IN THE PAST
The entry into the 20th century continued to spur the City Council to modernize the city's appearance and build technical infrastructure.
In 1903, a pumping station was opened in the city on Dolne Młyny Street, initiating the expansion of a modern-for-its-time water-supply and water-intake network that still serves the city today. At the same time, efforts were undertaken to connect the city by railway lines with the surrounding villages. In 1906, a railway line to Nowa Wieś Grodziska was built, and in 1912, a railway connection to Modła. In 1907, the city gained an important cultural institution in the form of the History Museum in the old barbican (today the Museum of Ceramics). The city's industrial plants expanded intensively. In 1912, a lingerie factory, a worsted spinning mill, two steam mills, one water mill and, interestingly, a glassworks specializing in the production of negative glass for photography were opened in the city.
We have little information about the city from the period of the First World War. But the city must have lost many soldiers in that war. The cemetery of these soldiers was located on the site of today's Waryński Park, while the cemetery chapel is today's butcher shops in the park, next to the Pentecostal church.
In 1918, Bolesławiec became part of the Weimar Republic. A new City Council was established, many of whose members were Social Democratic activists who formed its core in March 1919. Dr Koltzenborg became mayor, and the council included names that sounded Polish, such as Kahalowsky, Lensky and Michalsky, as well as Bolesławiec's well-known industrialist Hoffman. On 1 October 1920, the city received a new concrete bridge over the Bóbr. That same year, construction began on a copper smelter, completed in 1930 (today's “Wizów” Plant).
The recreational needs of the city's residents were largely met when construction of a bathing complex on the Bóbr began in 1924; it was completed in 1925 (today's MOSiR swimming pools). The Roman Catholic parish also undertook efforts to beautify its church, as evidenced by the replacement of the church tower's covering with a new Neo-Gothic cap in 1926–28. In 1933, Bolesławiec became part of the Third Reich. The great economic crisis came to an end. Intensive industrial development began to meet the needs of the new state. The ceramics industry developed particularly rapidly.
In 1936, there were seven potteries, two artistic stoneware plants and four ceramic-industry plants. The “Reinhold” plant on Polna Street was transformed into an artistic plant intended to restore the “old style.” It employed 79 people. The Ceramic Plants employed about 1,000 people in total. Bolesławiec gained a very good road connection with Wrocław when a motorway running near the city was built in 1936. It was intended to connect Berlin with Kharkiv, and a considerable part of the work was carried out in keeping with the Third Reich's slogan of building motorways largely through community service; for example, all the viaducts and bridges on the motorway were diploma projects by students of Gdańsk University of Technology.
The outbreak of the Second World War changed many things in the city. Bolesławiec was a strong military garrison, and many plants were converted to production for the war effort, such as “Concordia,” which produced components for armored weapons, while mock-ups designed to imitate aircraft were built on the Metalplast site. There were two branches of the “Gross Roser” concentration camp in Bolesławiec, located at the aforementioned plants. The guard-training facility was housed in the buildings of today's School Complex of Construction, but that is a subject for another publication.
Dear Readers
Beginning in November 1993, I published a series titled “The Work of the City Council” and “In the Past” in seven issues of “Głos Bolesławca.” Starting with the 13th century and ending in 1939, I tried to provide a summary of the most interesting and important events in the history of our city. Given the small number of historical publications, I hoped this would especially help school students and those interested in the city's history expand their knowledge, before the planned city monograph was published.