If we mean the Polish part of this land, it corresponds to the territory of Zgorzelec, Lubań and part of Bolesławiec counties, but only as far as the Kwisa River. Several localities in Lubusz Voivodeship also lie within Upper Lusatia. It is precisely beyond the Kwisa, in Nowogrodziec, in the former Ołdrzychów, on the road toward Lubań, that a post stands which once played an important role and was one of many in the entire Saxon postal system.
Saxony and Lusatia
To best understand the entire Saxon postal system and the idea behind erecting precisely these kinds of stone obelisks, we must move to eighteenth-century Nowogrodziec. At that time, the area around this small town was not uniform. The flowing Kwisa River formed the border between two regions—Lusatia and Silesia. One might now ask: surely Lower Silesia does not end until the Lusatian Neisse, the actual Polish-German border? Nothing could be further from the truth. At that time, Nowogrodziec was the last town in this area on the Silesian side. And who did Silesia belong to? For a long time, it belonged to Bohemia; later, Austria absorbed Bohemia together with Silesia. From 1742, however, this region became part of Prussia.
Silesia had always been a wealthy region with a developed economy, which is why conflicts such as the Silesian Wars broke out between Prussia and Austria. Both states wanted to rule here and reap the benefits.
Thus, if we cross the eighteenth-century Kwisa, we find ourselves in Lusatia, which had belonged to Saxony since 1635. All localities from the Kwisa toward Zgorzelec were Saxon.
Evidence of this also includes the Saxon postal distance posts erected in Zgorzelec (formerly one city, Goerlitz) and Lubań (Lauban). They are the most tangible proof that these lands belonged to Saxony.
Postal Posts of Augustus the Strong
The Saxon postal-post system was implemented on the orders of the Polish king and Saxon elector Augustus the Strong, who wrote the following in his decision of 24 November 1721:
In the electoral principality and in the incorporated lands, stone posts should be erected in place of the existing wooden posts standing at certain locations, particularly along country and postal roads, with roads and distances marked on them. They are intended to make travelling and sending messengers easier.
The costs incurred when wooden posts are damaged and new ones have to be installed should be saved in the future. This will bring long-term benefits.
Marshal [ziemi budziszyńskiej] von Leubnitz has been ordered to issue the necessary instructions in our margraviate of Upper Lusatia so that posts of this kind are erected at the locations indicated by Commissioner Zürner, at the expense of vassals and subjects and on land belonging to them.
By the king’s decision, the postal posts began to be erected. They were divided into four types: distance posts, milestone posts, half-mile stones and quarter-mile stones. Distance posts ranked highest. They were erected in towns along the route. Replicas of such posts can be found in Zgorzelec and Lubań.
Milestone posts were “less important,” but they informed postmen and other travellers which town was nearest and how far away it was. Only two posts have survived to the present day, and they are milestone posts. One of them is in Legnica, but it was discovered only during the construction of a bypass. After restoration, it still stands today in the same place as almost 300 years ago.
The most interesting monument of this kind is the Saxon postal milestone located in Nowogrodziec, on the road toward Lubań. It is the only Saxon post preserved in its entirety, standing in almost uninterrupted fashion in the same place for nearly 290 years. It is a true rarity on the scale of all Poland and Lusatia.
The Milestone in Nowogrodziec
The Saxon postal post, a milestone located in Nowogrodziec Municipality, stands along the former Warsaw–Dresden route, which ran, among other places, through Bautzen (now Budziszyn), Zgorzelec, Lubań and Legnica, and onward toward Warsaw. There were several such routes, and the one described above is just one of many, but it also ran through Nowogrodziec.
The Nowogrodziec postal post is 4 metres high. It dates from 1725, as shown by the engraved date and the monogram AR, meaning Augustus Rex, or King Augustus. Below it is a golden post horn. The post also bears the name of the nearest next town—Lubań (Lauban)—and the distance: 2.5 Saxon miles.
A Saxon mile was approximately 9 km, which a messenger travelling on foot was expected to cover in two hours. Thus, the total distance was 22.5 km (five hours of walking). This Saxon postal post was the last one on Saxon territory. When the postal convoy passed it, it knew that it was approaching the Saxon-Prussian border, which ran between Ołdrzychów (Ullesdorf) and Nowogrodziec (Naumburg am Queis) along the Kwisa River. Today, Ołdrzychów is an integral part of Nowogrodziec.
Saxon Postal Routes and Arrival Times
Finally, I would like to explain how the Saxon postal service actually operated: which routes it followed and how long messengers needed to deliver important letters and consignments. As an old Saxon chronicle states:
The first post leaves Dresden on Monday evening at 6 p.m., several hours after the arrival of the post from Prague and Leipzig. It should reach Budziszyn on Tuesday before noon, between 9 and 10 a.m. From there, at noon, the messengers set out toward Zgorzelec and Żytawa and arrive there early Wednesday morning. Immediately afterward, the post should leave Zgorzelec for Lubań, where it arrives at around 11 a.m. In Lubań, the messengers wait for two or three hours. At around 7 or 8 p.m., the post arrives back in Zgorzelec. At approximately the same time, messengers leave Żytawa and Zgorzelec for Budziszyn, arriving there at noon on Thursday. The post leaves Budziszyn at around 2 p.m. and reaches Dresden on Friday at approximately 8 a.m.
Saxon postal posts are undoubtedly interesting monuments of our local history. Although many of them have not survived to our times, the one in Nowogrodziec, which has stood almost continuously since 1725, is the best silent witness to numerous wars, bloody battles and the marches of foreign armies.
It should be added that the post in Nowogrodziec was forgotten for some time after the war. It was damaged and knocked over during the military operations of the last war. Only in 1959 did the then head of the Post Office, Kazimierz Leder, take an interest in the abandoned post; that same year, together with other postal workers and residents of Nowogrodziec and Ołdrzychów, he put this valuable monument upright again.
Paweł Skiersinis
The author is a blogger and history enthusiast, particularly interested in the history of Lower Silesia and Poland. Why Lower Silesia? As he puts it: “Why not? The most interesting history is the history around us, concerning us and our ancestors.”
And he adds: “I try to present history from a different perspective, in an interesting way, not in a typically textbook style full of dry dates and facts. My articles concern facts that we will not find in textbooks or well-known publications. The history of Lower Silesia is undoubtedly interesting and fascinating, so it is worth devoting at least a brief moment to it from time to time.”