Cross the bridge from the university to Zgorzelec and a few kilometers to the east - and you're in the middle of Silesia.
Cross the bridge from the university to Zgorzelec and a few kilometers to the east - and you're in the middle of Silesia. A fragment of Central Europe that encompasses parts of present-day Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic.
We, a group of 13 students of Culture and Management (WKb16), set off today to explore the cultural heritage of this region.
We drive through snow-covered hills, white forests and cozy villages to our first stop: the Gerhart Hauptmann House in Jelenia Góra, known as Hirschberg before the German and Polish borders were moved. The huge garden of the magnificent house is covered in snow, still untouched. Outside the front door, we are greeted by the marble figure of an enraptured naked girl, lost for decades - the armless torso of "Hannele", who ascends to Silesian heaven in one of Hauptmann's dramas. She was created around 1943 by Josef Thorak.
In the house of the 1912 Nobel Prize winner for literature, we are welcomed into the entrance hall - also known as the Hall of Paradise - where our attention is immediately drawn to the magnificent murals. In 1922, a friend of Hauptmann, the expressionist painter Johannes Maximilian Avenarius (who, incidentally, is buried in the Nikolai churchyard in Görlitz), spent eight months painting a mural here with various motifs and symbols from the Bible, including the Fall of Man. Above the entrance to the former music room, now a space for a temporary exhibition about Maria Konopnicka (who translated many of Hauptmann's works from German into Polish), an angel playing the violin is depicted: a tribute to Margarete, Hauptmann's second wife.
On the upper floor, an exhibition uses photographs to show key points from Hauptmann's life. Stories about people who were close to him give us an insight into the world of the 19th and 20th centuries.
Then the time is up and after the obligatory group photo, we get back on the bus - we continue towards Książ Castle (formerly Fürstenstein Castle), which was owned by the Silesian noble family von Hochberg for centuries. Used as a base by the Nazi regime during the Second World War, much inside the castle today is very different to how it was in its heyday.
Where Gothic and Baroque architecture once complemented each other, the magnificent furnishings were removed and replaced by low ceilings and reinforced concrete. Only the prestigious Baroque hall in the Baroque wing still shines in its former glory. From three orchestra balconies you can look down on the symmetrically arranged mirrors and fireplaces. Next to it are further reception and public rooms with gold-woven tapestries, mostly with reconstructed ceiling decorations and paintings from earlier times. In contrast to this, the next room features a bare reinforced concrete construction.
We also enter the underground corridors, which were converted into bunkers over half a century ago. However, the Gothic structures such as pointed arches, which had to make way for the conversion, are still visible.
After visiting the exhibition on the upper floors of the castle, which shows the aristocratic residents and their everyday lives, it's on to the last stop on the excursion: the Schweidnitz Church of Peace (now Świdnica).
The winding half-timbered building, now a World Heritage Site and one of the most important sights in Silesia, is in the Baroque style.
The largest half-timbered church in Europe, a basilica in terms, was built from wood, clay and straw for the Silesian Protestants in 1656-1657, after the Peace of Westphalia.
The free-standing altar, which is made almost entirely of wood, is located in a magnificent interior with prominent boxes. In the past, these were reserved for the upper classes and the church could seat several thousand people. The seats in the boxes could only be filled by inheritance or donation within the upper classes - today they are freely accessible to the general public, including for concerts. This is what the audio commentator says, who also highlights other special features of the Friedenskirche.
To the west of the church is a cemetery that served as a burial place for deceased parishioners for over 250 years until the 19th century. Today, however, it has fallen into disrepair.
We can have a quick coffee in the small café before heading back to Görlitz - after a long but eventful day full of new impressions and with the feeling of having taken a piece of history with us.
The day trip was organized in cooperation with the cultural advisor for Silesia at the Silesian Museum, Ms Agnieszka Bormann.
Authors: Antonia Bartl and Carolin Renner (WKb16)
