Medieval towns, mostly consisting of wooden buildings, faced serious difficulties in protecting themselves against fires. These disasters were often caused by various circumstances, such as lightning strikes, arson, carelessness or thoughtlessness. They were also caused by wars, enemy invasions and internal conflicts. Old chronicles state that Bolesławiec frequently experienced such disasters.
On 30 July 1314, 23 houses in the town burned down after being struck by lightning. The Hussite invasion in 1429 was a genuine disaster for the town. The Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Hedwig’s Church and the Upper Suburb were burned. Because wealthy burghers had fled, the Hussites imposed a ransom of 900 Prague groschen on the town. The potter Mikołaj Kohl was killed after being thrown into a furnace. In 1464, Henryk Podiebrad burned the town because its inhabitants had surrendered it to the Hungarians.
A great fire broke out in the town on 12 February 1472. Two manors, 12 houses, and all the barns, pigsties and stables with their livestock burned down. The chronicle does not state what caused the fire. Since it occurred in February, it may be assumed that it was caused by carelessness or arson. In 1519, the town hall tower burned down after being struck by lightning. In 1581, on the night of 1 September, a great fire broke out that was a genuine catastrophe for the town. The buildings of the old town between the Lower and Upper Gates burned down—from today’s Sierpnia Street to the end of Prusa Street—as did the brewery and grain warehouses. Marcin Gerstman, the Bishop of Wrocław and a native of Bolesławiec, appealed to the inhabitants of Silesian towns for aid for those affected by the fire, at the request of the councillors. A total of 889 thalers, grain, meat and other goods were collected. Emperor Rudolf II exempted the town from fees for three years. The town tried to protect itself against fires. For example, in 1608, records mention the construction of a fire station adjoining the town hall. But these efforts did not protect the town. In 1629, records again mention that a fire destroyed the library and armoury, and in 1633 St. Hedwig’s Church burned down again. In 1685, the town is recorded as having purchased modern firefighting equipment, and in 1688–1689 numerous fire-prevention installations were built.
Another great fire broke out in 1738, destroying the buildings of the Lower Suburb, part of the buildings in the Market Square and the parish church; a year later, in 1739, another fire destroyed the hospital, monastery and Dominican church.
In 1757, a fire again destroyed part of the buildings around the Market Square. After that, there are no further references to fires until the Napoleonic period.
On 12 January 1873, the mill on Górne Młyny Street burned down. The last note about a fire dates from 1908, when a fire destroyed the old shooting range. On 18 March 1921, a modern fire station was opened.
The destruction caused by warfare in the spring of 1945 is a separate subject.
Besides fires, medieval towns were affected by various other misfortunes and disasters. Floods, epidemics and climatic anomalies recorded by chroniclers were frequent phenomena that influenced the development of towns. Bolesławiec was not spared either. From 14 July to 2 August 1462, the town was struck by a huge flood. The water damaged all the bridges and mills and destroyed the crops around the town. By contrast, several years later, in 1473, Silesia was struck by a severe drought. It was also a year of major weather anomalies: violets bloomed on 14 February, fruit trees blossomed in March, and mushrooms were collected in April. Afterwards, not a drop of rain fell until 22 September.
In 1487, an epidemic of scarlet fever broke out in the town. At that time, this disease was unknown. Many children died in the town.
In 1491, precisely on 22 March, the town was struck by a storm of unprecedented size, accompanied by violent winds and hail. The town looked terrible: trees had been uprooted, roofs torn off and cultivated fields destroyed.
A similarly unknown epidemic—probably cholera—struck the town in 1496–1497. An isolation ward was established in the now-defunct Church of St. Dorothy. Two thousand one hundred inhabitants died. On 11 July 1566, an epidemic broke out in Bolesławiec, claiming 230 victims; its spread into 1567 caused the deaths of another 1,200 inhabitants. Chroniclers recorded that the town was struck by three successive floods in 1571–1573, and that in 1583 a cold winter with enormous snowfall claimed four victims. Again in 1583, the town was struck—this time by smallpox. Schools were closed, and additional Thursday services were even introduced to protect clergy from visiting residents in their homes. Five hundred inhabitants died. In 1590, the town was again affected by a severe drought and a hot summer. The Bóbr flowed as a thin stream. A meticulous chronicler recorded a minor earthquake under the date 15 September.
In 1625, there is another record of a flood that occurred on 14 April and caused the Bóbr riverbed to change course. The destruction caused by wars, including the Thirty Years’ War of 1618–1638, will be discussed on another occasion. The chronicler recorded that in 1618, on 2 December, a great comet appeared and remained visible for three days, which was interpreted as an omen of a long war.
Finally, an anecdotal piece of information found in records from other medieval towns. Buildings and homes were often attacked by bedbugs and other insects that plagued these towns. Municipal councils issued regulations requiring towns to be cleaned. In spring or summer, residents carried out their furniture, poured boiling water over it, whitewashed rooms and so on. The lazier ones tried to destroy the insects by burning them with handfuls of straw attached to wooden poles. This also caused fires. Whether this happened in Bolesławiec, we do not know.