These lands were fought over in wars, including the Silesian Wars between Austria and Prussia, which took place in three episodes. However, it was not only armed conflicts that devastated this land, for we should remember that foreign troops plundered whatever they could and burned entire villages and towns. Another, more terrible scourge that afflicted Silesia and the Lusatian regions bordering it was the plague, the pestilence. In those days, towns were also relentlessly decimated by the plague, a terrible infectious disease affecting rodents and humans.
Rats spread it, and no effective medicine was known. Mortality among treated cases is currently 20%, whereas untreated plague kills almost everyone, and that was practically the case at the time. Imagine that people tried to ward off the disease with the gruesome clothing of doctors and by lighting fires on the outskirts of towns, which were meant to drive away the air “spoiled” by the plague. These methods were also supported by prayers to Saint Roch—the saint of plague—but none of these actions could produce the desired results. Often, only one or two families remained in a town.
Nowogrodziec in the Face of the Black Death
Nowogrodziec, formerly Namburg am Queis, is an excellent example of the fight against plague epidemics. The town was visited by outbreaks of the disease several times. The largest epidemic occurred in 1527, and another major one took place in the 17th century; at that time, only three married couples and the clergy from a nearby monastery survived in the town. The most interesting and mysterious place in Nowogrodziec associated directly with the plague is not the Church of the Presentation, but a hill—the hill of corpses, as it was called—located to the north, along the road to Lubań. More precisely, it is the hill between the former Inco Veritas plant and the railway tracks to Zebrzydowa. The sick, and above all the dying, were kept there under tents.
Why there? Above all, it was on the outskirts of the town, so that the plague would not spread. And surely the dead were buried in that area immediately, as far from the center as possible.
The residents of Namburg, terrified by the scale of death brought by the plague, decided to do something about it. They solemnly vowed to build a church where they would fervently pray and celebrate services every 21 November, the feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. As they had decided, so they did.
In 1657, they completed a church called the Church of the Presentation or the Votive Church. However, the first church did not survive to our times. More than 100 years later, on 17 October 1766, it burned down. As early as 1774, the foundation stone for another church was laid.
The residents honored their solemn vows. Every year on 21 November, thanksgiving and supplication services were held. This tradition continued until 1945, when the cemetery church was bombed and destroyed.
After the war, the German population was expelled, and the local rite associated with the plague was forgotten. The new residents were, after all, not as culturally and ethnically connected to the town as their predecessors. The cemetery church, destroyed during the war, was not rebuilt, although this could have been done. Today, only its ruins remain.
The tombstone of parish priest Micke, located beneath the church walls, deserves attention; his remains still rest beneath it. This priest merits particular notice. He was born in 1805, and his interesting and rich priestly life was filled with work as a parish priest and inspector of local schools. He was also passionate about the history of Nowogrodziec. It was thanks to him that the first study of the history and fate of the town was created and published in 1844. Unfortunately, the following year the parish priest died at the age of 43.
Another interesting place in the former Ołdrzychów is the Radelberg hill, located near the Ołdrzychów clinker plant. A wooden cross was erected there, around which residents offered their prayers. The cross is still there today, although it is badly damaged and clearly bears the marks of time.
The Plague in Lubań
Nearby towns also fell victim to the plague. This was the case, among others, with former Lauban, where the plague raged several times. In 1553, an epidemic of plague killed 2,200 people from July to December; earlier, in 1539, 500 people died during a similar period. The Black Death visited this Lusatian town again in 1612, 1625, 1632 and 1680, which, as can be seen, was quite often.
It should be noted here that although Nowogrodziec and Lubań are separated by a short distance, they actually lie in two different geographical regions. Nowogrodziec is a Silesian—or, if you prefer, Lower Silesian—town, while Lubań lies in Upper Lusatia. Today, the Lubań and Zgorzelec counties, as well as part of Nowogrodziec—the former Ołdrzychów—to the Kwisa River, are in fact Lusatia. The Kwisa is the natural and historical boundary between Lusatia and Silesia. The border between Saxon Lusatia and Prussian Nowogrodziec ran along it. Hence the names Nawojów Łużycki and Nawojów Śląski, because the two nearby villages are divided by the Kwisa.
The way plague was fought in Lubań deserves attention. In 1599, the town council issued an ordinance that best illustrates those tragic events. It stated that:
In times of infectious diseases and epidemics, when the dangerous and terrible plague—namely the plague, mercifully protect us from it, Lord God—affects any citizen or anyone living in a household, the head of the household, male or female, is obliged to report this fact immediately, under threat of forfeiting all possessions and corporal punishment [...]
If plague appears, not only the head of the household but also the neighbors on both sides are obliged, in accordance with the Council’s order, to move out and avoid contact with others. Those who oppose this decision and fail to help stop the plague at its beginning are subject to the same punishment as above.¹
Paweł Skiersinis
The author is a blogger and a history enthusiast, particularly interested in the history of Lower Silesia and Poland. Why Lower Silesia? As he himself says: “Why not? The most fascinating history is the history around us, concerning ourselves and our ancestors.”
And he adds: “I try to present history from a different perspective, in an engaging way rather than in a typically textbook style full of dry dates and facts. My articles concern facts that cannot be found in textbooks and well-known publications. The history of Lower Silesia is undoubtedly fascinating and captivating, so it is sometimes worth devoting even a brief moment to it.”
¹ Łukasz Tekiela, IV Upper Lusatia under Habsburg rule (1526–1635), [w:] A Vademecum of the History of Upper Lusatia.