9 volumes; 2005–2009).
  7. ↑ Isabell Sprenger: Groß-Rosen . A concentration camp in Silesia. Böhlau Verlag, 1997, ISBN 3-412-11396-4 .
  8. ^ A b Johann Georg Knie : Alphabetical-statistical-topographical overview of all villages, towns, cities and other places in the royal family. Prussia. Province of Silesia . Breslau 1830, p. 917.
  9. ↑ a b c d e f g h Michael Rademacher: German administrative history from the unification of the empire in 1871 to the reunification in 1990. brieg.html. (Online material for the dissertation, Osnabrück 2006).
  10. ↑ Dieter Berg (Ed.): Traces of Franciscan History. Chronological outline of the history of the Saxon Franciscan provinces from their beginnings to the present. Werl 1999, p. 77.279.