The spring of 1813 was a period for Bolesławiec when military units passed through the city almost every day. Important figures also visited the city with them. On 18 April 1813 at 4:30 p.m., Tsar Alexander I (1801–1825) arrived in Bolesławiec on horseback, accompanied by Prince Kutuzov, the English envoy Lord Cathcart, and a large entourage. The following day, the emperor was joined by his brother, Grand Duke Konstantin, at the head of a cuirassier regiment. On the same day, an improvised Orthodox service was held in the newly opened Protestant school, attended by the entire court, which set off toward Lubań in the late afternoon. On 20 April, Kutuzov developed a high fever and was forced to return to Bolesławiec, where he stayed in the house of the salt merchant Major von Mark. He was accompanied by the Cossack hetman Platov, lodged with Dr. Wislizenus in the Market Square, and Lord Cathcart, who was hosted at Councillor Glaser’s estate. On 22 April, Frederick William III, King of Prussia (1797–1840), visited Kutuzov, who was suffering from typhus, and two days later sent him from Berlin Court Councillor Hufeland, who from that moment was responsible for the marshal’s care. Three doctors tried to save Kutuzov: the Prussian personal physician Dr. Wiebel, the tsar’s physician Dr. von Willy, and the Bolesławiec physician Dr. Wislizenus. Their efforts were in vain, however, as Kutuzov died on the evening of 28 April in a room on the first floor of the house belonging to M. von Mark on Mikołajska Street; a commemorative plaque was later set into its exterior wall. The body was embalmed on site, while the internal organs—not the heart, as a later legend claimed—were placed in a small tin coffin made by master August Jenke and buried on 8 May on a hill in present-day Bolesławice, near the now-vanished Chapel of St. Anne. On the 9th, the body, which had until then been displayed publicly, was placed in a tin coffin and transported in a procession to Szprotawa and then on to Saint Petersburg. The transfer was highly ceremonial. Six horses pulled the sarcophagus, followed by a princely carriage; behind it came the servants, an Orthodox priest, the city authorities, and students from Bolesławiec schools.
Just a few days later, a monument was commissioned from the local craftsman J. M. Bohm. It was intended to stand where the internal organs had been buried and was funded by General Sacken and Kutuzov’s daughter, who had come from Russia. On 27 July 1813, the monument was consecrated in the presence of the 14th Infantry Regiment, Bolesławiec mayor Kuerbis, Pastor Senftleben, Prelate von Stechow, and many others. The monument remains intact to this day. It is a low, broken column bound with an oak wreath—a symbol of eternity—set on an antique pedestal. An inscription in Russian and German is carved on all four sides: “Fuerst Kutuzow Smolensky Schlummerte in ein besseres Leben hinueber ara 28 April 1813” (“Prince Kutuzov of Smolensk fell asleep in eternal sleep on 28 April 1813”).
Probably the most valuable architectural monument in Bolesławiec is the second Kutuzov monument, standing on the promenade on Kubika Street. The cast-iron monument was created by two of the most famous 19th-century artists: Johann Gottfried Schadów and Karl Friedrich Schinkel. It is enough to mention that the former was Frederick William III’s court sculptor and, among other works, created the quadriga on Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate. K. J. Schinkel designed and built mainly in Berlin, where he erected the cathedral, the theater, the Altes Museum, the palaces at Charlottenhof, and the New Pavilion in Charlottenburg. In Silesia, his work includes the enormous castle in Kamieniec Ząbkowicki. The obelisk was made from Silesian iron at the royal foundry in Berlin. It was transported in separate sections by river to Głogów and then by wagon to Bolesławiec. On 17 July 1819, the foundation stone was laid in the presence of building inspector Tolkemit, officers, city authorities, and councillors.
To be continued in the next issue.