Category Archives: Essays and élucubrations

Sharing reflections, insights and observations, triggered by reading or by real life.

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Hermann Radzyk painted the viaduct in the Góry Sowie in 1924

Exactly a hundred years ago, in 1924, my grandfather Hermann Radzyk painted this rack train viaduct in the Eulengebirge (Góry Sowie) in Silesia (now Poland).

On the rear side, Hermann Radzyk wrote down the year and the name of his painting. He called it “Der Viadukt (the viaduct)”, and he added “Silberberg, Eulengebirge”. The painting is family-owned.

Look at the cone shaped hill behind the viaduct on this old postcard. It shows the same viaduct, the so-called “Silberbergviadukt” or, in Polish, “Wiadukt Srebrnogórski”.

(Source: Jacek Gruzlewski and Tomasz Przerwa, p. 224)

The easel of my grandfather stood on the Silberberg pass (Przełęcz Srebrna) above the viaduct. He looked south towards the valley of Herzogswalde (Zdanów) and the mountains of Wartha (Góry Bardzkie).

I only found two places, where I could see the viaduct from the Silberbergpass today. In summer 2023, I stepped into the high grass of the wild meadow above the viaduct. This is all I could see from the viaduct. I am a bit lower than the easel of my grandfather.

Along this wild meadow, there is a small footpath that leads down into the valley under the viaduct (see https://polska-org.pl/539823,Srebrna_Gora,Wiadukt_Srebrnogorski_Most_Katarzyny.html for a good description of the path from the car parking to the viaduct)

A hiking path crosses the viaduct. It was drizzling, when I was here.

The second “window” was on the local street above the pass road (Warowna Street leading to Hahnvorwerk or Budzowska Kolonia), where the viaduct appeared once more between the trees. 

However, the easel stood more to the right and not as high as I am now. Today, my grandfather Hermann Radzyk could no longer reproduce the painting of the viaduct. 

I invested quite some detective work to identify the viaduct my grandfather had painted. This was an opportunity to get to know Silberberg and the Eulengebirgsbahn, the railway of the Owl Mountains. Let me tell you.

I will start with my detective work which comes in three steps: First, where in Europe is this viaduct? Second, found two viaducts, where are they “hiding”? Third, which of the two viaducts is on the painting? Closing it up, I wanted to make sure, that it was really not the Herzogswaldeviadukt  that my grandfather painted, but it was the Silberbergviadukt.

 

First challenge: Where in Europe is this viaduct?

My sister owns the painting of the viaduct. In June 2024, I packed my tripod and drove to  my sister’s house to take photos. We took her paintings down from the walls. Only then I found out about the description on the rear side: 1924, “”Der Viadukt”, Silberberg, Eulengebirge”. Knowing this before would have made my detective work easier. From the beginning, I would have looked for the viaduct in the Eulengebirge (Góry Sowie, Silesia).

But I was not aware of the description on the rear side, when early in 2023, I started to look for the viaduct. I had to guess, where in Europe this viaduct stands. The vegetation looked middle or northern European. Perhaps Silesia?  I investigated all mountain railway lines in Silesia in the Internet and ended up discovering the two red brick viaducts in the Eulengebirge (Góry Sowie) near Silberberg (Srebrna Góra). They both are very similar and they both look like the viaduct on the painting of my grandfather, as the old postcards show.

(1) This is the “higher” viaduct just below the Silberberg pass, called Wiadukt Srebrnogórski (in German Silberbergviadukt).

(Source: https://polska-org.pl/539823,Srebrna_Gora,Wiadukt_Srebrnogorski_Most_Katarzyny.html)

(2) … and this is the “lower” viaduct just after Silberberg called Wiadukt Zdanówski (in German Herzogswaldeviadukt). 

(Source: https://polska-org.pl/522602,Zdanow,Wiadukt_Zdanowski_Most_Dziewiczy.html)

It is clear to me, my grandfather has painted one of the two viaducts, but it is unclear to me, which of the two and from where.

Let us check out, where we are: Srebrna Góra is in Silesia, part of the Powiat Ząbkowice Śląskie, located north of Powiat Klodzko at the south east edge of the Eulengebirge (Góry Sowie) and north of the Góry Bardzkie.

Source: Google maps and my additions.

 

Second challenge in May 2023: Found two viaducts in the Owl Mountains in the Internet, now – where are they “hiding”?

On my hiking map, I marked the two viaducts.

To find the viaducts, I settled in the Lesny Dvor in Wolibórz near Srebrna Góra in May 2023, with a friend. 

We drove to Zdanów (formerly Herzogswalde) and above Zdanów we looked north to where we knew, the viaducts should be. We could not see any viaducts, just trees and above the dense forest the Fortress of Srebrna Góra (the Srebrna Góra Twierdza). A friendly dog barked at us from a garden, wagging his tail. The owner came to the gate. “What are you doing here?” He and his wife invited us for coffee. They told us, that we can see the viaduct from the hiking path close to where the road to Srebrna Góra forks. 

We drove to the fork. My friend left the car and her face brightened up, as she spotted one arch of the “lower” viaduct. We parked the car to walk there. We heard children laugh. We saw the “lower” viaduct, the Herzogwaldeviadukt, behind the trees.

A young man sat on a stone. He said that he is a mountain guide. A mountain guide? Here? But soon we understood. The viaduct is a climbing park now! 

The children that we could hear laugh are here to learn how to climb. The viaduct has been “recycled”. 

Later I drove to the parking above the Small Silberberg pass and, via Fort Ostrog (Spitzberg), I climbed down to the “upper” viaduct, the Silberbergviadukt. The area around the viaduct is very, very steep. I reached the top of the viaduct – it is now a hiking path. Not everyone might want to cross the viaduct. It looks dizzying.

Around the viaduct, it was not only steep, but also wet. I did not climb down to the bottom of the viaduct. Instead, I followed the old railway track to the “lower” viaduct, the Herzogswaldeviadukt. 

Very impressive. In some places, landslides cover the trench that the Germans had dug for the railway. The hiking pass across the Herzogswaldeviadukt is comfortable and less dizzying.

Still I do not understand, which of the two viaducts my grandfather has painted, the “upper” or the “lower”. They are so similar!

 

Third and final challenge in August 2023: Which of the two viaducts is on the painting and where was the easel?

I returned in August 2023 and settled in the Palac Kamieniec near Klodzko twice, once on my way to Kraków and again on my way back from Kraków. From talking to the friendly couple at Zdanów, I now understood that the easel stood north of the viaducts and Hermann Radzyk painted looking south to the valley of Zdanów and to the Góry Bardzkie. I had two alternative hypotheses for the location of the easel, one for the “lower” viaduct near Srebrna Góra and one for the “upper” viaduct near the Silberberg pass.

I do not remember, how often I walked around the two viaducts, until I understood clearly, it was the “UPPER” Silberbergviadukt that my grandfather had painted, and the easel stood on the Silberberg pass (Przełęcz Srebrna). In the meantime, I had acquired the wonderful bilingual book of Jacek Gruzlewski and Tomasz Przerwa about the history of Silberberg. The old photos were useful for my investigations.

Let us look at the painting again. The easel stood clearly ABOVE the viaduct on a meadow with bushes and not too far away from the viaduct.

The view behind the Silberberg viaduct is a good match with the background on the old postcard – there is the same cone-shaped hill behind the viaduct.

(Source: Jacek Gruzlewski and Tomasz Przerwa, p. 224)

The photographer of this old postcard stood south below the Silberbergviadukt looking north to the meadow with the bushes, where the easel was.  

(Source: Jacek Gruzlewski and Tomasz Przerwa, p. 224)

Now I am convinced, Hermann Radzyk painted the “upper” viaduct, the Silberbergviadukt and the easel was ABOVE the viaduct on a MEADOW, on the Silberberg pass. 

 

Final check: “Lower” Herzogswaldeviadukt excluded – Hermann Radzyk did not paint the “lower” viaduct

I excluded the “lower” Herzogswaldeviadukt, first because already a hundred years ago, there were trees in the valley north of the viaduct, as this photo taken from the south shows. No meadow behind this viaduct to put down the easel.

(Source: Jacek Gruzlewski and Tomasz Przerwa, p. 221)

I excluded the Herzogswaldeviadukt, because second, in the valley north of it, I am always BELOW the viaduct. I verified that on site. I took my photo in the valley north of the Herzogswaldeviadukt  and I am looking up to the viaduct. A little bit farther, the path turns behind the mountain and the viaduct disappears. No place here to look down to the viaduct.

It would have been inconvenient to put down the easel here, there are no houses in the wild valley behind the Herzogswaldeviadukt. The couple of Zdanów had suggested, the easel was higher up and closer to the Small Silberberg pass, but at that point, I am too far away and there are hills in the visual axis to the Herzogswaldeviadukt. 

Yes, it is confirmed for me, the painting shows the “upper” Silberbergviadukt or, in Polish, the Wiaduct Srebrnogórsky. I am happy to have solved the puzzle of the viaduct.

Let us now learn more about the Railway of the Owl Mountains and about Silberberg and its fortress.

 

The Eulengebirgsbahn (Railway of the Owl Mountains) was built to speed up the transport of coal from Neurode to the weaving factories of Reichenbach

North East of the Eulengebirge (Góry Sowie) were the weaving factories, where the weavers’ rebellion took place in the year 1844. About this rebellion, the German author Gerhart Hauptmann wrote the play “die Weber (the Weavers)” in 1892 (we read it at school 60 years ago). The weaving factories around Reichenbach needed energy. Coal mining was at Neurode, on the other side of the mountains. The Eulengebirge (Góry Sowie) and the Warthagebirge (Góry Bardzkie) were in the way. The Germans decided to connect Neurode and Reichenbach by building a railway, the Eulengebirgsbahn, nick named “Eule”. The railway from Reichenbach to Silberberg was inaugurated in 1900. Two years later, in 1902, the Germans completed the section between Silberberg and Neurode. For this section, they had to overcome the Silber pass (Przełęcz Srebrna) that separates the Eulengebirge (Góry Sowie) from the Warthagebirge (Góry Bardzkie). They built the cog railway between Silberberg (Srebrna Góra) and Neudorf (Nowa Wieś). Crossing the two canyons between Silberberg and the Silber pass required constructing the two spectacular viaducts. The Herzogswaldeviadukt was 24m high and 90m long. The Silberbergviadukt was 27m high (Gruzlewski and Przerwa , p. 220 and p. 224) .     

(Source: Google maps and my own additions to lay out the approximate route of the railway and the mountains)

The cog train became a tourist attraction. The journey was 4.2km long and lasted about 27 minutes to overcome 175m (Gruzlewski and Przerwa , p. 230). The viaducts were spectacular. The railway had to be cut into the mountains, the rocks were 18m high.

(Gruzlewski and Przerwa , p. 223).

In 1924, when my grandfather put down his easel on the Silberberg pass, he surely had arrived with his family by cog train and left it at the station on the Silberberg pass.

(Gruzlewski and Przerwa , p. 216).

There were only a few tourist facilities on the Silberberg pass, the Waldfrieden (left hand side at the edge) and the Gasthaus zur Friedrichshöh (right hand side) (Gruzlewski and Przerwa , p. 58ff ). Probably my grandfather stayed in one of these facilities with his family.

(Gruzlewski and Przerwa , p.108)

Unfortunately, the cog wheel section had not been constructed carefully and was halted already in 1931. The last rack train travelled on October 11th 1931 (Gruzlewski and Przerwa, p. 228).

Today, the two viaducts belong to the cultural heritage of Poland, as indicated on the hiking map. The railway track has become the hiking path that I explored when investigating the viaducts. I came across quite a few hikers from Poland that enjoyed crossing the viaducts.

 

About the Silberberg Fortress built by the Prussians, now and before a tourist attraction

Today the Silberberg Fortress (Twierdza Srebrna) is the tourist attraction of Silberberg. I visited it in October 2022 on my first “detective tour”, then feeling desperate, because I had no idea, where to look for the places of the easel of my grandfather; I was even not aware of the viaducts below the Fortress. Almost one year later, in 2023, I knew about the viaducts. Again, I climbed up to the Fortress to get an overview of the western ridge of the Góry Bardzie that are on the painting of my grandfather. I could recognize the meadow behind Herzogswalde (Zdanów).

 

 It was wet and rainy. Not as sunny as on the painting of my grandfather. Today, there are more trees, but the hills of the Góry Bardzkie are still the same. 

In the souvenir shop of the Fortress, I found the wonderful book of Jacek Gruzlewski and Tomasz Przerwa (“Silberberg. A mirror of time – Srebrna Góra. Zwierciadlo czasu”, Srebrna Góra, Sova 2021). Back at the Palac Kamieniec in the evening, I read the book drinking a glass of good Polish wine. Good Polish wine? Be assured, you can find that.

The Silberberg Fortress had been completed by Frederick II from Prussia in 1785. He had a complex of fortresses constructed on various hills above the Silberberg pass (Gruzlewski and Przerwa, p. 100). 

After 1880, the Fortress became a tourist attraction (Gruzlewski and Przerwa, p. 106).  In the time between the wars, about 60’000 tourists per year visited Fort Silberberg; they benefited from the railway station on the Silverberg pass (Gruzlewski and Przerwa, p. 130).

The fortresses have a gloomy past in the Second World War; the Nazi imprisoned Polish officers  (p. 107) and there were also Finnish prisoners (p.174).  I felt sorry for them. The vaults are very dark and wet, and I got lost in them.  

The Silberberg Fortress is a touristy place today as well. On weekends the two car parkings on the small Silberberg pass fill up quickly. Most tourists are from Poland. In addition I could hear some German; the children and grand children of the Silesians that had to emigrate after 1945 are now coming to Silesia to find the houses of their ancestors; the houses are now inhabited by the descendants of the Poles that had to emigrate from former East Poland. A beautiful testimony of the events after 1945 is given the Karolyna Kuszik’s “Poniemieckie”. 

 

The art scene at Srebrna Góra

Usually, my grandfather travelled to places with an active scene of artists. Gruzlewski and Przerwa included the chapter called “Artistically” on p. 239. They mention that plein-air painting arrived only shortly before the First World War;  Carl Ernst Morgenstern had painted the fortresses and Max Leipelt’s company from Cieplice (Warmbrunn) published postcards based on these paintings. In 1921-1922, the printer Franz Otto moved to Srebrna Góra and produced a calendar with wood cuts about the area. Was Hermann Radzyk aware of this calendar, when he decided to visit Srebrna Góra? In the 1920’s, the artist Max Günther moved to Srebrna Góra. Was Hermann Radzyk in contact with him, when he came to Srebrna Góra in 1924? I do not know. 

 

Srebrnra Góra and its rack railway – what a wonderful area

It was in October 2022 that I visited the Eulengebirge for the first time looking for the paintings of my grandfather, but not yet knowing any of the locations of the easel. I then drove along the south border of the Eulengebirge and was very surprised, when all of a sudden, the road went up steeply taking me to the Silberberg pass. In 2023 I returned three times to the area around Srebrna Góra and started to feel somewhat at home. The Poles I met off the beaten tracks asked me: “What are you doing HERE?” I showed them the painting of my grandfather – “I see”.

I thank the friendly couple at Zdanów that invited us for coffee. They spoke German and were the owners of a German diploma paper about Herzogswalde from the 1950’s. The owners of the Lesny Dvor proudly lent me their books about (German) Silesia, and German maps hang on the walls of their hotel. In addition the Palac Kamieniec is proud of their maps hanging on their walls. All that helped me to solve my puzzles about the paintings of my grandfather. And it gave me a feeling of reconciliation between Poles and Germans – this provides hope for the future.

Sources:

 

 

 

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Hermann Radzyk painted the “Blick in das Glätzische Land” with Falkenberg (Silesia) in 1923

A hundred years ago, in the year 1923, my grandfather Hermann Radzyk painted the “Blick in das Glätzische Land (view of the Glatz district)” in Silesia (now Poland).

The painting is owned privately by a friend of our family.

This old postcard is a very good match. 

Source: Panoramy i widoki Sokolca, Sokolec – zdjęcia (polska-org.pl)

The postcard confirms, the painting “Blick in das Glätzische Land” shows Glätzisch-Falkenberg from the Euldörfel. 

The Euldörfel was a holiday resort located above Falkenberg (today Sokolec). The “lower” houses (pensions and hotels) of the Euldörfel stood on this slope above the valley. 

Source: Euldörfel-Schwarzwasser (Eulengebirge) :: Ansichtskarten-Lexikon

The houses of the “lower” Euldörfel spread loosely along the road leading uphill (across the photo from bottom left to middle right hand side); where the road turns, the “upper” Euldörfel begins (right hand corner of the photo). From here, it is about a half hour walk to the Hohe Eule (Welka Sowa), the highest peak of the Eulengebirge (Góry Sowie).

The Euldörfel  has mostly disappeared today. Just meadows and trees, where the houses were a hundred years ago.

 

In August 2023, I identified the approximate position of the easel

From the valley below the former Euldörfel and above Sokolec, I climb uphill on a steep and winding footpath that ends joining this comfortable hiking path.

This panel shows, what the hiking path looked like a hundred years ago: It was a comfortable road that was used by coaches and pedestrians to get to the Euldörfel. 

I imagine my grandparents and their daughter (my mother) walking along this road, while a horse carriage carries the easel, the canvas, the paint brushes and the oil colours. 

A little bit higher up, I find another panel. 

The panel shows two pensions of the former  “lower” Euldörfel, and they have totally disappeared today. Nothing but meadows here.

Where was the house with the shed and the two trees that my grandfather had painted in the foreground? Back at home I study this old postcard again, and I am pretty sure, the house in the foreground was at the turn of the road towards the “upper” Euldörfel (see red circle). 

Right above the turn, there was the famous pension called Müller Max Baude. Perhaps my grandparents stayed at the Müller Max Baude. Also this pension has disappeared.

Today, the view of the valley is hidden behind trees, as my photo shows. For this photo, I stand a bit lower than where the easel of my grandfather was (red circle on postcard).  

 

Geographical location of the easel 

On my Compass hiking map, I have marked the location of the painting. From the  viewpoint at the former Euldörfel, my grandfather looked south towards the village Falkenberg (Sokolec) with Saint Martin’s church. 

At the viewpoint, the map mentions “Murski pasterski” which means “shepherds’ walls”. However, I believe the “shepherds’ walls” were remains of the Euldörfel. At the time the map was created, it was perhaps not allowed to mention the German past with the Euldörfel. 

With googlemaps, I give the overall geographical localization of the painting “Blick in das Glätzische Land”.  

Source: Googlemaps

 

I needed several excursions to find the location of the painting “Blick in das Glätzische Land”

In autumn 2022, I am at Silesia for the first time to look for some paintings of my grandfather. I just knew, he painted somewhere in the county Glatz, now called Powiat Kłodzko. I settle in the charming hotel Palac Kamienec near the city Kłodzko.

The park of the Palac is romantic, particularly on a hazy autumn morning. 

On the first day, I drive north to Sokolec, look at Saint Martin’s church, and feel helpless. Will I ever be able to find the paintings? I am not able to recognize this church from the paintings.

A year later, in 2023, I return to Silesia. Sokolec with Saint Martin’s church attracts me again and again. I evaluate the valley above Sokolec. I start to suspect that the “view of the Glätzisches Land” shows the valley of Sokolec. However, at the viewpoint above Sokolec, I see only meadows and trees, no houses here, even no ruins. Around the Eulenbaude, still higher above Sokolec, I find a few houses; from here, it is not possible to see the valley and Sokolec (Falkenberg).

I look at Saint Martin’s church again and again. I see that the belfry is shorter than on the painting. I notice the panel that says, the tower had been destroyed during the war; it was rebuilt after 1945. Perhaps the belfry was higher before, and it is this church that my grandfather painted?

The landlady of the hotel notices that my grandfather had painted a red house next to the church in the valley. There is a red house next to Saint Martin’s church still today, she says, and it is on sale. This is what the red house looks like now; it may be difficult to sell it.

Finally, I solve the enigma; a few months later, in August 2023, I park my car above Sokolec (in the hairpin turn of the new main road leading to Rzeczka – see Compass hiking map).

Through meadows and trees, I walk uphill on the winding footpath, and I find the panels that show the houses of the former Euldörfel. Now I understand: Where I only see meadows now, there was the holiday resort Euldörfel a hundred years ago, and my grandparents were here in 1923. From here, my grandfather painted the house with the shed in the foreground, the village Sokolec, Saint Martin’s church and the mountains of the county Glatz in the background.  

The postcard confirms, the painting shows the view of Sokolec (Falkenberg) from the Euldörfel.

 

Source: Panoramy i widoki Sokolca, Sokolec – zdjęcia (polska-org.pl)

I am pretty sure that the easel stood at the turn of the road (red circle).

Another enigma of Hermann Radzyk solved – I feel close to my grandparents (that I have never met) and to their daughter, my mother. 

 

The area around Sokolec with the Welka Sowa is well worth visiting, also today

Though less well-known than the Riesengebirge (Karkonosze), the area around Sokolec with the Welka Sowa, the highest peak of the Góry Sówie, is worth visiting.

On Welka Sowa, the Bismarck tower has just been renovated. It shines in brilliant white.

I climb the tower and enjoy the view of the “Glätzisches Land”. The mountain in the middle (with meadows and forest stripes) is Niczyja (Neumanskoppe). Sokolec (Falkenberg) is located left at the foot of Niczyja. The mountains in the background are the Góry Stołowe (Heuscheuergebirge) that mostly belong to the Powiat Klodzko (County Glatz). The Góry Stołowe form the background of my grandfather’s painting “Blick in das Glätzische Land”.

By the way, behind Niczyja (former Neumanskoppe) is Sierpnica (Rudolfwaldau), where my grandfather painted the “Neumannskoppe” with the “Maria Schneekirche”  in 1919.

When hiking around the Welka Sowa, I hear the soft hissing sounds of the Poles around me. I do not come across any foreign tourists. The Poles ask me again and again: “What are YOU doing HERE?” I was the only non-Polish hiker. “Ah”, they said, when I showed them the photos of my grandfather’s Silesian paintings. 

Sokolec is a laid off small village with a friendly restaurant. The Oberza PRL commemorates “socialist” times, with the Trabbi…

… and with the menu that contains meals with a communist touch.

I found some lighter meals on the list – I liked those with fish and cabbiage. I visited the Oberza several times, when investigating the area, and I enjoyed the hospitality.

The panel on Saint Martin’s church at Sokolec thanks for the funds and the active support received by former German and present-day Polish inhabitants as “a symbol of comprehension and admonition for peace”. 

I wish that peace will prevail – now and in future.

 

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Hermann Radzyk painted the Schneekoppe (Sněžka) in 1927 and 1930 – from where?

My grandfather painted the Schneekoppe (Sněžka) in the years 1927 and 1930, almost a hundred years ago. Where did he paint them? Where did he put up his easel? Join me to find out.

 

Three paintings of the Schneekoppe (Sněžka, Śnieżka) by Hermann Radzyk-Radzig are known to me

This painting of the Schneekoppe is from winter 1930. It is named “Paradies der Schneeschuhläufer (the paradise of the snow shoe walkers)”, as my mother wrote in a letter to her best friend. I acquired the painting at Kleinmachnow near Berlin, from friends of the son of my mother’s best friend.

I like the somewhat expressionist style. 

In summer 1927, Hermann Radzyk painted the Schneekoppe twice. This aquarelle is owned by the Heimatverein Kleinmachnow. 

My sister owns another summer painting showing the same hut and the Schneekoppe.  It is unsigned and undated. I assume, it is from summer 1927 as well.

 

Where did my grandfather put up his easel to paint the Schneekoppe?

Where did my grandfather put up his easel? I first suspected, he put it up above Krummhübel (now Karpacz in Poland). I went to Karpacz and understood, the easel was not here (see Discovering Silesia: Karpacz with its churches and the Sniezka).

I started to google about the valleys south of the Schneekoppe, at Bohemia in Czechia. I found photos and compared them with my tourist map of the Giant mountains. I could identify the peaks and valleys near the village Petzer (Pec-pod-Sněžkou).

I conclude, my grandfather must have placed his easel above Petzer (Pec-pod-Sněžkou), either on Zahradky or on Vysoky Svah.

To understand, where exactly the easel was, I drive to Petzer in August 2023. I stay at the friendly small penzion Zákoutí at the very end of Pec-pod-Sněžkou, where the ski lifts and chairlifts to the surrounding hills start.  The owner of the pension gives me this winter postcard that illustrates the situation well.

The village Pec-pod-Sněžkou is located in the valley and on the (left) slope above the ugly hotel tower. North of Pec-pod-Sněžkou in the background is the Schneekoppe. South above Pec-pod-Sněžkou is an “amphitheatre” of four meadows: Under the label “Pec-pod-Sněžkou” is Zahradky (Lenzenberg), to the right follows the triangle of Vysoky Svah and then, behind it, Javor. To the left of Zahradky are the meadows of the Braunberg (Hnědý vrch). The “amphitheatre” of meadows south of Petzer is a skiers’ paradise until today. 

From my pension I walk up to the “amphitheatre” to find the place of the easel – and I identify two places. For the winter painting, the easel stood on Vysoky Svah below Husova Bouda and for the summer paintings it was on Zahradky near Chata Seibert – yes, the hut on my grandfather’s summer paintings still exists. Let us go to Vysoky Svah and Zahradky. 

 

The location of the easel for the winter painting of 1930

For the paradise of the ski shoe walkers, my grandfather put up his easel on Vysoky Svah below Husova Bouda, formerly called Koppenblickbaude (literally: Hut with the view of the Schnee-Koppe).

The easel stood on the bump, flanked to the right by a trough (partially filled with snow) and to the left by a creek with trees (the creek is now called Lucny Potok). One skier directs his way into the trough and towards the painter (perhaps Helene, the painter’s wife), the other skier moves away from the painter (perhaps the daughter Marion, later my mother). 

It is an emotional moment for me. I stand on the slope, where my mum learnt, how to ski. She had always told me that she had learnt skiing in the Giant Mountains, and now I know exactly, where. My grandmother might be the more anxious skier moving towards the easel, and my mum might be the more dynamic skier moving downhill.  My mum practiced skiing all her life, until the age of 76 years. 

This is an old postcard showing the Koppenblickbaude. The photo has been taken from a higher viewpoint than the painting of my grandfather, and I can see the similarities: The meadow bordered by the line of trees (to the right of the Baude), above/behind the line of trees the houses of Petzer and behind Petzer the Rosenberg with the triangular forest clearing.  

Source: gross aupa deutsche digitale bibliothek – Google Search

I take some summer photos. Now I am just a little higher than the easel. 

I can recognize the trees covering the creek to the left, the trough (that the one skier is moving towards) too the right and the line of trees bordering the meadow behind the mountain hotels. There are more hotels here today. In the background are the houses of Petzer/Pec-pod-Sněžkou that also appear on the winter painting. Today they seem to be larger.

This is a slightly different view. I stand above the trough which is called Mulde (Muldě in Czech), and the hut hiding behind the fir tree is called Bouda na Muldě, literally “the hut above the trough”.

Again higher up, I take a photo of the former Koppenblickbaude, now Husova Bouda. 

The Koppenblickbaude was enlarged in 1930 to cater for the skiers that had started to come here since 1900, as a nearby panel explains. It could well be that my grandparents and my mum stayed at the Koppenblickbaude in 1930. There was no ski lift here at that time. My mum and my grandmother had to walk uphill. The first ski lift installation was set up later, in 1932; it was a sledge drawn by two Fiat engines. 

Now the Bouda has become a holiday colony. A group of children are attentively listening to their teacher in the dining hall on the ground floor. 

 

The location of the easel for the summer paintings of 1927

For the two summer paintings the easel stood above the Chata Seibert on Zahradky (in German Lenzenberg).

The Chata Seibert still exists; it has been enlarged. There are trees near the Chata. 

Now I moved closer to the hut. I can still recognize the original construction of the building. The lowest tree stands very close to the house, and it already appears on the paintings. The tree was much smaller, when my grandfather painted it.  

I believe it is a cherry tree – one branch has broken off.

The owners of the Chata have carefully tied it up.

I am sure, it is the same tree. Look at this historical photo (I found it on the Website of Chata Seibert in summer 2023; in the meantime, I do not find it any more there).  

On this historical photo, Chata Seibert is already larger than on my grandfather’s painting, the houses of Petzer in the background look very much the same as my grandfather has painted them. And the still younger tree has got both main branches. The second larger branch has later broken off.

 

The places of the easel on the tourist map of the Giant mountains

To sum up my findings, I enter the location of the easel in the hiking map of the Giant Mountains.

I am happy. I found the places, where my grandfather had put up his easel about a hundred years ago. And I feel to get closer to my grandparents, the more such places I find.

 

Some impressions from the Pec-pod-Sněžkou and the surrounding hills: Skiing and hiking liked by the Czechs 

Staying here for a few days, I start to like Pec-pod-Sněžkou and the surrounding hills. The tourists are almost exclusively Czechs. I have met exactly two German tourists, and I am the first Swiss guest in “my” small penzion Zákoutí, as the owner tells me.

The Czechs love to hike, they populate the bars and the restaurants, they walk with their children and dogs. 

The signs of skiing are present all over, I find this panel, when walking up to Zahradky.

The ski lifts and chairlifts are standing still waiting for the next winter. The skiing area goes up to about 1200m. It may be snow reliable, because of the continental climate.

From here we see the architectural aberration of the socialist times: The Hotel Horizon at Pec-pod-Sněžkou is a tower that dominates the valley. 

Many mountain huts receive guests on the “amphitheatre” of meadows above Pec-pod-Sněžkou. This is Dimrovka Chata on Zahradky. The owner goes for a walk with his dog and we have a chat.

However, a few hotels here are sorely decaying – this one has no name, it is just called “CHATA”. Grass and weeds grow around it blocking the entrance.

Signs about skiing all over. The red gate “START” is waiting for children that will try out racing in the next winter. 

Children will also love this tunnel on Vysoky Sah in the upcoming winter. 

On the pass above Zahradky, I find the Bodenwiesbauden or Bobí Boudy with the small chapel.

I have a nice cake covered with plums here and try out the well marked hiking paths in the area.

Back at Pec-pod-Sněžkou, I have dinner in the garden of the Hotel Hvězda (Star), enjoying a trout fresh from the creeks of the Giant Mountains; trout is called pstruh here. 

I am happy that the Bohemian Giant Mountains and Pec-pod-Sněžkou in particular have not yet appeared in Facebook or Instagram as destinations of a life time. I have found a hidden gem that the Czechs seem to enjoy alone. My grandparents and my mum have discovered it about a hundred years ago and have handed over these three wonderful paintings to the next generation. Thank you for having opened my eyes for this beautiful corner of the world.

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Hermann Radzig-Radzyk painted in Silesia a hundred years ago: Neumannskoppe with Maria-Schnee-Kirche

In May/June 2023, I was in Silesia, looking for some places, where my grandfather Hermann Radzyk put up his easel a hundred years ago (as an artist he painted under the name of Hermann Radzig-Radzyk).

One painting I was looking for was the “Neumannskoppe” of 1919 (belongs to my sister and me). 

I know title and year from a letter of my mother to her best friend. I acquired the painting from a friend of the son of my mother’s best friend.

I solved the puzzle end of May 2023: To paint the “Neumannskoppe”, my grandfather had put his easel up at Rudolfswaldau, now Sierpnica. The mountain Neumannskoppe has become Niczyja. The wooden church with the baroque belfry is called Maria-Schnee-Kirche (Kościół Matki Bożej Śnieżnej, i.e. “Our Lady of the Snows”). 

I was at Sierpnica end of May 2023 to see, what the church looks like today, and I took the photo from where the easel was (approximately).

Today the church is hidden behind trees.

While taking my photos, I met Dziki who lives near the church. He gave me his winter photo. The trees without leaves allow to see more of the church that my grandfather painted.

Source: Photo taken by Dziki Domek.

Now let me tell you, how I solved the puzzle to find the easel for the painting “Neumannskoppe”.

 

Where is the Neumannskoppe?

I started by looking for the Neumannskoppe. I suspected, the Neumannskoppe is a mountain somewhere in Silesia. I entered “Neumannskoppe” in google maps – no result. I continued googling and googling “Neumannskoppe” combined with various terms… and after a lot of googling, I found this old German-Silesian advertisement for the “Grenzbaude im Eulengebirge” (boundary mountain hut in the Owl Mountains). 

The advertisement says that the Grenzbaude is located between the “Neumannskoppe” and the “Hohe Eule” (1). Hence the “Neumannskoppe” is not far from the “Hohe Eule”. Googling “Hohe Eule”, I found the name “Wielka Sowa”, which is the highest mountain in the Góry Sowie (Owl Mountains). 

Conclusion: The church with the Neumannskoppe is not far away from the Wielka Sowa. I asked Google to show me the churches around Wielka Sowa and  I clicked on all of them.

At Sierpnica, I found the church that my grandfather had painted. It is now called Kościół Matki Bożej Śnieżnej, in German Maria-Schnee-Kirche.

Source: Marius Tyski, Church of our Lady of the Snows, Instagram, appeared in google maps about a year ago, in the meantime I can no longer find it there. 

This is the location of the Kościół Matki Bożej Śnieżnej on my hiking map of the Owl Mountains, south west of the Wielka Sowa. 

Source: Compass Góry Sowie, mapa turystyczna, scala 1:35’000

But where exactly is the Neumannskoppe? It must be either the peak Sokól or the peak Niczyja – this puzzle remained. I solved it at the hotel Lesny Dvor at Wolibórz (Volpersdorf) – we stayed here a few days. The Lesny Dvor had a German map whith the Neumannskoppe – and comparing with my hiking map, it becomes clear that the Neumannskoppe is now called Niczyja.  

Source: German map that hangs in the hotel Lesny Dvor at Wolibórz

Niczyja (“nobody’s mountain”) is the approximate translation of  “Neumannskoppe” (“new man’s mountain”).

My grandparents must have spent their vacation at Rudolfswaldau in 1919, when their daughter (my mother) was 3 years old. My grandfather took his easel, canvas and colours with him to paint the Maria-Schnee-Kirche in front of the Neumannskoppe. About a hundred years later, in May 2023, I was here as well – at Sierpnica – and solved the puzzle.

 

The church Lady of our Snows (Kościół Matki Bożej Śnieżnej) is a historical treasure

The church Kościół Matki Bożej Śnieżnej was built out of wood in the 16th century. It is one of many “Schrotholzkirchen” in Silesia (see https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_der_Schrotholzkirchen_in_Niederschlesien). 

It was a protestant church. After the War of 30 years, after 1648, it became a catholic church (the area belonged to catholic Austria at that time). In the 17th century, the tower burnt down, and the new baroque tower was built.

I could not enter the church,  I could just look through the window and capture the interior with the altar…

… and the benches.

Visiting more wooden churches or Schrotholzkirchen might be another interesting target in Silesia. 

 

Meeting today’s Silesians while wandering off the beaten tracks looking for the easel of my grandfather

When looking for the places, where my grandfather put up his easel, I usually wander off the beaten tourist tracks. At Sierpnica, I walked uphill on an unpaved path and through the adjoining meadow to get the view of the church from above. The tourists that visit the church, walk around it and leave again. They do not walk uphill to places, where they can hardly see the church. A car comes on the unpaved path and stops. “What are you doing HERE”, the driver asks me in fluent English. “Look at this”, and I show him my photo of my grandfather’s painting.  “Yes, this IS the church,” he says. We exchange addresses and he sends me the winter photo of the church. Later, I enjoy the hospitality of Dziki. He invites me to his house and family. He shows me his photos from German times before 1945, when Sierpnica was still called Rudolfswaldau. He is proud of the German photos decorating his house. The German past is an integral part of his house.

This is not the only house in Silesia that keeps memories of the German past. Karolina Kuszyk wrote the beautiful book “In den Häusern der anderen – Spuren deutscher Vergangenheit in Westpolen” (2). She  describes  places, buildings and objects that the Germans – expelled after 1945 – left behind and that the Poles took over, most of them expelled from the eastern districts taken away from Poland in 1945. Touching biographies on both sides. Years later Germans return to see the places of their early youth or of their ancestors. Sometimes they find the houses and objects left behind 50-60 years ago and sometimes friendships arise between the former and the new owners. 

My grandfather opens my eyes for Silesia from a hundred years ago, and following him opens doors to experience Silesia today.

 

Notes

  • Footnote (1) More precisely, the Grenzbaude is located on the top of the pass between Neumannskoppe and Hohe Eule. It is called “Grenz”-Baude or “boundary hut”, because it is located on the boundary between the districts Glatz (now Klodzko) and Waldenburg (now Walbrzych). The advertisement says, it takes 50 minutes to walk to the Bismarck tower on the Hohe Eule. The Grenzbaude is proud to have electrical light and central heating.   Above the Grenzbaude was the Grosssprungschanze or great ski jump. 
  • Footnote (2) Original title: “Poniemieckie”. German title translated to English “in the houses of the others – tracks of the German past in West Poland”, christoph-links-Verlag Berlin 5. Auflage 2023.
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Discovering Silesia: Karpacz with its churches and with Sniezka

In May 2023, we spent a week in Silesia, in “our” castle Staniszów near Jelenia Góra. From here, it was a short car ride to Karpacz, formerly called Krummhübel. Many German artists had been here at the end of the 19th century and in the beginnings of the 20th century.  Carl Ernst Morgenstern taught plein-air painting around Karpacz. Theodor Fontane wrote a criminal story for Krummhübel.

 

Karpacz centre with two churches from around 1900

The centre of Karpacz (Krummhübel) is a touristy place – this is the main street. 

There are two churches here, both built around 1900.

The church of the Holy Heart of Jesus, (Kirche des heiligsten Herzens Jesu, Kościół Najświętszego Serca Pana Jezusa) was inaugurated as a protestant church in 1908. 

A  nice painted wooden ceiling inside. The church became catholic in 1945.

The church Visitation of our Lady (Mariä Heimsuchung, Parafia Nawiedzenia Najświętszej Maryi Panny) was inaugurated in 1910, and the nave was rebuilt after 1945.

A painted wooden ceiling here as well.

Also this church was protestant and became catholic in 1945.

 

Wang church (Kościół Wang)

The attraction of Karpacz is the wooden Wang church. 

The church was built in Vang in southern Norway in the 12th or 13th century. In the 19th century, this church became too small for the congregation. It was decided to sell the church and use the money earned to build a larger new church. A painter from Norway, professor Jan Christian Dahl, lived at Breslau at that time, and he convinced the Prussian king Friedrich Wilhelm IV to buy the church for 427 Mark. The church was disassembled and shipped to Berlin. The king had intended to rebuild the church on the Pfaueninsel at Berlin, but then changed his plans. Count Leopold Christian von Schaffgotsch donated land between Krummhübel (Karpacz) and the Schneekoppe (Śnieżka), at Brückenberg (now Karpacz Górny). The church was reassembled here and inaugurated in summer 1844.

Two lions guard the entrance to the church.

Inside, viking faces frame the door; they may be warriors with split tongues. 

This is the choir…

… with the baptismal font (Saint John in his fur coat baptizes Christ).

The column shows Daniel in the lion’s den.

This door leads to a corridor around the nave. 

The Vang church has become THE cultural landmark of Karpacz.

 

Hiking from Polana to Słonecznik, with a partial view of the Śnieżka

Behind the Wang church, you have to pay an entrance fee for the Karkonosze park, which is a nature reserve now. A path leads to Polana, a meadow that I suspected was the place, where my grandfather had painted the Schneekoppe (painting owned by Heimatverein Kleinmachnow).

But, when reaching the meadow Polana, it becomes clear, this is not the place, where my grandfather’s easel was. 

I follow the path uphill and can sometimes see the Schneekoppe between the trees.

I reach one of the many granite blocks scattered around here… and I am not alone. The Poles enjoy hiking.

I reach another granite rock, the Słonecznik. A beautiful view into the Hirschberg valley. 

The Schneekoppe(Sniezka) can be seen from the Słonecznik as well. 

I walk back down.

On the meadow Polana, I look for the place, where the  former mountain hut Hasenbaude once was, but it seems that nothing remains of it.

No, I my grandfather’s easel was not here… may be it was south of the Schneekoppe (Sniezka), on the other side?

Back at home, I solve the puzzle. The easel WAS south of the Schneekoppe, above Petzer or Pec pod Sněžkou. I could identify Petzer and  the mountains on the painting and I believe, the easel stood at the Lenzenberg, now called Zahradky. 

There is something more to explore! The Giant Mountains in the Czech Republic. I will return!

 

Sources:

  • Plates on the churches
  • Description of the Vang church, handed out in the church.
  • Tomasz Torbus, “Polen – Reisen zwischen Ostseeküste und Karpaten, Oder und Bug”, Dumont Kunstreiseführer, Ostfildern 2011
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Discovering Silesia – On the Szrenica, the mountain that carries frost

In May 2023, I am in Silesia, where we spend one week in the castle Staniszów to explore the area around Jelenia Góra.

Now we spend a day on the Szrenica above Szklarska Poręba.

 

Szklarska Poręba is surrounded by mountains

Szklarska Poręba is a resort surrounded by mountains, the main landmarks being the Szrenica (right) and the Śnieżne Kotły (left). 

The Śnieżne Kotły (“Schneegruben” or “Snow Pits”) still carry a bit of snow in the western snow pit. The pits are in geological terms “cirques” (in German: “Kare”) left by a glacier.

Chair lifts and ski lifts take hikers and – in winter – skiers up to the Szrenica, as the straight lines in the forests indicate.  

Szrenica is called “Reifträger” in German. Both in German and in Polish, this mountain carries frost (“Reif” and “szron” mean “frost”).  

German painters have been inspired by the panorama around Szklarska Poręba (Schreiberhau). In summer 1920, they founded the Lukasgilde (guild of Saint Luke) and built the Lukasmühle as a place to meet and to exhibit their paintings. 

Georg Wichmann is one of the founders of the Lukasgilde.

 

Source: Hans Wichmann, “Georg Wichmann 1876-1944)”, Bergstadtverlag Wilhelm Gottlieb Korn 1996.

In winter 1922/23, my grandfather Hermann Radzyk was at Schreiberhau (Szklarska Poręba) and painted the Reifträger (Szrenica) with the church Kościół pw. Bożego Ciała (Corpus Christi).

Source: Polska.org – this painting has in the meantime disappeared from the website polska.org.

In addition, Hermann Radzyk painted the Schneegruben with the same church in the foreground.

Source: My own photo taken in the house of the grand-son of a friend of my grand-father.

 

Exploring the Szrenica with the gorgeous view

We take the chair lifts to the Szrenica – there are two sections, one after the other. 

A special experience. The small chairs  are hard to sit on and they move in “slow motion”. Slowly, but safely, we arrive on the top.

The view of Lower Silesia with Szklarska Poręba in the foreground is gorgeous.

We walk up to the top view point.

We look west, where a hiking path follows the border between Poland and the Czech Republic.

We look south east, where we can see granite rock formations. They are called Svinské kameny (“Pig stones”). They have a Czech name, as they stand already in the Czech Republic. Such granite rocks can be found all over in the Giant Mountains. In German these rocks are called “Wollsackverwitterung”, in English “spheroidal weathering”.

We look east to the Śnieżne Kotły. The former mountain hut (Schneegrubenbaude, it can  be seen from far) is now a radar station (Radiowo-Telewizyjny Ośrodek Nadawczy – RTON Śnieżnymi Kotłami). 

We look north towards the Isergebirge (Góry Izerskie), Szklarska Poręba and Lower Silesia.  

We have a snack at the Reifträgerbaude (Schronisko na Szrenicy)…

… and look at the fotos. They show that, indeed, the Reifträger or Szrenica does carry frost in winter. 

It must be cosy in the hut, when it is that frosty outside.

On a panorama walk,…

… we reach the shelter Hall Szrenicka located below the top.

We return to the chairlift station,…

… admiring some more of these rock stones (these are called Końskie Łby or horses). This is, where the ski run “Lolobrygida” starts – what a name for a ski run. 

We return to “our” castle Staniszów and enjoy another excellent dinner.

 

Sources:

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To Berlin -stop over at Rothenburg ob der Tauber

In August 2022, we travel to Berlin, with stops at Riedlingen, Ulm, Rothenburg ob der Tauber and Nebra. On our way from Ulm to Nebra, we have our lunch break at Rothenburg ob der Tauber.

 

A hundred years ago, my grand-father was at Rothenburg ob der Tauber

My wish was to find the place that my grand-father Hermann Radzyk painted about a hundred years ago. 

I found the place: It is the Siebersturm (city gate) and the Plönlein ( a slightly slanting half-timbered house). Rothenburg tourism says, this is probably the most photographed landmark of Rothenburg.

 

A short stroll through the medieval streets of Rothenburg

Rothenburg, located on a rock above the river Tauber, was a flourishig free city that lost its importance after the War of 30 Years (1618-1648). It preserved its old city image until today. It is a tourist hot spot.

The wall with the gates surround the city. We walk outside the wall (I believe this is the Klingentor) to have a picnic under a shady tree.

We continue to the Burggarten with the wonderful view of the Tauber valley and… 

… we enter the city through the Burgtor.

We stroll through the Herrngasse with the half-timbered houses.

The teddy from the Teddyland Shop greets us.

We feel hot, The temperatures are at about 35 degrees and the sun burns. We eat an ice cream in the shade. Just too hot to walk in the streets now. I would like to return and explore the treasures of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, when temperatures are cooler.

 

 

Good-bye Rothenburg ob der Tauber

We return to our car. We want to get to Nebra today. A ride of three and a half hours is ahead of us.

 

Sources:

Website of Rothenburg ob der Tauber Tourismus https://www.rothenburg-tourismus.de/ and https://www.rothenburg-tourismus.de/entdecken/top10-sehenswuerdigkeiten/das-ploenlein/ 

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Frankfurt – an old family friend is my guide

A long-year family friend at Frankfurt and a cousin at Bonn are both in their eighties. I want to visit them on my way to Berlin, mid-November 2021.

My first stop is at Frankfurt, the business capital of Germany on the Main river.

At Frankfurt, I have been invited by Dietrich and his wife. Our grand-parents were friends, after that our mothers were very close friends and now we, the grand-children, are friends. We are long-year family friends.

A hundred years ago, Dietrich’s grand-father had acquired some paintings of my grand-father-artist Hermann Radzig-Radzyk, for instance the Kirchberg at Schreiberhau, now Szklarska Poręba, in Silesia…

… and the valley at the county of Kłodsko (Glätzisches Land), also in Silesia.

Immediately, I feel at home in the house of Dietrich and his wife. I am surrounded by memories of my family, and the welcome is hearty.

 

Charming small Italian restaurant run by two sisters from Naples

We have dinner at the charming small Pizzeria La Paesana, run by two sisters from Naples. Their nephew made the pretty felt pizzaiolo that now decorates the pizzeria of his aunts. Well, the pizzaiolo has lost one eye – that makes him look even friendlier – he seems to twinkle at me.

The small restaurant is an excellent welcome to Frankfurt. I have tasty wild boar noodles with a slightly sparkling Lambrusco, my friends have pasta Carlo Magno with Gorgonzola – it is said that Charlemagne (Karl der Grosse or Carlo Magno) loved Gorgonzola, the sisters tell us. That was around the year 800 AD – what a cheese tradition! 
(According to the wiki entry about Gorgonzola, it is said that Gorgonzola was first produced in 879; but this could well have happened a little earlier, when Charlemagne lived, and if not, it is a nice legend).

We will meet Charlemagne later again in the city centre of Frankfurt. 

 

My first impression of the city – Hauptwache (main guardroom) and skyscrapers touching the morning clouds

Dietrich takes me to the S-Bahn. We leave the underground station at the Hauptwache (main guardroom). Saint Catherine’s Church appears behind the stairs. 

The baroque guardroom, built in 1730, was the headquarter of the city’s soldiers. It was also a prison. It was destroyed in the Second World War and reconstructed thereafter. 

The Hauptwache is surrounded by modern buildings, with the Commerzbank building fading in the mist of the late morning. 

 

The lifeline of Frankfurt am Main – the river Main

The lifeline of Frankfurt is the Main river. We approach it near the pedestrian bridge “Eiserner Steg” with the inscription in Greek saying “the sea has the colour of wine and, on this sea, we are sailing to meet other people” (auf weinfarbenem Meer segelnd zu anderen Menschen).

From here we can see the Commerzbank building again, now under blue sky in the sun, surrounded by many more modern buildings reflecting in the Main river . 

This is the Cathedral Saint Bartholomew, also reflecting in the Main river.

Across the Eiserner Steg we reach the urban district Sachsenhausen. We stroll along the waterside promenade and meet these two ducks, also citizens of Frankfurt, sleeping comfortably on one leg. 

The skyline, again with the Commerzbank tower, appears behind the island (Maininsel) that shines in golden autumn colours. 

Returning to the city centre using the Old Bridge (Alte Brücke), I make a photo of both the modern business skyline and the Gothic Cathedral of Saint Barthomolew. 

Frankfurt has charm, definitively, when seen from their lifeline, the Main river. 

 

Timbered houses at the Römerberg and the Old St Nicholas Church (Alte Nikolaikirche)

Away from the Main river, the old city centre is located on the Römerberg. It is bordered by timbered houses and the Old St Nicholas Church. 

We enter the Römerberg square under the banner that plays with German words: “Vieles geht besser, wenn die Maske jetzt sitzt” (translated literally: “much will “go” better, when the mask “sits” meaning”, when the mask fits – it is the times of COVID).  

On the Römerberg, the first fairs took place in the 11th century. Frederic the Second of Hohenstaufen granted the right to run fairs to Frankfurt in 1240. 

It is mid November, time to set up the Christmas tree in front of the old town hall. 

This is not the Standesamt (civil registry office), but the Standesämtchen. The ending “chen” combined with “ä” indicates that it is the “small” registry office which, in Southern Germany, adds a friendly and welcoming touch to it. Actually it is not a small civil registry office, but a restaurant that carries the name “Standesämtchen”. 

Modernity and tradition are joining. The Old St Nicholas Church reflects in the glass wall of the Evangelische Akademie (education institution and conference house). 

As a matter of fact, Frankfurt has been in ruins after the Second World War. The houses around the Römerberg, originally from the 15/16th century, have been reconstructed in  the 80-ies, except the Wertheim building nearby that survived the air raids. 

The late Gothic Old Saint Nicholas Church from the 15th century only suffered minor damage by the bombs of the Second World War.  

 

The Cathedral St Barthomolew behind the Römer

From the Römerberg, we can see the Cathedral of St Barthomolew.  

The cathedral can be seen from the Main river, too. 

The cathedral is also called “Kaiserdom” (Emperor Cathedral). Actually, it is a “Königsdom”, because the kings of the Holy Roman Empire were elected here since 1152 and crowned since 1562, until the Holy Roman Empire ceased to exist. No “emperors” were crowned here, kings were crowned here. Furthermore, the cathedral has never been a bishop seat, though it is called “cathedral”.

The present Gothic cathedral is mainly from the 14th and 15th century, reconstructed in the 1950’s after having been severely damaged in 1944. 

The modern organ matches the gothic vaults. 

Reading about the cathedral at home, I would like to return to explore the collection of altars from all over Germany and the chapel, where the elections of the kings took place. 

 

New Old City (neue Altstadt), reconstructed based on the medieval ground plans

Between the Römerberg and the cathedral of St Bartholomew, the old city has been rebuilt along the medieval ground plans – this is now called “neue Altstadt” or “New Old City”.

The area is not without charm. However, to me, the houses look a bit, as if they had been cut out of cardboard. 

They are neither really old nor really modern. 

 

Kaiserpfalz – meeting Charlemagne again, the emperor who enjoyed the Gorgonzola cheese

Here, he is again, Charlemagne who is said to have loved the Gorgonzola cheese. In a way, he is the founder of Frankfurt. That is why, I assume, he stands on the old bridge crossing the Main river. He looks downstream, severely frowning.

In 794, it was Charlemagne who was the first person to mention Frankfurt or “Franconofurd”. At that time, he held a synod of bishops and an imperial assembly here. 

Charlemagne was at Frankfurt in 794. However, later he probably never returned to Frankfurt. It is assumed that his grand-son, Louis the German, founded the first cathedral and made Frankfurt an important royal palatinate. The ruins of the palatinate are presented in the New Old City.

This is, what the royal palatinate (Königspfalz) might have looked like in the 9th century. 

The painting is on display in the museum.

 

Church St. Leonhard

The Church St Leonhard is bordering the Main river. The beginnings go back to the early 13th century, and the Romanesque structures have been largely preserved. In 1323, the church acquired a relic of Saint Leonhard which made it an important pilgrimage site. 

In the early 15th century, the choir was reconstructed in Gothic style while the Romanesque apses remained in place. Around 1500, the nave was enlarged.

The Gothic main altar was acquired around 1850. The middle part is from Swabian Bavaria. The predella is supposed to have been crafted at Memmingen in the late 15th century; it shows the martyrium of Ursula. The two candle holders are Baroque angels from 1614.

Late Gothic frescoes decorate the walls of the choir, to the left the Annunciation scene, to the right Christ carrying the cross. Some of the stain glass windows in the choir are from the 15th century. 

The altar of Marie comes from Antwerpen (about 1480). The centre part is dedicated to Marie (her death, her ascension, her coronation). The predella shows the Last Supper.

In 1944, the Church Saint Nicholas was only moderately damaged; sister Margarita prevented a devastating fire. Between 2011 and 2019 the church was completely renovated.

Reading the booklet acquired in the Church of St. Nicholas, I understand, there is more to see in this church, I would like to come back.

 

Goethe was born at Frankfurt

In this large, yellow house at the Grosser Hirschgraben, Goethe was born (1749-1832) . He lived in Frankfurt, until he left to study law at Leipzig in 1765.

Well, the yellow house was destroyed in 1944, and it was reconstructed after the war, exactly as it was before. 

Next door is the Frankfurter Goethehaus (House of Goethe) with the Deutsches Romantikmuseum (German museum of Romanticism). I liked the highly modern oriel interpretation. 

Again next door is the Volksbühne, a theatre, with two more modern oriels swinging along the façade.  

 

Town Hall and Local Court (Ortsgericht)

From the Goethe House we cross the busy Berlinerstrasse and reach the Local Court of Frankfurt (Ortsgericht), … 

… leaving it through the gate with the fresco showing the wine harvest. 

We now look at the rear side of the town hall, …

… with the town hall tower seen from under the Seufzerbrücke (Bridge of Sighs, a skywalk) at Bethmannstrasse. 

 

St Paul’s Church (Paulskirche)

Behind us, we can see the oval shaped classicist Saint Paul’s Church, completed in 1833. In 1848, the first German national assembly was held in Saint Paul’s Church. However, the attempt to found the German nation failed, as the Prussian king did not accept the emperor crown to reign over all German states. Nevertheless, the constitution elaborated by the assembly was accepted by most German states; it can be considered to be the roots of the German democracy (see Stadtführer, p. 38). 

The building was reconstructed after 1945 to become a national memorial. This is the new cupola seen from inside.

A monumental frieze makes the representatives of the 1848 assembly revive.

 

Sight seeing makes hungry – the Kleinmarkthalle (small market hall) is close

Around lunch time, I am usually hungry. We make a “pitch stop” at the Kleinmarkthalle (small market hall) near the city centre. 

We climb up the stairs to get an overview from the gallery.

We walk around and enjoy the stands with enticing pasta,…

… apple wine (called Ebbelwei here), …

… meat offered by a citizen of Frankfurt that is obviously from Turkish origin (I love to see the mixture of nations here),…

… beautifully arranged fish… and much more.

We join the waiting queue at Dietrich’s favourite sausage stand of Ilse Schreiber, where we buy two sausages from Hessen (the state that Frankfurt belongs to). We have to eat our sausages outside, because inside the building we have to wear masks, outside, we can take them off, which is much more convenient for eating sausages. 

 

Good-bye Dietrich, now I am heading north to Bonn, with a stop over on the Grosser Feldberg

Thank you, Dietrich, I have spent two wonderful days with you and your wife. I have learnt much about Frankfurt, and there is more to see in Frankfurt with its museums, with the modern business centres, with the carefully preserved or reconstructed medieval sights and with its lifeline, the Main river.

Now I am heading north to Bonn.

In the mist, I start driving to the Taunus mountains north of Frankfurt. My car climbs and climbs, and eventually, I am above the clouds. I stop on the local mountain of Frankfurt that is called Grosser Feldberg. I am on almost 900m. The view is superb. 

The Brunhildi’s rock (to the right of my shadow) is mentioned in a document of 1043. 

The rock is said to have been the “lectulus of Brunhilde” or “the little bed of Brunhilde”. Saint Hildegard of Bingen has spent one night here, and the rock has kept the imprint of her head, as legends tell. Around 1800, the rock was reinterpreted as the place, where Brunhilde was sleeping, until Siegfried liberated her. The rock became part of the German legend of Nibelungen. This is, what the panel near this peculiar rock says. 

I continue north – it is about two hours to drive to Bonn. On the way, I will have another stop at Limburg. 

 

Sources:

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A Swiss butterfly in Poland: Szklarska Poręba

End of August 2021, I am on the road again, to Berlin via Slovakia and Poland.

My route begins in Slovakia: Bratislava – Trnava – Nitra – Žilina – Strečno and Terchová – Dolny Kubin, Podbiel and Tvrdošín. It continues in Poland: Wilkowisko – Kraków – Szklarska Poręba – Wroclaw, and finally I am Berlin. 

Now I am at Szklarska Poręba to find out more about my grand-father, the artist.  

 

My motivation: Find the location of my grand-father’s painting (Hermann Radzig-Radzyk)

Currently, I am interested in the life of my grand-father Hermann Radzig-Radzyk who was an artist and painter. Many of his paintings decorate my house. While doing research about him, I have found more paintings that are traded in auctions, one of them being “Der Kirchberg in Schreiberhau mit dem Reifträger”. 

Source: https://polska-org.pl/7992365,foto.html 

This painting was exhibited at the art exhibition in Berlin in 1923 (see  
Grosse Berliner Kunstausstellung <1924, Berlin> [Editor]; Grosse Berliner Kunstausstellung [Editor]: Katalog: Im Landesausstellungsgebäude am Lehrter Bahnhof: [dauert vom 19. Mai bis 17. September 1923] (Berlin, 1923) (uni-heidelberg.de)

“Dr. Google” tells me that Schreiberhau is now called Szklarska Poręba, that the Reifträger is the mountain Szrenica and the church on the Kirchberg is Kościół p.w. Bożego Ciała or the Corpus Christi Church. 

I like this painting. I drive to Szklarska Poręba to find the place, where my grand-father had painted it and I come close. 

However, the landscape has changed. Much more forest here now.

I return the next morning to take a photo of the same view, but with more sun.

I assume, my grand-father stayed in a pension below the point I am standing at; I saw houses, but did not dare enter the private properties.

Close below the church, there are some buildings that did not exist, when my grand-father made his painting.

My “cousin” Dietrich (the son of my mother’s best friend) owns this painting which is a slightly different view of the Kirchberg. 

More closely to the perspective of the second painting is the following photo taken by me, when walking to Szklarska Poręba Średnia .

My “cousin” Dietrich knows of this painting of the mountain Szrenica (Reifträger) that is with a friend of his in Berlin. Update of February 2023: After having climbed this mountain from Karpacz (Krummhübel) in October 2022, I know that this is the Schneekoppe, today called “Snieska”. 

 

Approaching the church Corpus Christi, the church on the Kirchberg

The Corpus Christi Church was built in Neo-Roman style in 1884-86. The dukes of Schreiberhau, the family Schaffgotsch, financed the church. 

I walk around the church.

Inside are paintings by Wlastimil Hofman, a Polish painter who settled in  Szklarska Poręba after the Second World War in 1947. 

I find a tomb slab. It commemorates Germans that have died in the First World War.

The surroundings have changed since my grand-father has made his painting. There are more trees. The shop for skiing equipment indicates sports activities in winter.

The shop for mountain biking equipment may be busy in summer. Parking is free here.

I select my own perspective to take a photo of the Church Corpus Christi; perhaps it is this pond that appears in the right hand corner of my grand-father’s painting.

One day was not enough to find out everything about the painting of my grand-father. I should return and spend several days to dig deeper. In addition, I would like to benefit from the hiking opportunities, one of them being a climb to the Reifträger or Szrenica.

 

Where are we geographically?

Now we are at Szklarska Poręba (in German Schreiberhau) in Silesia (in German Schlesien), close to the border between Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic. The mountains are called Giant Mountains, Riesengebirge or in Polish Karkonosze. The mountain above Szklarska Poręba, the Szrenica (in German Reifträger) is 1362m high.

 

Some background information about Szklarska Poręba (Schreiberhau)

This stone indicates that Szklarska Poręba existed already in 1366. At that time, it was a settlement with the German name “Schreiberhau” (also called Schribirshau).

German colonists established Schreiberhau around the newly founded glass factory. The area was part of Bohemia (since 1335) and hence part of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. The landlords here were the counts of Schaffgotsch, a family that still exists today. 

The term “hau” in “Schreiberhau”, refers to the “forest clearing” needed for the settlement and the glass factory. Why was the place not called “Glashau” to reflect the existence of the glass factory? The village chronicle (Ortschronik) of the local teacher suggests that “Schreiber” (“writer”) perhaps alludes to the man who wrote the documents required to install the factory and the settlement.

In 1617 the Preussler family took over the glass factory business and managed it until the middle of the 19th century. In 1842, Franz Pohl founded the new glass factory Josephinenhüttte; it thrived and was the largest and best-known glass factory in Silesia. 

In 1902 the railway to Schreiberhau opened. It was now easier to reach the place. It became an attractive mountain resort and a centre for artists (see below). 

In 1945, the Potsdam agreement assigned Silesia to Poland. The Poles now changed “Schreiberhau” to “Szklarska Poręba” which translates to “glass forest clearing” (the German equivalent to “Glashau”). The mountain Reifträger became the Szrenica or the “hoarfrosty” mountain (the Polish word “szron” means “hoar” or “Reif”). Most of the German inhabitants were expelled from Silesia and Poles, expelled from the east, settled instead. In 1945 Poland was literally moved to the west; it lost land to the Soviet Union in the east and gained land in the west, at the expense of Germany.

Renamed to Glashütte Julia, the Szklarska Poręba glass factory continued to operate until 2000. The family Schaffgotsch moved to Schwäbisch Gmünd. Here, the former Josephinenhütte was refounded in 1951, and it worked until 1983. 

By the way: Karkonosz in Polish translates to “Rübezahl”. He is the capricious mountain troll who lives in the Giant Mountains that the Poles now call Karkonosze. Telling stories about Rübezahl has been a tradition known since the 15/16th century. Nice, how the German past continues to live in the Polish toponyms.

 

How are artists and art related to Szklarska Poręba or Schreiberhau?

In the 18th century, the first artists discovered the beauty of the Riesengebirge. Carl Christoph Reinhardt (1738 – 1827), Christoph Friedrich Nathe (1753 – 1806) und Anton Balzer (1771 – 1807) were some of the names. Later, Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840, romanticism) painted here. 

Around 1900, Szklarska Poręba became a centre for artists, among them Gerhart Hauptmann (there is a museum about him). Also around 1900, Carl Ernst Morgenstern (1847-1928), professor at the University of Breslau (1883-1913), taught pleinair painting at nearby Krummhübel (Karpacz). Some of his students later belonged to the Schreiberhau Association of Artists St. Lukas (Schreiberhauer Vereinigung bildender Künstler St. Lukas) that was founded in 1922. Their seat was the Lukasmühle at the Zackerle creek (now:  Kammiena; later, in 1930 the artists moved to the hotel “the Zackerfall”).

The Lukasmühle (Młyn Łukasza) is an inviting restaurant today. 

I had selected it for dinner without knowing about its history.

It could well be that my grand-father Hermann Radzig-Radzyk was a member of the Lukas association, but I cannot find any details about that in the Internet. 

 

Strolling around in Szklarska Poręba

For one full day, I explore Szklarska Poręba. Here are some impressions. There are nice villas…

… and apartment houses. 

The winter must be busy here. The continental climate makes for good snow,…

… but nevertheless snow canons hidden behind this house wait to be used in winter. 

This is a rather “flat” slope, however the Szrenica seems to offer a variety of attractive ski runs. 

There is also a Dinopark for chlidren, with free parking (now a bit dirty…).

Above Szklarska Poręba Średnia I find the Sudecka Chata or Sudetenhütte. 

It is closed. The friendly owners prepare coffee for me. They take a vivid interest in my research and take me up to the rooms under the roof, where I have a gorgeous view of my grand-father’s church and the Szrenica or Reifträger.

There is a crane disturbing the view: Holyday Inn builds a luxury resort. Their infinity pool is “announced” with the view from the garden of the Sudecka Chata, it seems.

This is, what is going on under the yellow crane. It seems that Holiday Inn believes in the potential of Szklarska Poręba.

At lunch time, I stop at the restaurant Płękitny Paw and have a wonderful meal in the garden, a delicious soup and excellent stuffed omelettes.

 

Good-bye Szklarska Poręba and Giant Mountains

I would have liked to stay another day to hike around Szklarska Poręba, but my hotel is fully booked. I leave and look back to the Giant Mountains, where Rübezahl, the mountain troll, is up to mischief.

I may return one day for more research and for hiking.

Now, I say good-bye and drive to Wroclaw, the capital of Silesia. 

 

Sources:

About art and artists in Silesia and in the Giant Mountains:

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On the road: Thoughts about Corona in Oberbayern (Upper Bavaria)

In August 2020, we spend a four day vacation in and around Ruhpolding in Oberbayern (Chiemgau). It has been the first time since the start of the pandemic that I am staying in a hotel, going for shopping and eating in restaurants every day.

Tourists are back in Oberbayern (Upper Bavaria). The hotels seem to be well booked. But the atmosphere has changed. The tourists are primarily Germans, except for a few Dutch, a few Englishmen and a few Swiss (besides me).

In shops, we have to wear masks. Some shops take great care, have installed separate entry and exit doors, restrict the number of clients inside and offer disinfectant. In these shops, I feel safe to do shopping. Other shops are careless: Entry and exit are not separated, many clients crowd between narrow shelves. Such shops I leave out.

In restaurants, we have to put on our masks, when moving away from our table and the waiters also wear masks (or vizors).  While some waiters follow the rules carefully, others do not cover their noses with their masks which makes it all useless. In our hotel, there is no breakfast buffet. Instead we have to indicate on a list, what we want for breakfast, and in the morning, we receive everything on a tray. The bar is lonely, the jolly barkeeper of last year has left the hotel.

Some beach places at the lakes are crowded, while others allow to keep distance, and the personnel respects the rules. We particularly enjoyed our swim at the small and less well-known Tüttensee with the friendly and corona conscious personnel and with corona aware guests.

 

The Bavarian language gives orders a friendly touch

In a restaurant in Ruhpolding, I found this invitation to pay attention and to keep distance. “Obacht geb’n” means “pay attention” (“Obacht” = “Achtung” or “attention”).  “Abstand hoit’n” stands for “keep distance” (“hoit’n” means “halten” or “keep”). And, of course, you have to wear the mask inside (“hier bitte mit Mundschutz”).

In this restaurant, guests are invited to come in (“kemmt’s eina”) and the invitation to keep distance is kept in “normal” German (“bitte Abstand halten” = “please keep distance”).

 

Touching testimonies of children about the pandemic

In the baroque church St. Pankratius at Reit im Winkl, we come across these thoughts about the pandemic written down by children.

Let us zoom in some of the testimonies.

“Keine Trachtenprobe” means “no trying on traditional costumes”… and “und Pappa ist öffter daheim” translates as “and papa is at home more often”, whereby “ff” in “öffter” emphasizes “öfter” (“more often”) and also “pp” in “pappa” makes him more present. Children have their own spelling rules to express their feelings.

“Händeschütteln” or “shaking hands” is obviously forbidden.

“Oma und Opa sind alleine” – “grandma and grandpa are alone”. The girl has to stay outside the house of her grand-parents, how touching. She is even wearing a mask.

“Keine Flieger” – “no airplanes”. Yes, the sky has become much more quiet. The girl wears a mask and holds her hair back with a beautiful ribbon decorated with hearts.

“Warum können sich manche Leute nicht an die Regeln halten? Warum?” – “Why can some people not follow the rules? Why?” And “Demonstranten – wieso?” – “demonstrators – why?” The demonstrators want “keine Masken” (“no masks”), postulate “wir wollen raus!” (“we want to go outside”) and claim that “Corona ist blöd” (Corona is dumb”).

I do feel with these touching observations and remarks of the children of Reit im Winkl. They are so young and go through this pandemic experience with their eyes open. The pandemic is even difficult for us adults. I heard a high level Swiss politician say: “Life has become less safe and it is less fun”.

The baroque church that displays the children’s thoughts is painted in soft pink. Pink is the colour of happiness. The pink colour contrasts with the moving observations of the children, but it also gives an atmosphere of hope… I do hope that these children and all our children will go through more serene times with less worries pretty soon.